When is the right time to start using LinkedIn more? Or to start posting on LinkedIn?
Welll how about today or this week?
Don’t put it off any longer.
Linkedin is a platform you simply can’t ignore any longer to be successful on social media today.
It’s also one of the most efficient and effective way to connect and build relationships with your clients, VIP contacts, prospects, referrals and recruits.
Remember that whether or not you like it (or realize it), people are googling you every day in order to find out more about you.
Your LinkedIn profile is either the first or second search result that comes up about you in Google.
I hope that underscores the importance of spending time on your LinkedIn profile and building your brand on LinkedIn.
If you are in professional services, LinkedIn is especially important for you.
It can be hard to stand out in crowded fields such as accounting, financial services or law. LinkedIn helps you do that by adding much more dimension to your professional background than your web site bio can.
In addition, LinkedIn tells people much more about you, including the schools, groups and connections you have in common with them, which can help when it comes to making someone feel comfortable about you.
LinkedIn provides a treasure trove of useful information about your contacts, including job moves, work anniversaries and updates about their professional lives. If you weren’t on LinkedIn you would miss out on this information.
Let me tell you how LinkedIn has helped me.
I was using LinkedIn long before I really “needed” it – meaning I was occasionally posting, commenting on others’ posts and building my network while I was working full-time as a law firm marketing director.
It led to new jobs, industry opportunities, speaking engagements, guest lecturing at law schools and even this blog.
When I started my own business, I had a built-in audience to launch it through my LinkedIn platform. Clients came directly to me because I had credibility from my LinkedIn posts.
I never once sold my services on LinkedIn because I didn’t have to – I had been providing value. And also no one likes to be sold.
When you use LinkedIn right you never have to actually sell yourself. Read that again.
Even if you’re not thinking about starting a business or looking for a job, LinkedIn can help you amplify your personal brand efficiently and effectively, and build your network.
So how did I get to where I am on LinkedIn?
I showed up consistently, gave back to others, provided value and built relationships.
I freely gave away content and didn’t worry that I was giving away too much because there is no such thing. People worry about that a lot on LinkedIn.
To be successful on LinkedIn, you want to help others and showcase your expertise. They’ll still need you to implement what you suggest!
I also didn’t obsess about the number of likes I got on my early posts except to use that information to refine my future posts.
I didn’t post about my successes and brag about myself on LinkedIn.
I see many people post about the awards they win or their achievements on LinkedIn and while it’s okay to do that occasionally, it’s the way you craft those posts that matter so you don’t sound boastful.
People feel obligated to like posts, and I think it’s really a waste of a valuable touchpoint when you should really be providing value to your audience and making your posts client-centric.
When it comes to LinkedIn, I don’t know more than anyone else – I just put myself out there more than you. If I can do it, so can you!
So the time is now for you to start using LinkedIn to your advantage.
I hope these LinkedIn tips have been helpful to you.
Follow me on LinkedIn, on my blog, on YouTube and my hashtag #socialmediabutterfly to learn more about how to use LinkedIn to your advantage.
You can also sign up for my email list to find out more about my upcoming free webinars.
Register for my next LinkedIn webinar on February 25.
What strategies have worked for you in building your personal brand on LinkedIn? And how did you get started doing it?