An Easy Way to Build Relationships and Create Content for LinkedIn

Here’s a quick way to build relationships on LinkedIn and in real life – write a recommendation for someone who has done an extraordinary job for you on a project, a referral source or a former colleague – without them ever asking for it.

You can also endorse their skills but a recommendation is more personal and enables you to speak about their character and work.

LinkedIn recommendations provide additional information about someone’s background and strengths from a third-party perspective – think of them like a mini reference check.

It’s an easy way to show you appreciate and support someone while also helping them look good in the eyes of new clients (or employers). It’s also a low-stress way to reconnect or stay top of mind with old contacts. They’ll get notified when you add your recommendation.

You can also send them an email or a LinkedIn message to let them know you’ve taken the time to write a recommendation on their behalf. Trust me, they will be very appreciative.

They may also be inclined to return the favor.

You can then use these recommendations as testimonials on your website and social media accounts. This is a win win for everyone.

So how do you create a LinkedIn recommendation?

Go to your profile, scroll down to the “Recommendations” section, and hit the plus sign. You’ll be asked whether you want to ask for or give a recommendation, and select give one. A pop-up box will then prompt you to choose the contact you’d like to recommend.

You can also recommend someone from their profile, just click the “More” button to the left of the “Message” button and then choose “Recommend.” You can scroll to their “Recommendations” section and click on “Recommend” and then their name.

You’ll be asked to enter the following:

Your relationship to that person – Did you manage them? Did they report to you? Did you work together? Use the drop-down menu to select how you know them.

Then add your recommendation, which should be a description of your time working with them and their standout attributes.

So for whom will you write a recommendation? Your summer homework is to do it this week.

Here’s a video with more on how to do this.

Here are some other blog posts to help you enhance your LinkedIn profile, presence and network:

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