Of all the social networks for professionals, Linkedin is the one that has really flown. Some social media experts seem intent on bamboozling you but Helen Hammond offers great nuts and bolts tips on how to get the most from Linkedin through simple steps...
The whole point of Linkedin – as the title suggests - is to develop links (or as they term it, connections) with people. You can’t only connect to your mum, dad, sister and boss... not if you expect to actually generate any work... you have to get out there and network.
Degrees of Separation
The trick to Linkedin is to understand how the process of “degrees of separation” works. In essence, you have potential access to connections that are up to three degrees away from you. First degree is “people you know”. Second degree is “the people who the people you know know” and so on.
The first step, therefore, is to build a good base of people you know....
People you know
Searching through your existing email contacts is the best way to start linking with people. Start by searching for people you already have in your contacts by adding your email address(es) to the wizard that presents itself.
You can link several email accounts (Google, Yahoo, Hotmail and AOL) to do this.
If you want to, you can also import your “desktop” contacts. What this means is those contacts you keep in Outlook or some other database. You do this by going to “connect with people” and clicking on the link that presents itself at the bottom. You can also type in individual email addresses. So why not take your existing targets list or mailing list and copy and paste it into the box.
Keep an eye on your “recently connected” section to see who has recently linked with whom. You’ll be amazed how many people you know. Also the “people you may know” prompt. This is a sweep of your “three degrees”. Just below this is a section that tells you who has viewed your profile recently. It’s a bit vague but it may well show a few options for connections.
Connections of Connections
You can also go through the connections that your connections have. You do this by going to their profile and scrolling down to see their connections list.
There is, finally, a section at the bottom of your homepage that allows you to link with other people at (or formerly at) the companies you are at (or were formerly at).
All of the above should be done on a regular basis... it will all change from time to time and it’s important that you keep growing your connections.
Keep it personal
When you actually get around to connecting with people make sure that you change the standard connection invitation. If you just send the standard one it says “I don’t care about you”. Try to put in some reason for the connection and some comment on their work or the opportunities for working together. Remember... you’re on here to develop business so start as you intend to continue.
Groups
There is one way to escape the three degrees of separation. Groups. Join a group that gives you a valid (authorised) reason for connecting. This is a great way of reaching out to people that you don’t know well and/or those you would like to connect with for business development purposes.
There are some people who use Linkedin who consider that everyone should connect with everyone... that is should be an open platform. These people are called LIONS (Linkedin Open Networkers). If you agree with them you can even join a number of LION networks that will allow you greater access. Beware! This goes against the Linkedin terms and conditions and is not allowed (or rather, it isn’t encouraged).
People you don’t know
Should you try to connect with someone you don’t know, make sure you do have a reason for doing so. If they were so inclined they could click on the “I don’t know them” button. Get five of these and you’ll have your account suspended and potentially cancelled all together.
If you don’t know someone, but you know you want to connect with them, there are two ways to get connected. You can take the bull by the horns and click to add them to your network or you can ask one of your connections (who knows them) to introduce you.
When you click on the profile of someone you can see, on the right-hand-side, there are two useful sections. The first is the bit that tells you how you are connected to them. This may not only help you to understand the potential relationship better (and therefore craft a convincing message for when you invite them to join your network) but also identify the best person to introduce you to them. You would do this by clicking on “get introduced by a connection” at the top right of their profile.
The second useful section is just underneath the “how are you connected to them” section. This is the “viewers of this profile also viewed”. As with much of Linkedin, this does what it says on the tin. This may present a number of opportunities for connections and is always worth a look, when you’re looking at profiles.
• Of course, another great way to find people to connect with is to search for them... but we’ll cover that next month.
