Your LinkedIn Homework
A client of mine is struggling with her social media. We talked about which networks would be best for her to grow and I thought, based upon her industry that LinkedIn would be a good one with which to start. I told her that I would give her some homework to help her get started and thought that perhaps this is something that others could use as well. Therefore, I am making it a blog post.
If you are interested in growing YOUR LinkedIn Network, then here is your homework too.
- Gather all the business cards from other people that youβve while networking at conferences, meetings and in general.
- Look them up on LinkedIn and if youβre not already connected, send them an invitation to connect. Be sure to remind them from where you met, if you can remember.
- Look up and join LinkedInΒ Groups where you can find people in your target market. For my client, she should look up womenβs groups, inspirational and coaching groups, author groups and speaking groups.
- Go to the LinkedIn Group discussions and participate. You donβt have to start a discussion to participate. But you can βLikeβ and βCommentβ on various discussions. This will get you noticed.
- If you see someone in particular that you feel is a good match and you like their discussions and comments, invite them to connect. TELL them you like their discussions and comments β it will ensure they wonβt IDK (I Donβt Know) you.
- You can also introduce yourself in the group and ask others to connect with you for networking. An example could be βHi Iβm Claudia Loens. Iβm a Writer, Social Media Consultant and WordPress designer. Letβs get connected! My email is [email protected].β Post it as a new discussion.
- You can do an advanced search to determine which individuals you wish to have in your network. Use the search tool to search for people based upon a lot of different criteria, including location, title, level of connection or other things. Pick what is important to you and search on it.
- When the βPeople You May Knowβ list comes up, scroll through it and connect with people that look like a good connection for you. Youβd be surprised at how many you will recognize.
If you do these things on a weekly basis, your network will grow quickly. And overall, that should help your business grow too!