Starting a new year usually includes taking stock on what worked and didn’t work last year. Businesses usually set new goals like increasing our sales and profits, creating new products, expanding market share, generate new leads, etc. As individuals, our goals might be to lose weight, read more, spend more time with our family, or even find a new job.
As you start to work on your goals, you’ve probably made a list of a few deliberate actions you can take to help you. Have you thought about how you can use LinkedIn to help you meet your goals?
Nurture Relationships
You’ll notice I didn’t say “add connections” or “grow your network”. There’s plenty of time for that. I’m suggesting you focus on really working on the relationships you have with the people you’re already connected to. Pick one connection at a time and give them a few minutes of your attention. Check out their profile, react to something they’ve posted, endorse them for a skill that you’ve witnessed or send them a “Hi, how are you?” message.
Lead Generation – Finding Prospects
A lot of people use LinkedIn to find their ideal customers or even just the people who know their ideal customers for referrals. This year, learn how to use the Advanced Search to narrow down and find exactly who you’re looking for. Learn the Boolean search method and determine the keywords that best fit your idea prospects. If this is your primary purpose for using LinkedIn, research and get to know how LinkedIn Sales Navigator works. There’s definitely a learning curve but it may be well worth the time and financial investment.
Grow your Network Strategically
This should be the year that you become deliberate when making decisions on who to include in your network. Big isn’t always better, think about who is right for your network. You can start by making a list of people you want to connect with. Create a couple of personalized “I’d like to connect with you” messages and get in the habit of using them.
Improve Your Personal and Professional Brand
Remember, it takes only a few seconds to make an impression on people. How does your profile look and read? Does it accurately portray what you do and how you do it? Does it show how you help others? Do you stand out from your competition? This is a great time to start out fresh and you may only need a few tweaks.
Start with your Introduction Card (that’s the top box with your profile photo) and methodically work your way through your profile to make sure everything is up-to-date, including your Contact area. And, by all means, if your profile photo is more than 2 years old, it’s time for a new one!
Increase your Visibility
First of all, make sure your profile is filled out completely. When people do a Google or Bing search, the link to your LinkedIn profile pops up. A complete and optimized profile is vital. Check out your Public Profile to see how you show up.
If you have a Company page, make sure all the links are working right, including the link from your personal profile to the company page. Spruce up that company page now too.
Increase your Exposure
You want to be top of mind with your existing network and discovered by their networks. That means you have to actually DO SOMETHING on LinkedIn. Having a profile is not enough. So, start showing up on people’s home feed.
You an start small by clicking the “like” button on something you read is relevant. Comment thoughtfully or share other’s posts. Pick something every day that is relevant to your network and adds value, and most of all, fits with your brand and goals. If you are comfortable, create your own posts or articles.
Short, less than 5-minute, native videos (ie video that is downloaded onto LinkedIn from your computer) are THE thing right now. Think about incorporating them into your social strategy.
Remember, the more valuable the information, the more people will respond positively. The more conversations you have, the more exposure you’ll get.
Expand Your Mind
LinkedIn has become a go-to resource for learning. You can search by topic for articles, videos and information about almost any topic you can imagine. If you have a paid account, LinkedIn Learning has thousands of instructional videos.
Remember, people do business with people they Know, Like & Trust. LinkedIn is the perfect platform for that. People will get to know you by looking at your profile and reading the information you share. They will get to like you when you engage with them and nurture the relationship. They will get to trust you when you are being honest (not salesy), demonstrating your expertise and consistently providing value.
If any of those things will help you meet your goals, consider upping your LinkedIn game this year.
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