Entries Tagged 'LinkedIn' ↓

LinkedIn is a great platform for networking. It gives you access to all sorts of people, but you have to make the right impression if you want to get noticed.

How many times have you received this standard connection request?

“I’d like to add you to my professional network.”

Really? Why? Who are you? Do I know you?

It raises more questions than it answers.

Of course, you’ll only be sending invites to connect to people you actually know (won’t you?), so take a bit of time and write them a personalised message. After all, they may have met you at a networking event, but it’s fair to say they would have met a number of people there so they can’t be expected to remember everyone.

Make it personal

To make your request personal you’ll have to do it from your PC or laptop. I don’t believe the option is available through the LinkedIn app.

First of all make sure your LinkedIn profile shows a professional photo of you.

Then start your request with a greeting bearing the recipient’s name (spelt correctly).

Tell them how you know them. Perhaps you met at an event, have mutual acquaintances, or follow each other on Twitter.

Once you’ve done that tell them why you want to connect with them followed by a short description about what you do.

Finish it off with a bit of flattery about their work (not so much that it’s creepy or embarrassing) and sign off in a friendly way.

It does’t take long to do and it will make your request stand out from all the other standard ones they get.

So remember, if you want to make an impact and some valuable connections, put in the effort to make it personal.

LinkedIn is one of the most powerful business networking sites out there and yet it’s also one of the most underutilised.

According to recent research (as cited on Smart Insights) almost half of all profiles on the site are incomplete and only 58% of users update their details.

As a platform that’s constantly bringing out new features, it’s essential to keep on top of things to make sure you get the most from it.

Below is an infographic from Smart Insights that gives you 17 tips to make sure you’re making the most of your profile.

LinkedIn is the professional social networking platform.

You already know how important it is to make the most of your LinkedIn profile and that you should only accept connection requests from people you know, but what about asking for recommendations?

Personally, I find it a great platform to gather recommendations that I can also use as testimonials on my website. But what do you do if, when you receive a recommendation, you’re asked to provide one in return.

I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine?

It’s mind-boggling – the whole point of a recommendation is to give feedback about the service you received. Yes, you do get the option to provide a recommendation in return when you get one, but what if you haven’t experienced their service, why write one?

It makes a mockery of the whole system.

The same way as when you ask for a recommendation from someone just because you know them or have met them once or twice. What do you expect them to write?

“I met Joe at last week’s networking meeting. Seemed like an OK bloke.”

It’s pointless.

Recommendations exist so potential clients can read how your service helped others

But if you do feel duty bound to return the favour, how about an endorsement?

Endorsing skills

Isn’t it great when that email lands in your inbox telling you someone has endorsed one of your skills on LinkedIn?

Admittedly, now and then endorsements come through for skills you don’t have (or actively use as part of your business) and even you can even receive them from people you’ve never worked with. But on the whole, they are a good way to instantly see how others perceive a particular person’s abilities.

So, if you want to return the favour and interact with your contacts on LinkedIn, why don’t you give endorsements too?

Being on LinkedIn isn’t about sitting back and waiting for people to connect to you or tell you how marvellous you are.  It’s a two-way street where you need to be active to be found.

Give endorsements, contribute to group discussions and offer great information – show yourself as someone who is approachable, helpful, knowledgeable and, well, personable.

You only get out of LinkedIn what you put in, so if you’re not prepared to invest a bit of time to help others, don’t expect to get much in return.

Author: Sally Ormond, Copywriter and MD at Briar Copywriting Ltd. Follow her on Twitter and Google+

LinkedIn has long been thought of as the professionals’ social media platform.

But a recent newspaper article offers grim reading for its millions of users.

According to the Independent LinkedIn has been accused of a ‘hack and spam’ attack on its members in a marketing tussle.

A law suit filed in California on behalf of four US-based users claims:

“…that LinkedIn “hacks” into users’ email accounts before harvesting email addresses and sending spam to their contacts, endorsing its products and services, without obtaining users’ consent or requesting a password.

The plaintiffs allege that the emails, designed to persuade recipients to sign up to LinkedIn, contain the Linkedln member’s name and likeness so it appears as if the member is endorsing the social network.”

LinkedIn is contesting the lawsuit and states that it takes personal security seriously and never sends out information on a user’s behalf unless given permission.

Care to connect?

All that aside, as a user of LinkedIn, I have noticed a recent increase in the number of invitations I receive to connect with complete strangers.

The whole idea of the platform is to make connections with people you know. What’s more, it clearly states that you should only accept invitations from people you know.

In light of the article in the Independent above, I did a bit of digging and found several unhappy LinkedIn users reporting receiving messages telling them they are now connected to people they didn’t know. Not only that, they didn’t send any connection requests. Plus one guy reported, after looking at his ‘requests sent’ tab, he discovered numerous invitations sent to people he didn’t know. Yes, it would appear as though the platform had sent them itself.

If you get a request to connect from someone you don’t know, or at least don’t think you know:

• Go to your inbox
• Click on the ‘invitations’ tab
• Click on the arrow beside the ‘accept’ box

This gives you the option to reply without accepting their connection request. That means you can ask them how they know you before deciding whether to ignore the invite or not.

The only way to avoid unsolicited invitations is to go to your ‘Account and Settings’ preferences and set it to require an email address whenever someone sends you an invitation. If you don’t want to do that and definitely don’t want to accept the request, click the ‘Ignore’ and then the ‘I don’t know’ link. LinkedIn is then notified and the individual won’t be able to send you another invitation and, should they get 5 such reports, their account is restricted.

Of course, the best way to avoid all of that is to only send requests to people you know.

Author: Sally Ormond, Copywriter and MD at Briar Copywriting Ltd. Follow her on Twitter and Google+

Most business people you speak with will be on LinkedIn.

Some will actively use its forums and groups, others just set up their profiles, but do nothing else.

I was interested to read an article recently on SocialMediaExaminer.com that takes a look at how you can use LinkedIn to build your business, become more visible and become more engaged with business intelligence. The 10 tips it covers are:

1. Using keywords and phrases
2. Mirroring your online and offline business networks
3. Tag your skills and expertise
4. Link to your website with anchor text links
5. Taking the time to welcome new connections
6. Adding video
7. Note important details and opportunities
8. Tag and filter connections
9. Use context to gather business intelligence
10. Update your CRM with data from LinkedIn

If you’re on LinkedIn this is a really valuable post so I would urge you to take 5 minutes out of your day to have a read of: 10 LinkedIn Tips for Building Your Business.