LinkedIn is considered by many the ‘professional Facebook’. With over 500 million users it is definitely one of the platforms you should be utilizing for your business. If you are looking at making connections and building your network then this is the platform for it, unlike Facebook where if you want to build a rapport with someone you would have to friend them as your personal profile.
LinkedIn is kind of like an online resume but don’t get confused and display your profile like one. You need to make sure you are speaking to your audience.
TIP – When completing your profile make sure to use keywords in your heading this will enable you to be found easier by people looking for a service.
You may be thinking ‘so how do I build my connections?’ Networking and LinkedIn go hand in hand. A good way to build your network is by attending networking events and building relationships with other business owners, if you exchange business cards make sure to connect with them on LinkedIn. However when you send a connection request make sure to personalize a note rather than the standard ‘I want to add you to my network’.
The next step is sharing valuable content on your profile. It’s no good adding someone as a connection and them forgetting about you because you have no activity on your profile. From my personal experience sharing up to 5 times a week Monday to Friday between 8am and 6pm work however the best days are Tuesday & Thursday at 1pm, this is the time that I usually share blog posts that I’ve written.
When someone likes or comments on your post, your post then becomes visible to everyone in their network so make sure to share valuable content that you want others seeing. LinkedIn now uses a messaging system similar to messenger on Facebook which makes it easier for you to stay in contact and just shoot off a quick message so you can check in and stay in contact with your connections.
There are so many parts to LinkedIn too many to cover but hopefully this has given you enough insight to join LinkedIn and use another platform to leverage your business.
