How to Use LinkedIn Effectively
Using LinkedIn efficiently as a business professional should be a priority. It is a platform that offers all kinds of opportunities for growth. Think of LinkedIn as an online resume, networking mixer, and word-of-mouth platform all combined into one.
Sound confusing? It’s not once you get the hang of it.
The struggle for some people might be the same they face when trying to network in real life. They have an easy enough time socializing and making small talk about personal stuff — the equivalent of maintaining a presence on Facebook or Instagram, but as soon as they have to mingle for the sake of professional development, the equivalent of maintaining a presence on LinkedIn, they freeze up.
Let’s break down the ways you can use LinkedIn to get the most out of it:
Put together a solid profile and keep it updated.
Think of your profile as your resume — because it pretty much is. But while your resume should usually be only one page, your LinkedIn profile can include as much information as you want it to. And you should want it to have a lot of information because people will look at your profile for all kinds of reasons. Maybe they’re looking to hire you, or invite you to speak at an engagement, or they want to collaborate on a project with you. A detailed profile is a great way to make a good first impression.
You should also set up a business profile for your business and link it to your personal profile. This will allow people searching for your company not only to learn a little bit about your brand but also to find the human face behind it, which increases their sense of trust in what you do. Learn more about why a LinkedIn Company Profile is important.
Connect with people.
On some social media platforms (not all, but some), it’s creepy or weird to friend somebody you don’t know. That’s not the case on LinkedIn, which is a platform for forming as many connections as you can. That’s right, you connect on LinkedIn instead of following or friending each other.
Exchanged emails with a person once or twice? Connect!
They’re in your industry? Connect!
Do you have a lot of mutual connections? Connect!
Now, that doesn’t mean you have to connect with everyone. If you have a network full of people who are irrelevant to you, the content that benefits you professionally will be lost in the deluge of irrelevant posts on your feed.
What it does mean is that you shouldn’t feel apprehensive about forming new connections. And the benefit of LinkedIn over a networking mixer is that it’s much easier to hit that “Connect” button than it is to walk up and introduce yourself to someone in person.
You will also notice that LinkedIn flags people as first-degree, second-degree, and third-degree connections.
First-degree connections are the people you are directly connected with — either you sent them a connection invitation or they sent you one, and the other accepted.
Second-degree connections are those you yourself aren’t connected with, but they are connected to one of your first-degree connections.
Third-degree connections are those who are connected to your second-degree connections.
How is this helpful? Let’s say you’re looking to recruit someone or put in a contract bid with them. You look at their LinkedIn profile and notice that you are second-degree connections. Look at whom you both know, and if you have a strong rapport with that mutual person, you could ask for a recommendation. LinkedIn is a great way to find top talent in your industry and reach out to them about job openings or other opportunities.
Promote your professional activities.
Think of your LinkedIn feed as a public newsletter about important company activities — a newsletter that you know will be read by professionally-minded individuals. While your followers on Facebook or Instagram are your customers who are there for fun, you know that the people on LinkedIn are there for business. If you hired a new member of management, they want to know who that is. If you have a job ad to post, they want to see it. If your business is expanding, they want to know how this might affect them.
Engage, engage, engage.
As with any other social media platform, you want to engage with people. Share news from your industry. Like or comment on a connection’s post. Join a group related to your field so you can make other connections.
The important thing to remember about LinkedIn is to keep everything professional and related to business: no political statements, no baby pictures, no dog pictures, no tangents or rants about your home life.
Now, there might be some overlap. Let’s say you undertake a volunteer effort on behalf of your company or you partner with another business on a charitable endeavor. You could definitely post about that — share some photos of your team at work, share how the collaboration came about, and be sure to tag both business pages in the post.
This is an effective way of showing your brand’s values — after all, people want to support brands that they know are invested in their communities and give back.
It’s also important to remember that when you engage with a connection’s posts, or when a connection engages with your posts, that post will then show up in other feeds.
In other words, if your first-degree connection Jim likes the post about the watershed cleanup your company led last Saturday, then all of Jim’s connections will see that post showing up in their feeds. It’s a way for word to spread pretty quickly.
Endorse Others
Another important means of engagement is making skills endorsements. If you know a connection is strong at a particular skill, you can endorse them with a simple click — the endorsement will then show up on their profile for other connections to see. So if you know your connection Sally is a brilliant interior designer, give her an endorsement. She’ll very likely give you one right back for a skill you’re accomplished in.
Above all, be supportive and engaging. Don’t be afraid to lift people up for what they’re good at or approach people you normally wouldn’t. In these ways, LinkedIn can take some of the anxiety out of networking.