About 5 years ago a colleague sent me an invitation to join LinkedIn. It seemed like an OK idea kind of based on the 6 Degrees of Seperation concept. My account kind of sat there for a long time based on the idea that only a few people I knew were actually on the site. Over time, however, it’s grown into something very big. It can be a good way to stay in touch with colleagues past and present but it can also be a very good way to build business.
1.) Recognize It’s Not Just About You
Many people describe LinkedIn as a kind of professional version of Facebook. In other words, it’s focused on the individual and career development and not on what you did over the weekend. That’s true to a certain extent, but the site offers some important tools that can help create the connections that help build your business. If you can coordinate with other colleagues to form a cohesive strategy focused on your products and services it will further help make those connections in a broader way.
2.) Join Group or Form Groups
Groups create associations between people that otherwise do not know each other. There may already be a group formed around your industry and its best to check this out before you form your own group. If you don’t see a group that you think should be there, create one and invite people you know to join. Just keep in mind that you have to find the right balance in creating a group. If you focus on too narrow of a topic, no one will find it (People In My House). If you create a group that’s too broad (People Who Drive Cars) you won’t get useful information. Creating a group for a tradeshow can be a good way to meet other exhibitors and attendees and exchange information or ideas, for example.
3.) Answer Questions
There is a function that allows you to search questions posed by other LinkedIn members based on key words. You can answer these questions and even get selected as ‘the best’ answer by the person who posed it in the first place. This is a great way to meet new connections and also to market your expertise.
4.) Ask Questions
Asking a question can supply you with information and also create a discussion. It can also be a good way to create a buzz around a topic that you think isn’t being discussed. Also, it’s a good way to genuinely get free advice from experts.
5.) Create a Discussion
Within groups, it’s possible to create a discussion or become involved in a discussion. This is a good way to link to external articles, meet new connections, and demonstrate your expertise in a certain field.
6.) Create a Poll
Like creating a discussion, polling your LinkedIn connections can help create awareness for you and your company and can also give you important data that can be used on your website or within LinkedIn. Also, you can broaden the scope of polling by paying LinkedIn a feed.
7.) Get Social (For Real)
While LinkedIn is a great online tool, use it to create or firm up offline connections. Tradeshows are a great way of doing this since people you know are likely to attend the same professional events that you do. Use LinkedIn to send messages and schedule meetings with folks on the show floor.
Connect with The Rogers Company. Visit our LinkedIn page here
And you can visit Jeff Blackwell’s page here