It’s not a secret. Shoot, if you want me to, I’ll scream it from the mountain tops. Because I want the world to know. (Any Tri Delts out there reading this? Do you remember that song? Delta Love) I love LinkedIn. I really believe it to be one of the best networks out there to increase your personal brand authority, increase credibility, increase traffic to your website, and most importantly increase your leads.
If you want to reap all the benefits from LinkedIn you have to use it correctly. I’ve written a ton of posts about how to use LinkedIn to help you maximize, optimize and promote. Now it’s time for a little reality check. Here’s what you are doing wrong.
5 LinkedIn Mistakes & How To Fix Them
1. You Are Sending Mass Emails
This is a huge pet-peeve of mine and I’m sure of many other people. The reason to use LinkedIn is to connect with people on a one-on-one basis. I get that you have a message to send and that by batching people together you can reach more people in a short period of time. But it looks ridiculous when you send an email that has your email and 50 others too. When I see messages like this, I delete them. I want someone to contact me who has taken the time to at least write my name in a hello format. You know, hello Stephanie. I’m reaching out because I’ve actually read your profile, I know what you do, and I’m here to offer you a solution. When a message actually hits me between the eyes you’ve got my attention.
FIX:Do your research and then if it makes sense, send a personalized letter. The KEYWORD here is personalized.
2. You Are Not Responding To Requests
You have a LinkedIn profile, that should be enough right? Nope. You need to be active on LinkedIn in order for it to work for you. That means when people request your connection, you should accept. Not only does it open you up to more people via 2nd and 3rd degree connections, this simple act opens up a conversation that you might not have been able to have otherwise.
FIX: Accept requests that are relevant to you.
3. You Are Not Sending Your New Contacts A Welcome Letter
This is the one thing that will literally change the way you interact on LinkedIn and will result in a ton of new leads. Every time you gain a contact, whether you initiate the connection or they do, I want you to reach out immediately and let them know who you are, what you do, what you can offer them specifically and ask them about what they do. This could be the beginning of a beautiful social relationship and can lead to a lot of business. It’s so simple to do, but something that so few people do.
FIX: Send a personalized letter to everyone who you connect with asking for more information about their business and tell them about who you are and how you can potentially work together.
4. Not joining groups
If you aren’t subscribed to 50 groups you are missing out. Yes, 50. 50 is the max and 50 is the amount I want you to be a part of. The more groups you are a part of, the more people you are connected to for one. But more importantly the more groups you are a part, the more exposure you’ll get when you follow FIX #5 below. Are you ready to be a LinkedIn superstar? I hope so. Because #5 will get you there.
FIX: Start researching active groups on LinkedIn and start joining them.
5. Not sharing content
In order to get traction, show up on newsfeeds, and get people interested in you, you need to show them that you are a thought leader. By sharing your content you can achieve this. I prefer to share content that comes from you, but a mixture of curated and original content will do you right.
FIX: Start blogging more regularly or begin blogging, then start sharing your blog content on your LinkedIn profile and through the groups you’ve recently joined.
