Part of building your digital influence on LinkedIn is spending time on developing real relationships with your connections. While everyone else is blasting out one-size-fits-all content to LinkedIn, you can stand out as a more valued connection with the members of your network. I call this influence networking.
The most important part of being an influencer on LinkedIn is to make your profile stand out. I receive hundreds of message, speaking requests, new business and opportunities because of my profile. Make sure it is complete. Make sure your Bio and information compels people to contact you. Don’t just add a title and description make yourself sound good.
Here is what my profile name and title reads:
Shelley Costello – Social Media Expert, Trainer & Manager
Creative Web Concepts USA – #1 Best-Selling Author, Speaker,Content Marketing, Social Media, Branding, Content Queen
Don’t forget the brand new tool that allows you to give you LinkedIn profile a Timeline header image like Facebook and Twitter. Check mine out.
My next favorite tip are the add on features that hardly nobody knows exist. LinkedIn allows you to stream in your WordPress Blog and more.
Add Rich Visual Content to Your LinkedIn Profile
Did you know that you can visually enhance your LinkedIn profile by using the Professional Portfolio feature to add photos, videos, linked articles with images, screenshots or even infographics and SlideShare presentations?
The surprising thing is that many people still aren’t using this feature, so it’s great timing for you to stand out now and get noticed with visuals on LinkedIn.
I use visuals to showcase my new #1 Best-Selling book on social media, a recent SlideShare presentation, articles I’ve been featured in and videos highlighting my speaking skills. But don’t just set and forget your new “visual” profile. Some of the best visual content to establish and update regularly on your profile include:
Speaker videos
Latest slide decks from speaking engagements
Launches and special projects such as books and programs
Recent articles or features in the press
Work samples and client work
Screenshots of social proof (for example, tweets from your speaking engagements)
NEXT… Identify your network MVPs (most valuable people) and review their profiles to gather intelligence about what’s important to them and what their needs and goals are. You can then find ways to help, acknowledge, congratulate, promote and even connect your connections on an individual level within your LinkedIn network.
Leveraging LinkedIn personal messaging, using @mentions and the Introductions feature and deliberately promoting the ideas (content) from your MVPs are examples of influence networking in action.
Take a few minutes to write out key phrases that your customers would use to search for you, and then optimize your LinkedIn profile with these keywords. It will help your company rank higher in search results.
Do the same for your company’s LinkedIn Company Page. Which brings me to the next tip…
Build a LinkedIn Company Page for your business
While it sounds daunting, building a LinkedIn Company page is pretty straight forward. You can cut and paste relevant information from your website and add it to the company page. No need for special web development.
Use your LinkedIn Company Page as an online brochure. Take the time to create a Showcase Page for each of your products or services (a relatively new feature). Include relevant links back to your business’ website.
Change the Value Proposition
Remember, LinkedIn is about interacting with others – customers, potential customers, vendors and colleagues. Keep the “marketing” to a minimum but position yourself and your business as a resource. By changing the value proposition and asking those you connect with on LinkedIn how you can be of service, you will realize more business opportunities in the long run.
Make sure you have your contact details listed.
We all struggle to keep our contacts up to date. One of the easiest ways to share your details is through LinkedIn, as you only need to share with your connections.
While many people get communication forwarded from LinkedIn to their regular email accounts, it seems many do not. So make it easier for people to find you and connect. I discovered I’d left an old dead phone number in there for a year or so. That was not the smartest move.
What are you waiting for? Give your profile a makeover and add some current, rich, visual content. You’ll be amazed at how much great content you can add by setting aside just an hour.
Copyright 2014
ShelleyCostello