Limit the Linkedin Overwhelm

Did you sign up for LinkedIn back in the day?

If this is you and you signed up for LinkedIn in the days when you were job-hunting, is it simply a platform you’re on and you have an occasional look?

How have things changed for you since then? If you’re now a business owner, perhaps you’ve been wondering how you can use LinkedIn to create opportunities for your business?

If you’re not a regular user, maybe you have a look every now and then but you don’t interact? What’s stopping you?

There are 62 million decision-makers on LinkedIn

Yes, really, at the time of writing this there are 660 million users on LinkedIn and of those 62 million are decision makers. Clearly those figures are worldwide, but just take a moment to imagine the potential!

So first things first, take a look at your profile and see if it needs updating - perhaps you have the dates of when you worked where but have you written little about what you did at each of these periods of employment as that can give your connections an idea about your background and you may find some common ground when you do start connecting.

I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again - please provide a clear up to date photograph, not only so that people will recognise you but if you have a clear headshot of you looking into the camera, it gives your potential leads an instant connection. We are a judgemental lot, and I’m afraid first impressions are important, so use the opportunity to make it a good first impression.

Fill in your features!

If you haven’t yet completed your featured section, now is the time to do it, perhaps you’ve recently provided a presentation that you could upload, or maybe you’ve been featured on the radio - any extra ways that people can start to build up a picture of you, your values and your experiences, makes you more human rather than just another profile.

When you look at posts on LinkedIn, have you noticed that underneath your image when you like or comment on a post, your headline is displayed? If you keep in mind that your headline follows you around all over LinkedIn, ensure you’re maximising that piece of “real estate” and allowing people to see how you can help them.

Join in the conversation

The next step really is to take part, get involved in conversations that are happening around you. What is your sphere of work? Can you find conversations in your existing network where you can add value? Have you joined any groups on LinkedIn? 

Groups aren’t quite so widely used in LinkedIn as they are on facebook, but there is a lot of value to be had in an active group. There may be questions you can answer that start to position you as an authority in what you do. You can also use groups to ask questions that you’d like the answers to. You can find out what your potential customers’ pain points are surrounding outsourcing what you offer.

Boolean search? What’s that?

Researching prospects, is then the next step. Did you know you can conduct a Boolean search? This is where, in the search bar, you place a string of words together surrounded by inverted commas to include AND, OR and NOT. For example you may be looking for a “Chartered Accountant OR ACCA”, as either term may be used in a prospect's bio. 

This search can be used in conjunction with location, so if you’re like me and working in the East Midlands, you may like to input that, or you could go UK wide or global - the sky's the limit really, especially as we’re all working more remotely.

So once you’ve checked through your existing connections, let’s start widening the field. You can refine your previous search by the degree of connection a person has to you. If you consider all of your connections move in different circles to you and have their own set of connections, these are all then your “2nd degree” connections. When you find you have mutual connections it gives you a common thread - “we know similar people” so maybe they would be people who would like to get to know us?

Get in their notifications!

Once you find your prospects, check out their activity. Perhaps they have created a post that is relevant to you. React to it, comment on it, show your support for the work they are doing. Do you know what is in our human nature to do? When they see your name pop up in their notifications, they are highly likely to check out your profile to see what you do! Isn’t that what you would do? Who is this person who is interested in me?! Hence it’s so important to have your profile up to date and a true representation of what you do and how you can help.

Don’t forget that if you have connections on one platform, they may like to connect with you on other platforms. We often show different sides of ourselves on facebook than we may do on LinkedIn, and that helps to build our relationships. 

Use tagging but don’t spam people

When you create posts, consider who else you can involve in your posts either through tagging in a picture or if your post has relevance to some of your connections , tag them in to ensure they see it. For example, this week I am exhibiting at a virtual showcase so I want to tell people about it. I have also connected with the other exhibitors - we all have a common goal to meet people and what if you chat with someone who has a complementary business to yours and a delegate needs something from that business but they don’t know about them? Wouldn’t it feel good to signpost someone to the help they need? And won’t that business be so grateful to you and bear you in mind the next time they come across someone who needs what you’re offering? 

It’s so simple to help one another….and it’s free! I have come across so many people who suggest I’m too helpful and I should focus on my own business,  but I’m a firm believer of you reap what you sow and when all is said and done, everyone is entitled to their own opinions.

A quick aside, don’t share posts as sadly that dilutes them, a simple reaction or comment ensures that your followers can see your reaction to it - it’s completely different to the algorithm on facebook in that respect.

I’d love to hear what you have tried on LinkedIn that has worked well for you, so please use the comments section below and let’s start a discussion right here!