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20 Essential Steps for Success on LinkedIn

Page history last edited by srelihan@... 10 years, 11 months ago

 A useful 'How To' article for LinkedIn users

 by

 Stan Relihan, Sydney Australia 

 

While I am by no means the most prominent 'SuperConnector' on LinkedIn, I HAVE reached LinkedIn's maximum of 30,000 - and many people have asked me how I have managed to amass so many connections. Although the full story is a long one, the simple answer is:

 

You don't build a large network by spending lots of time inviting people to connect with you – you do it by making it attractive & easy for THEM to invite YOU.

 

So I’ve taken the time to summarise how best to do this. (Obviously, hints like inviting people from your Outlook Address Book etc are taken as given). The list below contains common-sense information on other, lesser-known methods. 

 

  1. Upload a good photo of yourself, cropped tightly so people can see your face. Do NOT use logos, avatars or other images that are not photos of you - or you risk being penalised by LinkedIn. Also, remember that you don't get a second chance to make a first impression - so be sure to use a professional-looking picture.
  2. Customize your profile URL to www.linkedin.com/in/YourName  If your name is a common one & already taken, try inserting your middle initial.(this can take up to 24 hours to become active – so do it immediately)
  3. Make use of the 3 Web Links provided, to add Links to your Company, personal Blog, Twitter profile, or whatever
  4. Get a Gmail account, specifically for use with LinkedIn - it has a great SPAM filter, which you will find essential, once your network starts to grow. Make this your Default E-mail address (in Account Settings)
  5. Change your Contact Preferences (in the Account Settings) to only receive invitations etc, when you visit LinkedIn - you do NOT want to be distracted throughout the work day with every LinkedIn invitation that arrives. Far better to do all your LinkedIn stuff in batches - every few days, or once a week.
  6. Write a good Headline about who you are - this is what people will see first & all they will see in Search results.

    (Mine is ►Asia Pacific's Most Connected Recruiter◄ Headhunter ● Neural Networker ● Public Speaker ● TopLinked.com Top 50)

  7. Revise the Summary section of your LinkedIn profile. (There are many good profiles already on LinkedIn that you may wish to use as a template of style & tone, if you like - check out LinkedIn's most connected users for examples).
  8. Don't be modest about your accomplishment. If you don't tell people, no one will know about them - and LinkedIn is the place to display them!
  9. Be sure to speak in the First Person. This way, you will become a 'real' person to people, not just a list of 'career positions'.
  10. Be sure to mention your current motivations - and how your background & experiences have enabled you to fulfil these.
  11. You have 1,500 characters in total (including spaces) - so be sure to use as much of your allowance as possible.
  12. Copy special characters (like ►, ● etc) and use them as Bullets to highlight your Specialities.
  13. Do NOT add your e-mail address in your name field. It is against the LinkedIn Terms of Service & looks tacky, anyway. In fact, LinkedIn prohibits putting contact information of any kind anywhere in your profile, but many people put their e-mail address at the bottom of their profile (near Contact Settings) & LinkedIn seems to tolerate this. I value my LinkedIn network too much to risk running foul of LinkedIn, so I don't personally recommend this & only mention anecdotally what others do – the choice is yours. A good compromise would be to put a link to your company web site or blog post, where people that really want to contact you, can do so
  14. You CAN however, tell people you're receptive to receiving invitations. Use MyLinkInvitation to create a QuickLink Invitation - a simple & easy way for people to invite you, even if they don't already have your e-mail address.
  15. Join some of the Open Networking Groups. The most important is TopLinked.com (www.toplinked.com) - you'll need the words ‘TopLinked.com’ in your Headline (or as a web link) to qualify, but it's worth it. Basic membership is free, but I'd recommend paying the $9.95 per month to become a Paid Subscriber - it well worth the investment. The result is that you will receive hundreds of new invitations to connect every month.
  16. Don't be afraid of connecting to people you don't know, because of the large number of additional contacts they will bring you. Remember, there IS quality in quantity. When you have a large group to search through, you can afford to apply your own judgement & criteria as to who will be in your 'Inner Circle'.

    Also, it’s highly likely that your network of close acquaintances will know many of the same people that you do – so you’ll be missing out on unexpected opportunities that usually come from a more distant source. Save your real network of trusted friends & associates for your Outlook Address Book or Rolodex.

          Other groups include:

  17. Start a Blog, where you can add regular (even quite brief) Comments, Thoughts & Insights. Preferably use Wordpress - this lets you embed the RSS feed into your LinkedIn Profile (like I have). This is a good way to develop a following.
  18. Join Twitter. Use this to update your 'followers' on a semi-regular basis. You only get 120 characters per message, so it's not too time-consuming. Use this as an adjunct to your Blog.
  19. Set up a Signature on Gmail & include all your relevant URLs there, so every time you communicate with your LinkedIn network, they will see it.
  20. Enjoy your networking.

 

This may seem like a long list - but I've listed each activity in order of priority. If you apply some discipline to this & do small bits regularly, you will be truly amazed at the results.

 

Best wishes

 

Stan Relihan

www.linkedin.com/in/stanrelihan

www.pra.com.au

@stanrelihan

 

 

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