“We create as much information in two days now as we did from the dawn of man through 2003.” - Eric Schmidt, Google CEO
The amount of information that we are exposed to everyday is so astounding that the only way most of us cope with it, is that we simply shut it out.
In the information age that we are now in, attention has become the scarcest of commodities.
That means that a lot of things in our lives just tend to go unnoticed.
If we ever want ourselves, our companies or the products that we offer to not go by unseen, we will have to do something special!
Today, let’s take a look at how we can get people to pay attention to us on LinkedIn...
The way that many people seem to use LinkedIn is by the “set it and forget it” method…They upload their cv’s, a random picture of themselves and a biography that always seems to be written in third person.
They then seem to forget about their profiles and wonder why it seems as though no one is paying attention.
But you have us on your side and we will make sure that’s not you!
When used correctly, LinkedIn can be the best and most powerful network building tool for you and your business.
With a subscriber base of 500 million users, it would be safe to say that there are plenty of opportunities that are awaiting you on this platform.
Once you understand how to use LinkedIn, it’s simply the best tool that anyone has for new lead generation and business development.
In this blog post, we take you through 9 ways to help you optimise your account to ensure that you capture the maximum amount of exposure!
Ready? Let’s go!!!
When people are interested in you, they will take a look at your profile.
This is usually their first point of contact with you, so let’s not disappoint them.
You want to make your profile work hard for you.
There are two distinct areas that we can look at for this to happen, first we will build a bulletproof profile and then we will look at what actions you must take to make your account legendary!
To start off with, you want to ensure that your profile is 100% complete and delivers a professional impression of both you and your company.
With only a couple of tweaks, you can turn your LinkedIn profile into a powerful asset.
Let’s take a look at how we can do just that;
1. Your profile picture:
Make sure that your photo is professional and not one from a recent party. LinkedIn is a business network and you want to always look the part.
I am a Digital Marketer thus this profile picture is appropriate and fitting with my industry, if you are in banking or a legal profession, for example, then you might consider wearing a suit.
2. Your Headline:
LinkedIn automatically populates your headline with your current job title.
To stand out, change this tagline to a value statement that captures your audience's attention.
Don’t be shy to showcase what you bring to the table. Your headline must show what you can offer to people who are looking at your profile.
3. Your Summary:
Don’t make your summary a list of tasks that you currently perform at work - that’s what job descriptions are for ;)
Instead, use this space to give prospects a sneak peek into who you are and what you can do for them.
You can do this by including keywords that are relevant to your industry. This will do wonders for the discovery of your profile, making sure that you’re ahead of the pack when people come looking for someone of your profile.
The keywords that you use can range from being very broad to being extremely targeted.
Just ensure that you use keywords that you want to be found for.
4. Endorsements and recommendations:
Endorsements and recommendations will add much needed credibility to your profile.
People can endorse you for skills that you have already written down in your profile and you should also ask them for recommendations about past work and projects that you have worked with them on, as to shine a light on your professionalism and your stellar ways of working!
Remember that if someone gives you an endorsement or a recommendation, always return the favour.
The more you engage with others is the more that they will engage with you!
5. Your Accomplishments and achievements:
Take the opportunity to add your qualifications, certifications and courses that you have completed.
You want you profile to be as robust as possible.
This adds a lot of value to your profile.
6. Your Company Page:
Most company pages simply state facts such as who they are, what they do, their address and the number of employees that they have.
Truth be told, although this is valuable information, it can be found through a quick Google search.
Learn to structure your page in such a way that it leads to people actually taking an action, e.g. clicking through to a landing page.
This can be done by using an image that gets attention and creates interest, by creating a clear compelling pitch in your company description or by offering something to your prospects such as an ebook.
Okay, now that we have created a kick-ass profile, let’s take it a step further and explore how you will keep your account relevant and at the forefront of people's minds.
7. Update Regularly:
By keeping your profile regularly updated, you increase the chances of people wanting to engage with you!
But even more importantly, you are going to show up on news feeds regularly, which keeps you relevant and noticed.
Update your status with news articles that are relevant to your industry, with company updates, blog posts and don’t forget about adding updates about you or any new projects that you may be involved with.
The key to a good social media engagement strategy is to post material that is entertaining, informative and educational, this will ensure that you consistently show up on news feeds.
As mentioned above because most people are in the “set it and forget it” modus operandi, therefore this level of activity will put you ahead of 99% of your peers and will catapult you into the realm of being a thought leader!
Through publishing, you develop and demonstrate your unique professional personality and character, setting you apart from the thousands of people on LinkedIn.
8. Accept connection invites & proactively ask to connect:
Contacts are your currency on LinkedIn, if your contacts are predominately family, friends or old school friends then you have some work to do.
Whenever you meet someone on or offline always follow up with a connection request. Never make the mistake of missing a chance to connect.
We spend about as much time online as we do offline, through our laptops and smartphones, so sending connection requests allows you to build your network and helps you to stay in touch.
9. Start Conversations:
Social media is all about being social, so you should go ahead and do just that!
Be social...learn to start conversations, start them in groups, in your updates, respond to comments and start them on your company pages.
Conversations are a crucial part of your success.
Aim to be an active participant in groups by answering questions and by posting new topic ideas.
This takes time and effort but the idea of thought leadership is so crucial that it deserves another mention...Aim for thought leadership so that by the time you reach out to people in your network, your name will already be familiar and trustworthy.
When you pick the right groups, and then go ahead to offer massive value and relevantly answer questions, this allows you the opportunity to build the foundation for a relationship with your contacts in a natural low pressure way.
These tips will help you cut through the noise in a world that’s overloaded with information and allow you to connect with people in a genuine and authentic way, let us know in the comments if you have any other tips that you’re using that we may have missed!
