Where the rubber hits the road with LinkedIn, Social Media

Why are you interested in Business Networking at all?

The mindset that will help you on LinkedIn more than any other I believe, is that it’s an Active sport, not just a Passive ‘post & hope’ kind of thing, or worse, a place to self promote, a broadcast platform or a half baked attempt at SEO/Website traffic generation.

Sure you need a profile that puts up no Red Flags when people click on it for a 7 second look on their smart phone, that presents you how you want to be perceived & if you’re job hunting or selling something, tells effectively who you are, what you’re capable of & how you can help others.

Beyond that though, my philosophy (and I implore you) stop worrying about all the things outside your control on LinkedIn and Social Media like ‘tweaking your profile, 100%!’ & ‘being found’, and do the hard yards (which just means take a bit of time & effort) and do three things consistently:

1. Regularly ask yourself and be able to articulate what you want out of business Networking. Never lose sight of the fact you are in fact just Networking toward a real & defined goal. Base all your business networking related activity on this.
2. Research, research, research: Industries, Companies, roles in Companies, People in those roles, People connected to People. I estimate 80-90% of people don’t do this at all, let alone effectively (excluding the most proactive of business development professionals, and any recruiter worth his salt of course).
3. Proactively reach out to people in a non-threatening, not ‘all about me’ way, don’t sell anything, just ‘Network’ to start with. Like you’re meeting, casually but professionally in person for the first time.

Multiply the above exponentially with ‘Massive Action’ – don’t do it 10-20 times, do it 100-200 times, do it constantly. Coupled with being very clear & concise how people can help you, over time & at the right time, you will grow exactly the type of network of people, real people with real relationships focused on how you can help each other, that you want to (see point 1.)

LinkedIn, Social Media for business I suspect, is that simple, that misunderstood.