Every good recipe starts with a few simple ingredients. Think about spaghetti. It starts with a good basic sauce made from tomatoes, oregano, salt, pepper and maybe some garlic. A really good sauce might include onions, peppers, tomato paste, beef or sausage, basil, thyme, brown sugar, and other special spices. Those extras take the sauce from boring to flavorful.
My recipe for LinkedIn success starts with just a few basic ingredients:
Start with a goal. What do you want to accomplish by using LinkedIn? Think of this as deciding what flavor you want. Are you using LinkedIn to find a job, expand your network, position yourself for a new career, launch or grow your business, learn, or simply make sure you look good online when someone is looking for you? Figure that out first.
One word about goals – it’s likely your goals will change over time. When I first started using LinkedIn almost 10 years ago, I was unemployed and my goal was to find a job. Less than a year later, I switched my focus away from job search and started my own consulting business. Now, I use LinkedIn to find clients, but I also use it to expand my network and educate others.
Create a meaty profile. Once you’ve figured out what you want, add a good meaty LinkedIn profile. It’s really the main ingredient that is your viewer’s first impression. Is it interesting? Is it professional? Is it accurate with up-to-date information or stale and old?
What you put in your profile depends on what your goals are. If you are looking for a job, you may add more accomplishments. If you are looking for clients, you might talk more about your services. At a minimum, you should have a headshot photo, current and past work information, keywords that are industry-specific, a list your skills and the volunteer experience section. Of course, the more sections you add, the better the flavor.
Add a robust network of connections. LinkedIn is the #1 online professional networking platform. Simply stated, to be successful at networking, you need a good group of people to network with; those people are your LinkedIn connections. You’ve probably worked with hundreds (if not thousands) of people during your career. Those people are your network. Use LinkedIn to stay in touch with them. Think of LinkedIn as your Rolodex.
Your goals will help define who should be in your network. The people that join your network will look at your profile. They go hand-in-hand.
Besides people you know, there are a lot of people out there you have yet to meet. To grow your business or find a job, you’ll need people who know your work and/or are willing to refer you. If you want to learn, you need connections who are experts to teach you. A sprinkling of different professionals will contribute to your success.
Actively mix it up. After you’ve put all of your ingredients into the bowl or pan, there is usually one more step to make that yummy dish. You need to do something: mix them up, possibly season a little more and then start cooking. You may even need to add seasoning during the cooking process.
On LinkedIn, mix it up with your network by engaging with them. There are little things you can do, such as clicking the “like” button on a status update or sending a quick “Congratulations” message for an achievement. If you want to turn up the heat and get noticed by more than your immediate network, comment in group discussions or post your own status updates.
Just being on LinkedIn is the same as putting the ingredients in the bowl and walking away. You need to do something with them.
Once you’ve got this basic recipe for LinkedIn down, you can start to add new ingredients and try different cooking methods. You can optimize your profile with extra sections that add credibility to your experience. You can connect with people that stretch the boundaries of your existing network. You can increase your visibility by writing longer form articles or having conversations with experts. You can impact your career in so many ways. That’s when you know you’re having success on LinkedIn.