I wish I had a dollar for every time someone said “I don’t have time to do LinkedIn”. I get it. We’re all busy. But really, if you have time for Facebook or time to watch TV, you can spare 15 minutes, a few times a week, to jump onto LinkedIn to help your professional career. Notice, I said, “a few times a week”.
I think there are a couple of reasons why people think they don’t have time for LinkedIn. 1) They are afraid of going down the rabbit hole that wastes time. 2) They don’t know where to start once they do log in. Keep reading and I’ll help you with both.
You really only need 15 minutes a day to see real results on LinkedIn. Consistency is the key.
Getting Started
Before each LinkedIn session, I recommend you do two things:
- Decide how much time you have for this session and set a timer. If you need an online timer with an annoying buzzer, go to www.e.ggtimer.com.
- Review your LinkedIn goals, why you want to use LinkedIn and what you hope to accomplish. This will help keep you on track and also help you answer the “Should I connect with this guy?” question.
Check your Inbox and reply to inbound messages from the Messages tab. The people that are reaching out to on LinkedIn are people who are in your Professional Network. It’s important that you treat them with the same respect and diligence that you do if they came into your regular work inbox. Don’t ignore them.
Deal with Invitations to connect. It’s important that you stay on top of this section or it can quickly get out of hand. When you get a new invitation, check the person’s profile and decide if you want to connect or not. Keep your LinkedIn goals in mind when you decide. If you aren’t sure, you can click the Manage tab and send them a message for more information.
Tip: If you decide to accept an invitation, as soon as you do, send a “Thank you for inviting me to connect” message. This is another touch point and maybe it will be the start of a conversation. If it is, you’ll catch the conversation when you check your Inbox the next time you come to LinkedIn.
Check your Notifications Flag & take 1 action. I recommend you spend a few minutes here getting caught up on what’s happening with your network of connections. This is where you’ll find the list of who has a birthday or new
Once you’ve scanned this area, consider sending a personalized “Happy Birthday” or “Congratulations” message.
Scan the Home Page feed. I’m saving this for last because this is where you can spend (or waste) the most time and this is where you will appreciate that you turned on your timer.
Scroll through the feed and look for interesting articles and posts to read.
Make a point to click the “like” or comment on at least one post you read. It’s important that you interact with the people in your network to strengthen your relationships with them and sharing their content (when doing so meets your goals) provides value to your network.
Last Two Minutes
I suggest you do one of two things when you have a couple of minutes left.
- Check Who’s Viewed Your Profile to see who is looking for you and who has FOUND you. When you have a free account, you’ll only see 5 names listed but that can still give you some idea. The more active you are on LinkedIn, the better your chances that people will be looking at your profile. And, if by chance, someone appears interesting to you, by all means, follow up with them.
- Send an Invitation to connect to someone you met recently. And, by all means don’t forget to personalize the connection message. Tell them why you want to connect or where you met them.
Now, if you’re still wondering where you’ll find time to get onto LinkedIn, here’s my best suggestion – open your calendar or planner and block off 15 minutes. It doesn’t really matter what time of the day, just do it.
I can attest to the fact that when you show up, good things happen. Let me know how that works for you.
Related Posts
Good Invitations Include These Things
What are your 2019 LinkedIn Goals
A Basic Recipe for LinkedIn Success
To learn more about how to use LinkedIn to Attract the Right People so you can Expand Your Influence, please contact me at info@sue-gresham.com Connect or Follow me on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/suegresham