Linked to Influence Read online

  With Boolean search, you can use search operators such as AND, OR, NOT, and () in your searches. Do a quick Google search for “LinkedIn Boolean cheat sheet” and you will find a downloadable PDF from LinkedIn. Learning and leveraging these Boolean search operators can help you target your searches more effectively.

  Connect through Other Social Networks First

  A great way to get on the radar of someone you would like to connect with on LinkedIn is to first engage on other social networks. Twitter is my favorite, because there are no limitations on who you can follow or @mention publicly. (You might also be able to send a direct message on Twitter.)

  When you utilize a social network like Twitter to build rapport with someone first, they will be much more likely to recognize and accept your invitation to connect on LinkedIn.

  A marketing professional approached me exactly in this way. First, he shared a public tweet promoting an article I had written and @mentioned me in the tweet. I thanked him on Twitter publicly for sharing my article. The next day I received a private message from him on LinkedIn with the subject line “From Twitter to LinkedIn.” His message simply stated that he would love to connect on LinkedIn as well. I responded and provided him with my e-mail address so that he could send me an invitation.

  It is likely that I would have never been receptive to an invitation to connect on LinkedIn from this person if I hadn’t noticed him on Twitter first. The only reason I noticed him was because he promoted my content to his followers!

  This can work for you as well. If there is someone you would like to connect with on LinkedIn, promote their work on another social network first!

  Make New Connections through Companies

  Over three million companies have pages on LinkedIn. Chances are many companies in your city or town have a company page.

  Have you ever thought about mining those LinkedIn company pages to find new connections? Start following relevant company pages to keep up with the content they share on LinkedIn and to see who is engaging with that content as well. These updates will show up in your LinkedIn news feed.

  To source new connections from company pages, you can either visit the page directly or use LinkedIn’s advanced search.

  One idea is to conduct a search for a specific company. J.C. Penney is a large company that is headquartered in my city. I created an advanced LinkedIn search for my zip code to search for 1st- and 2nd-degree connections, as well as mutual group members who currently work at J.C. Penney. I also added the keyword “Manager” so that my search results would only show managers from J.C. Penney.

  This search returned over five hundred results. I reviewed this list of professionals for shared connections and began selectively sending invitations to connect.

  Don’t overlook company data on LinkedIn. You can find highly relevant people to grow your network with through company pages and searches.

  Connect through Content Engagement

  Your LinkedIn homepage news feed is full of updates from the activities of your network members. Status updates of articles and images are being shared. Those members you follow are publishing new posts to the LinkedIn Publishing Platform. Group discussions are being highlighted as well.

  You can engage with any of these updates in your news feed by liking, sharing, or commenting on them. You may also uncover out-of-network people to connect with who are also engaging with the updates in your news feed.

  I have found some very interesting people to connect with just by getting involved in conversations around a popular news feed item. In order to get involved in a conversation, simply post a comment on the update.

  This same concept applies to LinkedIn group discussions. When you engage in conversations on LinkedIn, you open the door to making new, relevant connections.

  Build Your Smart Network On The Go

  Did you know that 50 percent of LinkedIn’s traffic comes from mobile? That is a staggering statistic. If you are not using LinkedIn’s mobile apps, you are missing a big opportunity to grow and engage with your network.

  LinkedIn has two mobile apps that can help you build your smart network on the go.

  The primary LinkedIn mobile app really includes much of the same functionality as the desktop version of LinkedIn. With this app, you can conduct searches and send invitations to connect.

  In order to personalize your invitation from the primary mobile app, you will need to look for the small menu icon at the top of the profile you are viewing. There you will see an option to customize your invitation. Otherwise, if you just click the big blue “connect” button, you will send a generic invitation.

  The other LinkedIn mobile app is called Connected. Through the Connected app, you can connect with the “people you may know” that LinkedIn highlights for you. Customize your invitation by clicking on the small menu icon versus clicking on the large “+” sign. You will just need to look closely for that menu icon.

  I’ll talk more about how to use the LinkedIn Connected app later in the book.

  LinkedIn’s mobile apps can keep you plugged in on the go and assist you in growing your network in just a few minutes a day.

  What Are Followers and Do They Matter?

  You may be aware that you can earn followers now on LinkedIn just like you can on Twitter and other social networks. The number of followers shown on your profile includes your 1st-degree connections, as well as unconnected followers. Anyone on LinkedIn can follow you without actually connecting with you and becoming a part of your 1st-degree network. You can also follow anyone on LinkedIn.

  Your followers will be able to see and engage with your published posts on LinkedIn, but they won’t see anything else that is not public information.

  Growing your followers is a great way to grow your reach on LinkedIn. The best way to grow your followers is to publish posts on LinkedIn’s built-in publishing platform. I cover this strategy in Rule #7.

  Encouraging people to follow you that you don’t want to officially connect with can also keep you on track with building your smart network.

  Use Discretion When Accepting LinkedIn Invitations

  Once you know with whom you should be connecting on LinkedIn to build a smarter network, it becomes pretty clear whom not to connect with.

  I have a few additional suggestions to help you with this:

  • Don’t accept invitations from people who are missing a primary profile image

  • Don’t accept invitations from people who have an unusual or unprofessional profile image (I’ve seen someone use a dog’s head as their profile image!)

  • Don’t accept invitations from people whose profiles don’t seem legitimate (you will know when you see them; there are quite a few fake profiles out there)

  • Use discretion when accepting an invitation that is not personalized, especially from someone you do not know

  • Always look for a common thread that is consistent with your unique market opportunities before accepting an invitation

  One way to determine whether or not a new connection request is viable is to review the connections you have in common. If you see familiar faces as shared connections, it is probably okay to accept the invitation.

  Remember, you can always suggest that someone follow you on LinkedIn rather than allowing them into your 1st-degree network.

  There have been a number of incidents where I have accepted an invitation from someone I did not know, and they sent me a sales pitch message soon after on LinkedIn. I immediately remove people like that from my connections.

  When you send invitations on LinkedIn, make sure you are not doing any of the above! Send a personalized invitation any time that you can. Remember, it will stand out, and the receiver will be more likely to accept.

  Make Smart Network Building a Top Priority

  I can’t emphasize enough how important your LinkedIn network is today and how important it will be to you in the future. Being smart about the way you build your LinkedIn network is critic
al to attracting and building personal influence with the right clients.

  Building your LinkedIn network is also not a one-time event. It’s an ongoing activity. You should focus on expanding and improving your network daily. This includes pruning your network and removing those connections that you once said yes to but today may no longer be relevant.

  With a precise profile and smart network in place, you are ready for the next level! In the following chapters, I’m going to teach you more about how to grow your personal influence with your network.

  Chapter 3—RULE #3—Grow Your Visibility through Value

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  The essence of strategy is in activities—choosing to perform activities differently or to perform different activities than rivals.

  - Michael E. Porter

  In the digital age, we are bombarded with so many online messages and posts that it is impossible to keep up. It is imperative in today’s noisy world not only to be visible with your ideal clients, but also to be valuable—so valuable that your ideal clients will seek you out. You can become their beacon of light and voice of reason!

  Is it possible to stand out like this and rise above the noise? Is it possible to have your ideal clients or customers searching specifically for you and readily consuming every piece of content you share? Absolutely. This is the result of building your personal influence.

  LinkedIn is an ideal platform for giving value to the most important people in your professional world. It is also not terribly difficult to stand out on LinkedIn, even if you increase your activity level just slightly. Visibility plus value is a powerful combination.

  It is true that the more active you are on LinkedIn, the more visible you will be with your network. But the value you give to your network to help them overcome challenges and improve their lives is what will grow your personal influence.

  You should always be more focused on the needs and desires of your LinkedIn connections than on your own objectives.

  Build Your Network Influence with LinkedIn Status Updates

  Sharing status updates on LinkedIn is the easiest way to stay active, visible, and valuable with your network. Sharing value consistently on LinkedIn can keep you top of mind with your network and position you as an influencer in your market, niche, or industry.

  Activities such as participating in group discussions, making new connections, following companies, and engaging in updates from your network are also ways to create visibility on LinkedIn. However, I’m primarily going to have you focus on the activity of sharing status updates.

  Did you realize that someone must see you online seven to ten times before they remember you? If you aren’t giving value each time you share something on LinkedIn, you may not get another chance. Share your best ideas and insights along with the best content you can find. Don’t hold back.

  Status updates are short posts you can share with your LinkedIn network at any time. These short posts can include text, images, a link, a video, and even a slide presentation. Your status updates can be liked, shared, or commented on by your 1st-degree connections and your extended network as well.

  Your status updates may or may not always be seen by your connections. This is due to LinkedIn’s algorithm of customizing and personalizing the news feeds of members. In order for your status updates to be seen, they need to be worthy of engagement by the members of your network. Your updates need to be valuable, informative, and helpful in order to attract engagement.

  Your posting schedule can also be a factor for engagement. If you are posting status updates in the middle of the night, you won’t get the same level of traction that you might during the workday. (More on timing shortly.)

  When members of your network see you frequently sharing valuable status updates on LinkedIn that are meaningful to them, they are going to naturally be inclined to learn more about you, what you do, who you work with, and what your interests are. More of your connections will view your profile, visit your website, and even contact you directly.

  Remember, personal influence amplifies everything that you do on LinkedIn. As your personal influence grows, you will not have to spend as much time and effort on your LinkedIn activities. Your influence will do the work for you. Each status update you share will have greater impact.

  Understand Who You Are Connected To

  Once you have done the work of improving your network to make it smarter, you will have a better understanding of who you are connected to on LinkedIn. Knowing your network better makes sharing relevant information that much easier.

  None of us has a “pure” network. Our networks consist of network clusters. Understanding who makes up the majority of your LinkedIn network is important because you want to share status updates that resonate with your network!

  One way to better understand your network is to conduct an advanced LinkedIn search of your 1st-degree connections and filter for “All” under the industry filter. This search will give you a breakdown of your network by industry.

  Once you understand the industries represented by your network, you can better target your status updates to be value-added. Industry-specific status updates may make a lot of sense if your network is made up mostly of a single industry.

  In my case, the majority of my connections work in the financial services industry, or in professional services such as legal, accounting, and consulting. There is also a significant segment of professionals in my network who work in the digital marketing industry.

  My goal, then, is to share valuable status updates that resonate across all of these industries. These are the updates that tend to get the best engagement from my network.

  Post Universal Status Updates

  What if your LinkedIn network consists of multiple industries?

  Consider sharing universal content with your network. Think more about what all entrepreneurs and business professionals want and struggle with collectively.

  Most entrepreneurs and business professionals want to know how to grow their businesses, become more productive, enhance credibility, gain knowledge and expertise, expand their influence, become better leaders, make more money, improve their lives, be inspired, improve their energy levels, reduce stress, find talent, grow their networks, and the list goes on! These are what I refer to as universal themes that apply to all entrepreneurs and business professionals.

  Appealing to a broader audience with your status updates may increase your engagement levels more than sharing industry-specific content.

  The higher your engagement levels on your status updates, the greater your visibility will be. The more visible you are, the more memorable and influential you can become to your network.

  It is also very possible to appeal to a narrower segment of your network with industry-specific status updates.

  Going back to the example of my network, I could share updates that only appeal to the segment of my network working in the financial services industry and still gain traction in the news feed.

  Unfortunately, there is no way to target your status updates from your personal LinkedIn profile. However, LinkedIn’s news feed algorithm is getting smarter about personalizing the news feed for each member.

  The best thing to do is experiment and test. See which of your status updates are receiving the most likes, shares, and comments. Regardless of what information you decide to share with your network, make sure you are adding as much value as possible. I can’t stress this enough.

  Ultimately, engagement with your network is the key to earning visibility in the LinkedIn news feed!

  Personalize Your LinkedIn Status Updates to Increase Engagement

  The ultimate goal with your status updates is to earn engagement from your network. You want your connections to like, share, and comment on your updates. Achieving higher engagement levels with your updates will also teach LinkedIn that you share good stuff with your network. These are the updates LinkedIn likes to show in the news feed.

  In Rule #1,
I covered how important it is to personalize your LinkedIn profile. It is equally important to personalize your LinkedIn status updates. This means sprinkling in your personality, passion, and perspective whenever possible. Personalization will help you achieve higher engagement levels with your status updates.

  Jeff Goins of Tribe Writers shared a story with me about Stephen King. He said that the common thread through all of Stephen King’s books is not that they are horror novels. (They are not all horror novels, actually.)

  The common thread through Stephen King’s novels is that his blue-collar upbringing clearly shines through. His background has influenced his perspective. Think about your perspective. How do you see the world and how can you convey your perspective through your LinkedIn status updates?

  You can easily weave your personality, passion, and perspective into your status updates by including a personal comment or question each time you share. As of the time of this writing, LinkedIn status updates can contain up to six hundred characters.