"LinkedIn is just not working for me!"
Sound familiar?
In a world where time is of the essence, competition is at an all-time high and LinkedIn offers an insta-network, it is easy to see images of profitable business endeavors swarming in your head.
The thought of engaging prospects is what takes over as you navigate the complex and abundant world of LinkedIn. You have fire in you as you hit that connect button with a generic sales pitch sent out to everyone and anyone, interested or not, because you are that good! However, business is not booming.
You invest in LinkedIn Helper because of the desire to get numbers; the thought alone gives you that adrenaline rush as you think of reaching that 30,000 first-degree connection limit as soon as possible. Instead, you end up in "LinkedIn Jail."
You see golden activity around you on LinkedIn, such as articles, posts, information, debates, research, shares — tons of read-worthy content at your disposal. But you quickly overlook it as you spend your time searching for available email addresses. You add them quickly, selfishly and without consent to your mailing list, then end up with a swarm of "unsubscribed" emails in your inbox rather than those business inquiries you were anxiously waiting for.
There are real people behind each and every LinkedIn profile, each with a story to tell and share. The majority of people who thrive on LinkedIn are those who develop influential, authentic and meaningful relationships. Those who focus their time and energy on winning over prospects and leading in numbers are not seeing the big picture and usually never wind up at the top of their professional online selling game. Simply put, many people have not mastered the art of social networking, which is grounded in understanding and mastering the art of social reciprocity on LinkedIn.
It may be time to slim down your numbers and focus on turning contacts into real, influential relationships. Strong and meaningful relationships are at the core of every modern LinkedIn business success story. While many are still focused on building up numbers, others are actually building business via LinkedIn.
How are these LinkedIn business builders doing it? Well, these go-givers are no longer focusing on a transactional approach, but rather investing time and energy into mastering the art of social reciprocity. They are no longer consumed by the number of connections but rather the abundance delivered via real connections. They understand that it requires much more time and effort but the return on investment (ROI) is worth it.
Along your professional journey, you may have gotten consumed and eaten up by the idea of being on top, thinking more about competition rather than the potential of collaboration. You gracefully succeeded in stuffing an extensive LinkedIn online Rolodex, but unfortunately, without a successful follow-up strategy. It looked good, maybe even granting you a false sense of connection security and confidence that business would follow. With time, however, the heavy LinkedIn Rolodex didn't really accomplish much, and the idea of adding one more contact simply is at the point of being a daunting chore. As a result, consciously and unconsciously, the LinkedIn networking momentum has slowed down, and you are less and less enjoying the LinkedIn networking ride.
Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn, outlined four types of networking approaches often taken on LinkedIn — the fourth being the approach that will get you ahead:
1. “I’ll do something for you if you’ll do something for me.”
2. “I’ll do something for you, but I’m keeping track of what you owe me.”
3. “I’ll invest in this relationship, and I expect you to invest commensurately over time.”
4. “I’ll invest in this relationship because it is the right thing to do.”
As Hoffman explains, the first three are calculated and transactional, but No. 4 is clearly built around "giving without expectation." It is not a "what's in it for me" approach to building relationships. This is what I refer to as the art of social reciprocity. Embedded in this foundation is the idea that giving will be the key to building and creating deeper, more meaningful relationships, making memorable impressions, developing mutual trust and unlocking an abundance of new opportunities.
Things positively change when you become an integral part of a LinkedIn circle of collaborative influencers rising to the top together. There are several ways you can start showing up as someone who is respectable, competent and worthy of receiving a pass:
• Write diverse content that your target audience can benefit from.
• Tag people and give "shoutouts" to those who deserve it.
• Engage with your community: Like, comment, share and respond to feedback.
• Reach out to those you admire and explain why.
• Personalize all connection requests.
• Give recommendations and endorsements.
• Share information willingly and openly; giving the recipe does not mean giving the ingredients.
• Introduce connections who could benefit from knowing each other.
• Use the new "kudos" feature to show you are grateful and thankful for others.
• Display a warm and welcoming personality.
• Optimize your story and write it in the first person.
• Pay attention and actively listen to what is happening in your community.
• Consistently show up and proactively engage on the platform.
• Be open to diverse opinions, but don't befriend trolls. Stay positive.
And, last but not least, take things offline. Have a "LinkedIn latte" with professionals from LinkedIn any chance you get. It's a personal favorite of mine!
