Ineffective Ways to Use LinkedIn

Learn how to set up your LinkedIn profile the right way. Get your copy of this book today.In my role as a LinkedIn Branding expert, I come across some profiles that work well, bringing in more connections, leads and effectively branding the individual. On the other, I also find profiles that not only are not effective, they may actually be causing people to avoid connecting or engaging.

On top of that, sometimes people engage in behaviors that work to drive people away, lose sales, damage their branding efforts and shrink their network.

How do they do that?

Sending out Sales Messages

LinkedIn is not a sales platform, and attempting to use it in that manner only alienates people.

For example, today I received the following message from a brand new connection:

Thanks for connecting. We can help you with digital marketing, SEO, Web Design, SMO, PPC, Mobile App Development, Branding and Lead generation. Let me know if you need any of these services. Waiting for you reply.

Think about how this wold work in the physical world. You’re walking down the street and you say hello to someone. Before they even tell you their name or ask how you are doing, they shove their business card in your face, start talking about their products, and slip some flyers in your pockets.

A better, more successful strategy is to open the relationship by talking about other person.

Good morning. Thank you for the connection. I see from your profile that you are a writer. That’s a fascinating occupation and it must be very rewarding. Please write back and let me know how I can help.

Which introduction do you think would get a better response?

Never Updating their Profile or Using LinkedIn Update Features

LinkedIn, Google and other search engines love change. Additionally, LinkedIn actively works to promote your changes, postings and updates to your network.

• If you have “Notify your Network” set to YES, your connections get notified of any changes you make to your profile. It is highly recommended to leave this set to YES unless you are making changes that you do not others,such as your boss, to know about.
• Status updates are are promoted to the newsfeeds of all your connections
• Posts get promoted to your connections and possibly (depending on LinkedIn’s algorithms) to various groups.

If you don’t make changes, post occasional status updates and take advantage of other LinkedIn features, your network will grow slowly, if at all, and your connections will most likely not find out about you and your accomplishments,

Additionally, search engines tend to favor pages that are updated frequently, and one of the best ways to get their attention is to make changes on a regular basis.

Don’t take Advantage of Media

One way to get noticed and keep the attention of your connections is to include media on your profile. You can include the following in your summary and each of your experience sections.

• Videos
• Slideshows
• Links
• Documents
• Photos

Including a short video (one to two minutes) explaining your services is a great way to get the attention of your followers and connections.

Conclusions

The best way to succeed with LinkedIn is to treat your connections and everyone else as you would treat people in the physical world. Generally, you’d try to strike up a conversation, try to get to know someone, before hitting them with your sales pitch.

Also, LinkedIn has many features which are intended to help you build and maintain your network of connections. Use all of these features to get maximum exposure.

Richard Lowe Jr

Richard is the Owner and Senior Writer for The Writing King, a bestselling author, and ghostwriter. He’s written and published 63 books, ghostwritten 40+ books, as well as hundreds of blog articles.