I hear so often that people have a LinkedIn but they’re not using it to the best of their ability.
I want to cover why you might not be using it in the best way.
I’ll also explore the purpose of you having LinkedIn. I’ve met so many individuals that have been on LinkedIn for several years and haven’t done any business on it, they’re not very active on it, or they don’t understand the reasons they have it. It seems somebody just told them, “Hey, you should get on this platform.” And they decided, “yes, I should.”
Ideally, with a LinkedIn profile, your goal is to connect with business-to-business people.
Why is that important?
Well, in the business-to-business world, relationships are the key driver for just about anything. It could be sales, it could be marketing, or it could be just staying in touch with a variety of people and business owners.
There are so many different variations and ways to take your network. It depends on how you choose to leverage those connections. If you’d like to leverage LinkedIn for sales, you absolutely can do that, especially in the business-to-business space. For example, right now I’m working with a commercial cleaners client.
Leveraging LinkedIn might be the best way to start connecting with those people. I spend a ton of time on LinkedIn, that’s how I do a lot of my prospecting. With prospecting on LinkedIn, I know exactly whom I’m connecting with, what their credentials are, what their qualifications are, and the people that I’m connecting with. If they don’t choose to connect with me, they’re probably not that active on LinkedIn.
For me, producing content, specifically for my LinkedIn connections, is for people that are on LinkedIn frequently and can see my connections and what content I am creating.
The Reasons for Using LinkedIn
It’s a personal preference for what your purpose of having LinkedIn is. If it’s purely to show off your resume of skills, that’s not a bad thing. It’s an effective way to start letting people connect with you.
Recruiters have the ability to reach out to you to potentially find a new job, which is a compelling way to use LinkedIn. It shows your credentials, qualifications, and skills. They could individually sort through that.
The key to the whole process, no matter what platform, no matter what purpose you have for LinkedIn, is merely putting in the best and most accurate information.
Display your most relevant jobs, your most recent qualifications, your most recently written articles. You might even help the company make a sale, and they’re going to like you even more. There are so many different avenues you could use for these various topics.
You can also leverage LinkedIn for sales, if you’re creating content and if you’re reaching out directly. If you’re a sales navigator, this is of one of the most powerful tools, for connecting business-to-business people.
Additionally, sending targeted messages to people that are serious influencers is another very powerful way to leverage LinkedIn and leverage the software. You don’t actually have to do much because it’s already built. You just have to go in and use it.
Yes, there’s sometimes a fee associated with this, but even if you’re a business owner and you’re seeking out talent, there are options. But what if you’re just an ordinary John Doe who wants to have a LinkedIn, but you don’t want to use it effectively?
Not a bad thing at all. Anytime you talk to people in person or on the phone, or you close the sale, it’s never a bad idea to connect with people. You never know where those relationships are going.
That’s why I’m so headstrong about having a purpose for LinkedIn. If your goal is to have a network and build a network, that’s a great thing to do.
What’s The End Game?
Is the end game to connect with people? To build long-lasting relationships, quality networking, or to stay in contact with somebod? Being on LinkedIn is great. Even if you’re not intending to use it, it’s still something good to have to harness connections.
The average person transfers jobs or careers approximately seven times. Which means having a long list of people you’ve already connected with or have already done business with is going to be tremendously more powerful, especially when leveraging.
Those people may move on and maybe somebody could hire you later on down the road or in a different industry. This could also strike up a sale or make connection for you or even if you’re curious or need help with something. Having those connections or having that network of people to turn to is always a good idea.
Being on LinkedIn is a good idea for everyone. The question that has to be asked is:
What is your purpose for using LinkedIn?
Is it to drive sales? Or is it to maintain relationships or build new relationships going forward? Even when you build your LinkedIn, if your purpose is to find a job, make it more resume oriented.
There are many people who say LinkedIn isn’t for your resume. Well, that’s not necessarily true. It depends on your purpose for being on LinkedIn. If your goal is to get hired, than having a more resume style account is going to be better for recruiters or potential job owners to find you.
They’re going to be able to say, “Hey, you did XYZ at this company, you were responsible for this, and this is precisely in line with what I’m looking for. Let me reach out.”
Maybe you’re not even interested in having an opportunity, but having people offer you more money is never a bad thing.
Business owners, you’re probably going to dislike me for saying this…
But it also allows fair competition across the board. Because of this, you can’t have the one-up on employees and employees can’t have the one-up on you, making a fully coherent company with everyone on the same page.
Having an open door policy is tremendously useful, because the employee can feel confident enough to say, “Hey, I want to let you know, I love working here but I think my time is coming to an end. I want to start looking for possible alternatives in different industries.”
You never know, maybe you could leverage your boss’ LinkedIn account, and they might be able to make those connections. And vice versa, you might be able to have a relationships with somebody who could be a good fit for your current position.
Also Read: LinkedIn For Startups – The Ultimate Guide
You could facilitate the whole transition and look like a rock star in everybody’s eyes.
That’s something most people don’t consider with LinkedIn. You can easily leverage it, not just for sales but for your own gain.
You might say, “I’ll find a new position,” or “I have somebody for the new position. Is there any way, instead of you hiring recruiter, to throw me a couple of bucks? I’d be more than happy to bring them in.”
I know tons of people on LinkedIn who don’t use it to make sales. They add content on there because they want to stay top of mind which is only going to help you grow as a personal brand. Even if you’re working for someone else, someone might say, “This guy Harrison is always putting out content!” or something along those lines.
These are just different options you can use for your LinkedIn. But find your purpose. It can change over time. You might say, “I just want to build up a network,” and then you say, “You know what, let me go into sales.”
Let me start leveraging that network. All these people I’ve done business with in the past can be an important opportunity for you. And if you take that opportunity and leverage it, it could be fruitful for years and years to come.
LinkedIn is here to stay
I don’t think LinkedIn is going anywhere. Nobody is pushing into space or even close to pushing into the area as far as a business-to-business or business related networks are going. There may be a couple of small people, but nobody has a network the size of LinkedIn.
Allegedly. I say allegedly because what you read on the Internet may or may not be accurate.
However, LinkedIn has one of the most powerful and valued databases on Earth. Everybody wants to update their information so frequently to leverage sales or connections that people are doing all hard work for LinkedIn, which makes it tremendously more valuable.
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