Want numbers like these when you do your vanity check?
What’s the first thing you do each time you load up LinkedIn? If you’re like me and countless others, you look for the “Who’s Viewed Your Profile?” section and hope to see big numbers.
But how do you influence LinkedIn so those numbers go up, and you get more connections requests, messages, and potentially job offers?
As most of you know, I’m a huge fan of LinkedIn, for both networking and for finding new clients. With more than 100 million professionals, Neilson Online refers to it at “the world’s largest audience of affluent, influential professionals.”
So why is no one calling or connecting with you?
I’m working on a full LinkedIn course, but I’ll give away two secrets why you’re not attracting more clients. And if you’re reading this and not on LinkedIn, go there, set up your profile and then come back here — it’s that important.
First, you’re waiting for them to come to you.
Seriously, prospects and customers won’t just show up or beat down your virtual doors because you’re on LinkedIn. You have to go out and reach them instead. And make them know about you. Do this by having:
Second, you join groups. Just not the right groups.
LinkedIn’s settings permit you to join up to 50 different groups. But most people just sit there like wallflowers, lurking yet never participating in the conversation. Or worse, you only join groups where there are like members. I made this mistake myself early on, joining a bunch of consulting groups. Lots of consultants, no clients. So if you cater to attorneys, join groups where the membership is primarily attorneys.
Social networking is all about being social — you’ve got to participate. And it costs nothing but time. If you want to create thought leadership around yourself or your brand, you’ve got to let the world know you’re out there.
Were you aware that LinkedIn now has “Company” pages for your business? Similar to Facebook pages, but I think easier to use, your company page showcases your business, services, products and more to LinkedIn’s 100+ million members.
These Company pages are different from your personal profile page. If you haven’t yet created your LinkedIn company page, simply click on Companies at the top of your LinkedIn homepage, and then Add Company:
Once you’ve added your company, there are many places to add content. You can add products and services, embed a company video, post jobs and more all from this interface. If you include them, your Company overview page will also publish your Tweets and blog posts automatically.
What’s most interesting? Once you add a product or service, and then go back to Edit, LinkedIn opens up a section where you can add (and link!) your own custom banner images (three total). You could easily promote a service, special offer, or other brands within your organization. What’s better than free banner advertising on LinkedIn?
Even more, there’s also analytics on your Company page, You can see page views, clicks on images (those with links), and more.
Although a work in progress, take a look at how FIND the CLIENT’s company page looks on LinkedIn. Let me know your thoughts, tricks and tips!
As readers of this blog will confirm, I’m a huge fan of LinkedIn for selling and consulting. I wanted to share a few additional features many casual users of LinkedIn probably are not aware of:
LinkedIn has a store, where you can buy branded merchandise. Up for sale include mugs, shirts, luggage tags and even reusable grocery shopping bags. For me, I’ve got my eye on the lapel pin for in-person networking.
The LinkedIn blog is frequently updated with all the new and cool enhancements on the network. Writers use the content here for their own blog posts. And for those of you who like to comment on blog posts, the structure here publishes your profile URL, which is a unique twist, and may help you with optimization.
A fairly new feature is the ability to reorder the elements on your profile. Via simple drag and drop, you can move the pieces of your profile around to best highlight your skills, expertise or experiences and stand out from the crowd.
I launched my first DirectAds campaign earlier this week, and the results seem promising. The targeting is robust, but the $10/day minimum is pretty high when compared to Google and Facebook ($1/day or so). More to come on the results of my campaign.
LinkedIn also makes it very easy for you to promote your profile with badges. When logged in to your account, the badges are automatically updated to include your profile URL.
I hope you find these features useful to your networking goals on Linked In, and I welcome your comments, and connection requests.
Photo credit by ilco.
In a recent post, I shared how to maximize your LinkedIn profile. LinkedIn Optimization, or LIO, is key to your networking success. Here are the top mistakes people make when building their network and profile on LinkedIn:
Mistake #1
Using no photo or an unprofessional photo. LinkedIn is clearly not Facebook, so spend a few bucks and have professional headshots taken by a real photographer. Make sure the photographer crops one of your pictures down to the recommended size used by LinkedIn, which is 80 x 80 pixels. The file size limit to upload is 4MB.
Mistake #2
Using your company email as either your contact email or, gasp, your login email. Unless you own the company, use a personal email address. What happens if you’re let go, or the company goes out of business? You may be locked out of your profile (and miss potential connections!).
Mistake #3
Incomplete work and educational history. Think about how you’d build connections – by places you’ve worked at and school’s you’ve attended. It’s natural to start our connections by the familiar, so include complete details about work and school.
Mistake #4
Expecting to close business on the first contact. Networking, whether in person or online, is an ongoing process. Your success comes from constantly making new connections, sharing great content and keeping in touch.
Since there are many ways to get noticed on LinkedIn, you’ll need to get comfortable with this form of self-promotion. Start with the right attitude about networking, which means giving more than asking, and you’ll build much better connections. And if you’re making these mistakes, correct them as soon as you can.
Photo credit by Cieleke.