LinkedIn is clearly a valuable tool for professionals. But some people use it completely wrong.
Some people miss out on so much of its value because they don’t take the time to learn it.
So in this post, I want to share how you can get the most out of LinkedIn.
Optimize Your Profile
The first step is to complete your LinkedIn profile. The question you want to ask yourself is, “What do I want to accomplish by using LinkedIn?”
Do you want a new job? Connect with more peers? Improve your B2B or B2C networking?
Your answer will determine how you craft your profile. Whatever the case, you must fully complete it if you want to get the most out of it.
Here are some of the tips to get you started:
- Your profile photo should show your face
- List all of your skills
- Get recommendations from others
- Add your interests, causes you care about, and your projects
Doing all of this shows other professionals that you’re organized, put-together, and that you’re serious about your career.
Sell Yourself (In The Headline)
The first impression you give people on LinkedIn is your headline (as well as your photo). So don’t be afraid to sell yourself in your headline — meaning you tell people what you’re good at.
Tell people what you do and include relevant keywords to increase your chances of appearing in search results. Don’t just use your job title. Use your headline to let people know how you’re making a difference.
And when you write your summary, you can pick up where your headline left off. Expound on what you do, why you’re good at it, and how you’re making an impact.
Don’t Accept Every Connection Request
It’s okay to reject connection requests.
You might think that the bigger your LinkedIn network is, the better. But that’s not necessarily true.
Only add people who will add value to your network. LinkedIn isn’t Facebook, even though some people treat it like that. LinkedIn is all about curating your own circle of professionals. It should include people to whom you can add value and from whom you can glean value.
Anyone who doesn’t fit that definition doesn’t have to be one of your connections.
Find People With LinkedIn Sales Navigator
How do you know who to connect with and who to avoid? LinkedIn Sales Navigator is a premium account that can help with that.
It has several extra features tailored toward salespeople and marketers, but it’s also perfect for those who want to connect with similar people.
The main tool you’ll find useful is the Advanced Search.
This search feature lets you find certain professionals based on a number of filters. This means you can find the right people — people who actually want to connect with you.
The filters available include:
- Job title
- Industry
- Location
- Professional background
- How closely you’re connected on LinkedIn
- If they’ve been mentioned in the news recently
- And many more…
After you find people with these filters, you can add them to your lead list. A lead list is a way to bookmark their profiles in an organized fashion.
To create a lead list within your Sales Navigator account, just go to Lists → Lead Lists and click on “Create Lead List.”
You can then contact them through LinkedIn’s InMail messaging or via email. InMail does limit you to 20 300-character messages a month.
Email, however, has no limits. So you can use a LinkedIn email finder to extract your leads’ names and email addresses in order to cold email them.
If you want to go one step further, you can set up notifications on those leads. So you can have LinkedIn alert you when anyone on your list changes jobs, views your content, or changes something on their profile.
Want to get the most out of LinkedIn? Follow these steps and you’ll be good to go.
