If you were at a party, and each social media platform had a table of its own:
The Facebook table is where all your friends from high school would be.
The Instagram table is where everyone was showing you their pictures.
The Twitter table is where you’d go for quick, short conversations.
Tik Tok is the kid’s table.
And LinkedIn is the table where you would sit down to talk and do business.
If you are in business and you are not frequenting the LinkedIn table, you’re missing opportunities.
Not being on LinkedIn in 2021 is like not being listed in the yellow pages in 1980 or not having an answering machine in 1990. While you can argue that there are so many more places for people to “find you” today, which is true, LinkedIn remains the best place on the internet to recruit, hire, and be hired.
But it’s not just ‘being there’ that matters; just like any other business tool, how you use it is going to determine the results you get from it. Whether you are already on the platform or are new to it, here are five ways to use LinkedIn that can help you to show-up in a powerful way and get noticed.
Recommendations and endorsements
Recommendations and endorsements are a built-in part of LinkedIn. Not only does LinkedIn make it easy to request a recommendation from people with whom you are connected, but it does some of the work for you by occasionally asking people you know if they would like to endorse you for skills that you choose.
Under your profile, go to the Skills and Endorsements section and choose the ones you want to show up (that’s right, you get to choose them.) Make sure the things you want to be known for, and what skills you want others to endorse you for, are front and center.
Networking
LinkedIn isn’t about selling or pitching, it’s about you showing up as a business person who can add value by having solutions to problems. Here is something important to understand - you may not do a lot of business with the people on LI, but you may do a lot of business with the people who see you on LI and refer you to someone who DOES want to do business with you.
Direct introductions from people who ‘know someone’ who can use your service or product is what makes LinkedIn a great resource. You may use other social media platforms to reach out directly to your potential customers, but you can use LinkedIn to connect with those who may become referral machines.
Check up on the ‘competition’
LinkedIn is great for researching any company you want to learn more about! Go to their LinkedIn pages, see who works there, see what they post about, see what problems they are looking to solve, learn about what might be happening in your industry that you are not yet privy to (or vice versa!). LinkedIn can be a wealth of information, no matter what industry you are in.
Keep it all business
It’s easy to have your other social media platforms (whether personal or professional) get cluttered with things that are not completely ‘on-brand.’ With LinkedIn, you can keep it pretty clean; the conversations are business-related, the interaction is business-related, and when you reach out to people - or they reach out to you - it is for business-related purposes.
Build your professional brand and trust
The expectation on LinkedIn is for you to build your professional presence in the world. LinkedIn isn’t about selling, it is about positioning yourself as an expert and adding value so people want to reach out and hire you. Make a point to share your knowledge on a regular basis; write an article, share tips, start conversations. The more you participate and show people what you know, the more apt others are to reach out to you. Think of it as free marketing on a daily basis! Just keep showing up and adding value consistently.
With so many social media platforms at the party, it’s easy to get pulled from table to table without ever getting to just sit down and enjoy your meal! Think of the LInkedIn table as a perpetual networking event where you can always build relationships that help to build your business.