So, you’re on LinkedIn and use it sparingly. Why? Because you likely haven’t seen a residual from using the platform. If I told you that LinkedIn is the number one lead generation platform in the world would you be more interested? Well, it is and it can be a great vehicle to position yourself as a thought leader and make your brand more visible.
So what does it take to stand out? Well, the most successful LinkedIn users are not necessarily the wealthiest, most famous or best in their space. The users and/or businesses that see the greatest return on their LinkedIn investment all have a couple things in common. They all have or do the following:
- Have a complete and updated personal page optimized for their current position
- Are active weekly if not daily
- Engage with their network consistently
- Start by adding connections then focus on building those into relationships
- Adding value by helping, educating, or producing valuable content
- Are active members of groups relevant to their career
- Promote, acknowledge, endorse and connect other users
- On the platform for the right reasons, not to hard sell or spam
- Deploy positivity and a relationship-building mindset
- Have an active and up-to-date business page
- Displays products, services, identity, and values of the company
- Showcases portfolio, clients, and/or work experience
- Produces relevant and engaging content (i.e. photo, video, podcast, etc.)
- Employees share company-generated content
- Empower their employees to be consistent and active Linkedin users
- Monitors and measures LinkedIn driven traffic
These practices are no different than how a good leader behaves in their work environment. These fundamentals should carry over to their business page. If deployed properly, the end result will be more followers, brand awareness, quality leads, and beyond.
A tactic you should avoid using is hard selling and spamming. People don’t want that in their inbox and they don’t want it in their newsfeed. Instead, focus on adding value to the newsfeeds of your followers. You can do this by teaching, answering questions, being friendly, reliable, and entertaining. You should also be spending time building up relationships. The time spent cultivating one solid relationship is more ROI positive than spamming 1,000 people.
In many ways, LinkedIn is like Facebook or anything else in business in that growth and success takes time, consistency, and effort. Just like relationships, you have to put in the work. The easiest way to do that is to spend five-ten minutes a day engaging with others by liking, sharing, and/or commenting on the content in your news feed.
Want to grow your network? You can double or triple your network and reach by importing contacts from your email and asking them to connect. Also, consider joining 2-3 groups and participating in discussions regularly. If your goal is to eventually position yourself as a thought leader, the best way to do that is to create engaging content that is relevant to your industry. Publish high-quality content including articles, videos, image posts, and podcasts. The subject could be you and your business, industry news, trends or anything specific to your current industry. If you already have content, publish that; in addition to new content, do so on a regular basis. And, don’t give up after two months because the results don’t meet your expectations.
To build a strong network and become a respected thought leader in your space, it takes years just like earning a promotion or growing a business. Stay patient and remember success on any social platform is more of a marathon than a sprint.
If you need help or just want to chat on social media, don’t hesitate to reach out.
Thanks for reading.
Chris