When you first joined LinkedIn, were you clear about your goals regarding your profile? Like most people, the response is apparently NO. You likely did not give it a thought about ‘WHY’ when you joined your network, and therefore are probably making some of these common mistakes on LinkedIn.
1. YOUR PROFILE IS UNFINISHED
Your LinkedIn profile is the first impression that you make on new connections. People choose whether or not to connect with you based on what they observe on your LinkedIn profile. Yet many profiles are incomplete. When creating or updating your own profile, the following items are essential:
- A welcoming, professional profile picture is a good way to encourage a positive perception of you and your business.
- A header photo that visually shows what you do and what sets you apart from competitors
- One should state the company, title, skills, and expertise in a headline (120 characters max).
- An engaging, informational “About”/summary written in the first person that extends on your headline and explains your personality.
- A completed experience section to demonstrate your work history and link to the Company Pages of your current and past employers.
- The best things to include are the skills that you are most confident in. The more specific, the better.
Beyond this, you may want to elaborate on your education, certifications, or volunteer experience. All information listed here should be detailed and should highlight your best qualifications for the job.
2. YOU MAY NOT KNOW EVERYONE WHO IS CONNECTED TO YOU
LinkedIn allows you to download your connections. You have been collecting them since joining LinkedIn. When you scroll the newsfeed on LinkedIn, you’re only seeing a portion of your total network, so it’s no wonder you’ve forgotten about some people. Downloading your connections on LinkedIn is a great way to jog your memory—there are likely some people who should be added to your network as possible business connections.
3. YOU AREN’T CONNECTED TO YOUR TARGETS
Once you have downloaded your network, it may be surprising to see that you have only a marginally significant percentage of your overall network that you could target for business or professional purposes. When you join LinkedIn you can be tempted to connect with everyone and anyone you know—co-workers from your first job, friends, family, random people you went to high school or college. This might help you gather a large network of contacts but it won’t generate new business or support your professional goals. Now is the time to make a strategic plan to add new people to your network who are more in line with your business targets.
4. YOU AREN’T LEVERAGING YOUR EXPERTISE
In fact, it’s the most popular B2B site currently on the Web. Does your network think of you as an industry expert? Are you engaging with the community on a regular basis, posting content that adds value to your audience? Are you posting content that adds significance to your audience? A consistent and meaningful content plan elevates you as a thought-leader and keeps you top of mind. Engaging with other people’s content will further cement your expertise within your industry.
Here are a few more mistakes that might be halting your way to a successful LinkedIn Strategy:
1. YOU AREN’T Fabricating RELATIONSHIPS WITH YOUR NETWORK
Authentic personal messages on LinkedIn are an effective tool to build relationships. It is very easy to spot a spammy sales message, but when an e-mail seems to be something of value, people are more likely to take notice. Starting small with a simple “Thanks for connecting!” message will further ensure that your connections feel treasured.
2. No recommendations or skills
It’s a huge LinkedIn mistake not to list your social proof in your profile. The platform makes it easy to showcase social proof—in the form of recommendations and skills—and because social proof is a way to make a good impression, this is an effective strategy.
People typically decide whom to do business with based on the recommendations of others, so having a lot of recommendations can be a great help. Recommendations from current or past clients, colleagues, and industry peers who’ve taken the time to write detailed accounts about how your skills helped them can be highly effective in boosting your reputation.
You should strive to get at least five recommendations from credible people who can speak to your skills and abilities.
3. Don’t reply or engage
Not responding to messages, connection requests and other forms of engagement within your LinkedIn network is a huge mistake.
Being ignored can make a person feel insignificant. This can lead to a bad taste in the mouth, and sour the desire to build a relationship with you.