How to Network on LinkedIn: A Guide. Networking is a great strategy when it comes to advancing your career. Usually, you have to wait for the next online event or search the Internet for new business connections. With LinkedIn, you can chat without getting out of bed. You just need to know how to do it right.
improve Your LinkedIn Job Search With These 6 Tips
Some users think that simply by registering their profile on LinkedIn, they are already doing their best to ensure their professional growth. However, you can get a lot more out of this bulletin board by following simple guidelines for better engagement on LinkedIn.
Create a Featured LinkedIn Profile
As with face-to-face communication, the first thing you should think about when networking online is making a good first impression. Before connecting to LinkedIn, make sure you have completed all the important preparations and put together a resume that will make you stand out on the platform.
How to Network on LinkedIn: A Guide
Here’s a quick checklist you can follow to make sure your LinkedIn profile grabs the attention of your potential new acquaintances.
Optimize your LinkedIn profile
Your LinkedIn profile doesn’t have a less important section than others. If you already have a LinkedIn Page, go through it, update all your information and resume (if you have one), and fill in any blank sections. A LinkedIn profile that has no spaces or spaces makes it look more professional and easier to read.
However, do not overload it with unnecessary details or irrelevant information, such as skills or old work experience, that are irrelevant in your current professional life.
Use a professional profile picture
Take a close look at the profile photo you are using. If he doesn’t exude confidence and look professional, it’s time to replace him with something more appropriate for your LinkedIn profile.
A photo is the first thing your people see when they click on your profile, and you only have one chance to impress them. Take time to choose your most professional head shot that will attract more views and interactions.
Populate your LinkedIn profile with keywords
LinkedIn users often overlook keywords or use them only in the Skills and Recommendations section of their profile. In fact, using the right keywords in your profile, starting with the headline, then the About Us and Experience sections, will help you appear in more searches on LinkedIn and get noticed by other professionals in your industry.
Grow Your LinkedIn Network
The best way to expand your reach on LinkedIn is to grow your connections. You can do this passively by interacting with people you already know on your list, but this is more suitable for a long-term strategy as it will not give immediate results.
To actively grow your LinkedIn audience, use the following tactics on your network.
Connect with the right people
The easiest way to grow your LinkedIn audience is to send out invitations to other professionals. Before you do that, try to identify the type of LinkedIn user you want to see on your network: it should be someone who can help you achieve your professional goals.
LinkedIn provides you with a number of search filters that you can use to narrow your search to the contacts you want. To access them, go to My Network> Connections> Search with filters. When you open the All Filters menu, you can customize your search options to find people from specific locations, companies, industries, schools, and more.
If you have a LinkedIn Premium subscription, you can use additional filters such as Years of Experience or Function.
Always personalize your connection invitation
When you connect on LinkedIn with someone you just met in person, you usually don’t have to worry about whether they know who you are and why you are sending an invite to connect. However, if you don’t know each other personally, getting a blank invitation is not a good start to your professional LinkedIn relationship.
Use the message that you can attach to the invitation to personalize it and start a friendly conversation with your new potential acquaintance.
Find new people to support you
As you expand your LinkedIn network, take advantage of the LinkedIn Support feature and make new connections to support you with the skills you both share. You can do this discreetly by first supporting them for what you think they are good at after examining their profile.
Engage with your LinkedIn Audiences
Just like in real life, LinkedIn networking doesn’t stop when someone accepts your invitation to connect. You need to start interacting with your audience to build a professional relationship. There are several ways to connect with your new (and old) LinkedIn contacts:
- Comment and share other people’s posts and articles.
- Publish your articles on LinkedIn to increase your online visibility.
- Congratulate others for promotions and anniversaries when you see them pop up in your feed.
- Always reply to your private messages on LinkedIn, as long as they are not spam. You never know when or where the next job opportunity will appear.
Join LinkedIn Groups
If you don’t think finding and adding new contacts manually is good enough, you can try another strategy for networking on LinkedIn by joining groups. You can find groups related to your professional field by entering keywords into the LinkedIn search bar. After that, set the filter to Groups and find those where users actively publish content and share knowledge.
Joining LinkedIn Groups can help you get noticed quickly by other professionals in your industry, but you also need to be proactive to do so. Participate in group discussions, ask and answer questions, and share relevant content in the group to share your knowledge and experience.
Grow Your Global Professional Network with LinkedIn
LinkedIn gives you the ability to take your network from local to global by connecting with professionals in your industry around the world. When this network is made up of people with whom you have some kind of relationship, you can be sure that you will never have problems finding a job again.
What tips can you give other LinkedIn users to improve their interactions on the platform? Share your LinkedIn best practices with us in the comments section below.