The 7 Keys To Being Effective on LinkedIn
By Phil Richards www.philrichards.biz
PhilRichards.Biz Limited 2010
The 7 Keys To Being Effective on LinkedIn
LinkedIn is an amazing business resource that can prove invaluable to small business owners wanting to win sales, and professional employees aiming to manage their career development. On the face of it LinkedIn is an easy platform to get started with and to use; but after a while most people begin to wonder what it is all about, and whether it is all just a waste of time. If you really want to be effective these 7 keys will help you do that, but it will take some investment in your time, and some thought. To be effective on LinkedIn you first need to decide what your objectives are, and then use these 7 keys to ensure that everything you do is focussed on achieving your objectives. Anything else is fun, downtime, or time that may have been better utilised doing something else. So thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy your 7 Keys To Being Effective On LinkedIn.
The 7 Keys To Being Effective on LinkedIn 1. Take Care With Your Profile Your profile is the absolute centre of everything you do on LinkedIn, it is one of your core assets on the platform. Every action you take will come back to your profile. Every search that is done within LinkedIn for your talents will only be positive for you if your have a strong profile that shows you how you want to be shown. So here are some quick guides on designing your best profile: Use a really good photo, that is cropped to show your face on a light background. Configure your headline to appear in search engines; keep away from who you work for, say what your expertise is. Configure your websites using the category Other and writing a description. Configure your own Public URL, keep it relevant and as short as possible. Keep the focus of your summary on your core skills and abilities, mention your current role but leave that to a details of that role. Use graphics, space text in chunks so its an easy read. Enter all your interests, these are searchable. Enter all your jobs, write a detailed summary on each. If your an Independent Consultant, you can enter your roles at different companies too. Always use as many clubs and associations as possible. Give clear contact information. Use Applications, and if you can upload a video using Slideshare or Google Docs. Give and receive recommendations, it builds credibility Here are some graphics that work in summary, headline and job details sections, just cut and paste them from here.
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But experiment with your own too.
The 7 Keys To Being Effective on LinkedIn 2. Be Valuable To People This is the key to networking. You can create value in many different ways, here are some ideas of how you can be seen as a valuable person in the LinkedIn community. Answer questions relevant to your expertise Ask clear challenging questions that allow others to shine Introduce people to each other when they ask Suggest to people that they connect together where you can see some mutual benefit for them Offer to manage, co manage or be a moderator in a group Share relevant news stories for a group This is the opposite to many peoples ideas of networking; which is to sell or get themselves a job. Nothing could be further from the truth. Imagine the guest at the party boring everyone by talking about themselves ? Well thats what happens on LinkedIn if you constantly self promote or sell. So back off and decide to be there to help; if you get the urge to pitch or sell on LinkedIn, there is a time and a place for everything. This is the same whether you are a small business or professional employee looking for a new position, or keen on maintaining your career development in your current position. There is no need to shout, call attention to yourself, or promote flagrantly, so relax and be helpful first, the rest will come to you. This is also part of how to react to others when you see them being promotional in an unpleasant way; its easy to point out others faults on LinkedIn but its more positive to carry on the way you choose to be and leave the rest to what they want to do. Trying to control others or give them unwanted feedback is unlikely to be effective. This is the same when handling discussions or Questions and Answers where people disagree with you. Stick to your points if you want to, change your mind if you want to; but being rigid and trying to win every round will be a heartless task. When in doubt post nothing.
The 7 Keys To Being Effective on LinkedIn 3. Connect Widely and Build Relationships Deeply I am a firm believer in Open Networking. This means being open to connect with anyone, whenever they ask. So I commit to accepting all invitations to connect, and as a result approximately 1200 new connections each quarter invite me to connect. Each one gets a personal message, a downloadable resource, and a thank you. I also ask each one to tell me about their business. Only a certain percentage of people respond, and when they do I seek to build relationships that are relevant to my business, and also to them. So I connect widely, and then build relationships with individuals based on my strategic objectives. I aim to keep in contact with connections and encourage conversations. Building connections for no reason is ineffective, it needs to be done strategically; but the start point is to connect with everyone who asks. With connecting with everyone who asks, it is more about who these people know, who they want to connect you with, rather than who they are. And thats your value to them, its your network that is valuable. You are always in control, LinkedIn enables you to disconnect from anyone you want to. Relationships can be started on LinkedIn but the development and building of these valuable key relationships can be done on any networking platform, or face to face.
The 7 Keys To Being Effective on LinkedIn 4. Take It Offline Being connected on LinkedIn is just the start point. It is a platform to connect you, but real business and relationships are formed offline. So pick up the phone to
connections that are really relevant to you, email them directly, arrange to meet them at the same events.
Business is done by people with people, so remember that linkedIn just provides a helping hand; you can do the real business face to face, on the phone, by email and even by post. You could consider putting your LinkedIn Public profile address on your business card, and also asking people if they want to connect on LinkedIn when you meet them.
The 7 Keys To Being Effective on LinkedIn 5. Develop A Strategy, Take Tactical Actions, Measure, Review and Refine LinkedIn can be a complete waste of time if you put a profile up there and wait to be found. You may well be found, but the real value will be in taking part and building credibility, trust and a personal brand. To do this you need a clear strategy, a plan of action. First decide what it is you want to achieve. Is it sales for your business ? A job ? Contacts in your industry ? Which ever it is, you will need to take steady and regular actions in order to achieve your goals. So decide what your objectives are first and then decide what tactics you will use. Will you try and get as many connections as possible ? Will you look at each persons profile, and follow up if they are relevant to you ? What groups will you be active in ? What type of questions will you look for ? How much time will you spend on LinkedIn and when ? Will you need extra training or support in order to make this really effective ?
Once you set out your plan, implement it and make notes of successes and failures. If something fails, its a great lesson. Find the things that work for you and your business, and then do them and do them regularly.
The 7 Keys To Being Effective on LinkedIn 6. Be Consistent Being consistent pays high dividends. If you can be in a group regularly and make valuable contributions, you become part of that group. If you respond to people in a timely manner you become well known as someone who takes action. If you give out a few recommendations every week, you will get some back too. If you answer questions regularly, you will get Best Answers awarded to you, and this builds your credibility, trust and is reflected in your profile.
The 7 Keys To Being Effective on LinkedIn 7. Learn and Go With The Flow Part of this key is apparent in the others too. Its important to go with the flow. This is different to conforming, or always agreeing, but it means taking care of the community, avoiding being abusive to people, taking the failures on the nose, and moving on swiftly. Avoiding arguments that are unproductive for you, expecting LinkedIn to change and grow and so the the way you sue it will change. You will find that each group of people on LinkedIn have their own flavour, if you can go with the flow and adapt to your surroundings you will make more connections and fit in with many more people. More conversations with more people means more opportunities for you, your career and your business.
The 7 Keys To Being Effective on LinkedIn Effective LinkedIn For Professionals And Business After being involved in LinkedIn since 2006 I set out to write an online training resource for a small business owner or professional employee. In this 8 module course we cover the details that just are impossible to cover in a book, and over the 12 weeks that you have access to the course you can build you knowledge steadily. The course uses multi media to show you how to be effective on LinkedIn. What to do on LinkedIn to make the platform work for you How to use the 8 Foundations of Networking to make your actions effective A simple strategy to target all your actions accurately for your business or profession How to create and manage your online profile so that you attract the right connections How to be a valuable member of a group How to own and manage a group How to build your professional credibility by answering questions Why and how to ask questions of your network How to get connected to the right people for you How to work out if Open Networking will work for you How to expand your connections and keep them relevant to your business or profession How to use polls to give you discussion materials How to research companies and people How to take LinkedIn offline and face to face How to create and manage events on LinkedIn How to get noticed by companies and recruiters How to look for a job on LinkedIn Small business strategies on LinkedIn Effective strategies for Independent Consultants on LinkedIn How to benefit from your employees being on LinkedIn How to use LinkedIn to buy services Creating and managing a LinkedIn strategy Making your plan work How to get help with LinkedIn
The whole course is just 57 (UK) 67 (Europe) or $87 (Worldwide) Including local taxes.
(Price as at 01.06.10, subject to change)
Use this link to find out more and get 10% off.
Thanks for reading, I would love your feedback on this book just email me at phil@philrichards.biz Or use this link to find more LinkedIn Resources
The 7 Keys To Being Effective on LinkedIn
Photo Credits Cover: Sekhar Sahu Page 3:: Andras Pfaff Page 4: Gregorio Parvus Page 5:: Wally G Page 6: MSeasons Page 7: Ron Ashore Page 8: Lj16 Page 9: Scott Evans
