As a headhunter, LinkedIn is all I need. Having made millions of dollars of profit off of this platform and using it to run my business, Dandan Global, here’s the skinny on how to use LinkedIn properly to maximize your own career and business results:
#1. View LinkedIn as a directory. People don’t understand the basic premise of LinkedIn. It’s not a humanoid, warm and fuzzy, friendly platform made to solve your career problems. It’s not your mom and dad, it’s not your “community”, it doesn’t owe you anything because it’s an inanimate platform with no loyalty to or focus on YOU.
Simply put, it’s a layout of people who are willing to network and put themselves on a social media platform for the purpose of professional connection. Are all users going to be active and engaged? Maybe, maybe not. It’s your job to find out.
#2. Streamline your narrative. To maximize your utilization and potential for response from your desired connections, clarify your purpose singularly. Too many people try to be everything under the sun; that strategy is bound to backfire. The more diligently you build your profile based on what’s relevant to a narrow niche, the bigger likelihood you’ll have an “attractive” profile for the right people and networks.
Remember, a jack of all trades is a master of none. Thus, pick a lane and stick to it.
#3. Convert CONNECTIONS into CONVERSATIONS. As I said, LinkedIn is just a network. Your purpose is to convert a cold or warm reachout into a tangible discussion to a professional end. Thus, you can do this by relying on VOLUME, CONSISTENCY, and FREQUENCY.
This means: send a quick, short, tailored note to those in your network who you aspire to drive conversations with and tell them you’d like to chat. The trick here is to keep your messages short and focused on the object of your desire. Please do not write paragraphs about yourself and send unsolicited resumes. That’s too aggressive.
#4. Use LinkedIn to contribute positive sentiments. Unless it behooves your business or personal brand, try not to be too polarizing. My job as an influencer is to create conversations, thus I actually monetize my opinions. Things would be different if I were an employee somewhere trying to network for a job. In those cases, your LinkedIn purpose should be focused on your professional capabilities as the best strategy.
Therefore, unless you run a business off of creating controversy like me, don’t stick your neck out to be cut from future career opportunities because of your LinkedIn commenting activity. All the time, I see the most ridiculous, mean, and inappropriate posts trolling my articles.
I wonder, how is that going to make them look in front of potential employers? Not so good. And I’ll put money down on that.
In Conclusion
Don’t ever take any offense to what happens on any social media platform. None of it matters as long as you’re getting your key objectives met whether that’s to gain more business, catch an employer’s eye, or establish yourself as a market expert.
To hear me talk about this topic, click HERE. If you have any questions or comments, please post below and I’ll try to address it!
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