I joined LinkedIn a few years ago as a way to stay connected with others. My interest at the time wasn’t my career so my page was created more as a means of staying connected with friends than establishing a successful network. After graduating in May of this year I decided it was time to wipe off the cobwebs and put my profile to good use. It took about a month of research, trial and error, and creative writing to get things up in full swing. The last two months have shown tremendous progress so I decided to write an article sharing the results of my adventure in hopes that it may help those in need.
The Results Were In
In less than two months my inbox was filled with job offers and my company rank had increased by 99%. Out of a total of 76,867 LinkedIn profiles, I now ranked in the top 5 or 1% of the entire company in as little as two months. How did I do it? I made numerous connections with companies/people of interest, made an appealing profile, and expanded my knowledge base on effective networking and social media marketing. I made new friends, asked a TON of questions, and shared in the happiness of others success. Furthermore, I learned all about the wonderful tools available on LinkedIn, and how to use them to successfully expand my network.
The Bigger Picture
Before climbing the ranks, my journey started with a simple question.
How can I get people engaged in my content?
I ran a search for relevant articles and found several things that helped me improve my chances for engagement. What I came to find was that in order to get people engaged in what I had to offer I needed to go beyond listing my skills and abilities. I needed to build an appealing brand and a profile that stood out from the rest, but before doing so I needed to understand what my brand would be.
Know the Product That You Want to Sell
When you know what to put out there, it becomes a whole heck of a lot easier to development a method for engagement. Start by exploring what you have to offer and continually add to/redefine that definition each day. If you find that you have a hard time knowing what it is you want to sell, you can always search for successful people in similar roles to see how they define themselves. However, I’ve found that when you believe in yourself it becomes clear what you have to show/offer others. When you are confident in your skills, experiences, and accomplishments it inspires you to create interesting material that others can engage in; it makes it easier to be a storyteller rather than someone just listing skills.
Be a Giver Until It’s Time to Take
Once you know what you’re selling, evaluate the environment you want to be effective in. LinkedIn offers an environment based on giving and taking, this can be used to your advantage in the right situations. For example, endorsements and recommendations can be used to create, build, or strengthen relationships with a connection. You’ll build a stronger relationship by focusing on giving the things you want to take. If you want an endorsement, ask for it by offering it to others first. People are usually nice enough to offer it in return and if they don’t, you are still left with a warm fuzzy feeling of doing something good for someone without receiving anything in return. Furthermore, you may log in one day to unexpectedly find a much-needed job offer from the endorsement that finally decided to return the favor.
Engage, Engage, and Engage Some More
LinkedIn offers tools to be engaged like staying up-to-date with birthdays, new jobs, and promotions. Utilizing these tools is great for two reasons: first, you get to celebrate in the happiness of others by congratulating your connections on their performance, life events, and talents, and second, you make a positive impression on a connection that you may need later on down the road. It’s also important to engage others by means of social interaction. Provide intelligent/humorous material daily for others to feed on. Whether this is in the form of a published post, comment, group discussion, or sharing an article, it will benefit you in more ways than one. Think of it as a free way to advertise your profile. This can be especially helpful if you are posting in circles where your comment/profile will be seen by a large audience. Certain connections will have an extended reach that you can take advantage of. Just be careful not to express inappropriate content, feelings, or thoughts – be professional.
Adding the Masses
Spending time each day adding the right connections is crucial when it comes to successful networking. Don’t just add people you know; add people you want to know and engage with those people. When I first started using LinkedIn, I failed to understand this concept. I only added people I knew hoping that one of those people would help introduce me to the kind of people that I wanted to know, but that never ended up being the case. Don’t wait for things to happen, make things happen. As the saying goes, “If you want to be successful, surround yourself with the right kind of people”; so I added people that I felt would contribute to my success and it ended up being a game changer. However, there are a few things you need to know before adding random profiles.
Don’t Just Add Random People
I focused my efforts on adding people based on job title and company. Since LinkedIn is based on 1st, 2nd, and 3rd level connections, adding connections that belong to company ‘XYZ’ will start to expand your reach of connections within that company; under the ‘People You May Know’ section you will start to see more populated connections from company ‘XYZ’. This is so effective that I’ve never had to actually use InMail to talk to the people I’ve wanted to talk to because no one was ever out of my network. Moreover, it’s also wise to add people with a wide reach of connections in your field of interest. Recruiters are great for this very reason, they not only open the door to job opportunities, but they give you super powers when it comes to expanding your reach on LinkedIn.
Look the Part
Before you go building your empire you need to look the part. Design and appeal is the foundation for being successful on LinkedIn. The bottom line is your profile needs to stand out; this starts by drawing in a reader with a professional / interesting profile pic and an effective job title. Take for example the awesome people over at Riot Games. This company not only offers a cool work environment and awesome games, but also has an impactful appeal and online presence.
Brittney Sigsworth – Recruiting, Esports at Riot Games
During my search for roles within the tech industry I met Brittney Sigsworth, a recruiter for Riot Games. Brittney has an awesome profile pic that draws you in. It’s the perfect example of a profile that stands out amongst the rest. Furthermore, her job title is clear, descriptive, and focuses on two important things, position and company. When recruiters search for a profile this is extremely helpful for them to find your profile and narrow down their search.
First Impressions Are Important
Once you grab someone’s attention you need to give her or him a reason to stay. This is where the summary comes in- an extremely important and powerful weapon to keep a reader engaged. When done right it has the power to keep a reader engaged rather than make them scramble for the browser’s back-button. The summary is the first thing that people get to read about you, it should have a powerful one line opener followed by an intelligent or personal description of yourself. I’ve seen profiles that list skills in the summary, but I don’t think this is the best method for two reasons. First, a summary that focuses more on humor / story is more interesting to read, and second, you won’t get readers engaged by talking about things they don’t understand; there are sections for this called “skills.”
A Final Word
Being successful on LinkedIn is a combination of being transparent, engaged, and interesting. You should develop a professional space that people want to visit again and again; one they will remember, and one that shows off your hard work and passion. Focus on the creative quality of your material, which allows you to stand out in a never-ending sea of unoriginal profiles. In addition, besides offering an eye-pleasing page, you need to fulfill a reader’s interest by telling a wonderful story about yourself and your accomplishments. Finally, remember that whether you are selflessly engaging or connecting you are extending an invitation for others to discover you.
What strategies have you found to be most effective on LinkedIn?