FOR those who want to expand their business contacts or create an online job hunting profile, LinkedIn is the usual port of call. While many open an account and load their CV, they often don’t realise the full depth of the platform itself and the many benefits it offers. As with all development activities, an effort needs to be made, simply opening an account and never doing anything with it will be of small benefit.
Here are just a few ways to make the most of LinkedIn
1. Showcase Page
If you have a company page on LinkedIn, creating showcase pages is a fantastic way to boost brand identity and awareness. Showcasing allows you to develop specific messages and share them with your audience. This is great when your business offers a range of products or services and you want to give them each their own space.
2. Posting Blogs
Content is still king and creating blog posts on your LinkedIn profile can help you develop a solid reputation in your sector. Avoid anything overly sales orientated and include links out to reputable sites but, above all, make it relevant to your target audience and you could be onto a winner.
3. Creating Rich Content
Go on LinkedIn and you’ll find plenty of profiles that are full of written content. You can also include richer content including images, videos and slideshows. Keep your brand consistent and add these in and you’ll make your LinkedIn profile dynamic enough to stand out from the crowd.
4. Networking Using LinkedIn Groups
There’s no doubt the power of LinkedIn for building business networks. After making sure your profile is in decent shape. The next step is to reach out to relevant businesses and people. Joining LinkedIn Groups is one way to do this.
5. Sending Personalised Connection Requests
When you want to contact someone on LinkedIn, you send out a request. Many users don’t know that you can personalise this message rather than use the platform’s automated feature. The benefit of this is you can tailor the information you send out and are therefore more likely to get a positive response. If you want to grow your network intelligently, you should be using this function.
6. Managing Connections
There are several ways you can manage your list of connections. If for example you want to connect to people with a certain job title, in a specific industry or in an exact location, or having attended a particular school, then the advanced search function within LinkedIn allows you to do just this, have a play with this it also helps you to sift through first, second and third tier connections.
7. Add Apps in LinkedIn
There are third party apps available which work with LinkedIn and can boost the power that you get from the platform. While the list is small compared to other social media sites, the quality is impressive. Apps like LinkedIn Helper can be good if used wisely.
8. Generate Leads
There are a variety of ways to generate leads on LinkedIn. Checking out who has recently viewed your profile should indicate at least a warm prospect that may be worth contacting directly for a follow up. You can also use LinkedIn’s own Sales Solutions which has advanced search and targeting tools for creating strong lead lists.
9. Pulse to Check Out Your Industry
If you want to reach thought-leaders and industry experts, Pulse is the platform of choice for many on LinkedIn. It provides reliable and interesting content from bloggers and influencers which can then become part of your profile. You can easily create a personal system of content management for your profile from this to suit potential network partners, customers and those looking to make job offers.
10. Engage and Network – Contribute
There are many ways to engage on LinkedIn, simply liking a comment, commenting yourself or sharing a post are all positive ways to ensure you are visible and engaging. Utilising groups, reviewing long form posts and helping out when some asks for a recommendation are a few more. Give yourself 10 minutes every day to clear down your LinkedIn activity and notifications, this will keep you response to tentative enquiries, visible and engaging.