Linkedin's Holy Grail
I’ll admit that I’ve never been a fan of LinkedIn. I’ve found it clunky, awkward to navigate and discussion is limited. However, knowing that Linkedin has had a dramatic impact on the way business is done and has been a game changer for us professionals I have persisted.
Thankfully upon a friend’s recommendation (hearing me whinge too often) Connect arrived in the mail. I was pleasantly surprised flicking through the pages how quickly I found a handful of useful tips which I could immediately implement to improve my profile. I’ve now read the whole book (only takes a few hours) and realised with 40 post-it notes tagging pages to action, that I had found Linkedin’s Holy Grail!
Authors Jane Anderson, a personal branding expert and Kylie Chown, a LinkedIn Branding expert, have produced an old fashioned paper manual. Yep, Connect contains screen shots, steps and cross dressed it with client case studies, stories, activities, reflections and actions. I scored 78 out of a potential 160 points on my Linkedin Self-Assessment which determined quite clearly that my LinkedIn profile wasn’t working for me. And I was hooked!
I’m looking forward to taming this social media monster by spending seven minutes a day once I’m implemented the ‘Holy Grail’s advice.
My immediate attention was drawn to:
Complete a google search on yourself – where do you turn up? I hope it’s not the second page. This relates to SEO – search engine optimisation – and the tip is to use key words which help you be found and be marketable. I immediately changed my headline which was missing a crucial word in my business – development.
Don’t talk about the past, tell people about your vision and future plans. This stopped me in my tracks. So many folk, including myself, use LinkedIn as their on-line Bio/CV/Resume. The tip is to decide, what you want to achieve with LinkedIn. And, you only have four seconds to grab their attention.
If 19% of the time is spent looking at your photo, is it portraying what you want to achieve? My current photo is a professional photo, however, taken four years ago and it wasn’t planned for social media usage. I’ve decided it’s time to update my headshot. (I’ve actually suggested to a group of women that we do this at the same time.)
Be active and connect in Groups. There is likely to be a group of people who are interested in what you’re passionate about, or share your expertise. I found myself reconnecting with a group of consultants from around the world who share in the use of a common personality profile tool. Again, an immediate outcome of learning what others are doing in their business practice.
Personalise your connection messages and acknowledge people who ask to connect with you e.g. ask them if you can be of any help. How many times have you connected and not said “Hello?” And, here’s the icing on the cake – take notes and add reminders about your connection in the ‘relationships’ section. Who would have known?!
Whilst I’m yet to implement these many changes, I’m now confident I know how to make Linkedin work for me, and appreciate its features. I’m particularly enjoying being proactive connecting with people whose profile clearly identifies with my latest project. I’m saving time connecting with people and meeting them. Tick!
What’s your profile saying? Are you being found for what you want to be found for?
If you are yet to conquer the quest of taming Linkedin, then I highly recommend grabbing Connect. Or, if you’re time poor, I suppose you could ask Jane and Kylie to do it for you!
I’m endeavouring to read 52 Business/Professional/Personal Development books in 52 weeks. Yep, that’s one a week. As I read each book, I’ll share my thoughts, learning and recommendations. If there is a book that you’ve been meaning to read, let me know and I’ll read it for us!