1) Invitation Templates . . . don’t use them! You’re better than that! Nothing says “I couldn’t be bothered taking 10 seconds to write you a personal message” more than those boring templates. Want to stand out? Don’t do what everyone else is doing.
2) Avoid “IDK’s” “IDK” stands for “I don’t know” When someone hits that, in response to your invite, you get on Linkedin’s watch list. Get enough of them and they ship you off to the Gulag. Not quite, but they do get pissed and send you a snotgram warning you that if it continues you lose your ability to invite people to your network. Here’s how you limit the probability of an “IDK” Put this amazing line in your invite: “Should you chose not to connect, no worries, simply archive this message instead of the dreaded I don’t know button”
3) Don’t just accept invites . . . respond to them! A simple “I would be honored to connect with you Paul and appreciate the invite” helps you to stand out from all those who simply leave it at accepting. I’ve been doing this for well over a year and more often than not receive a cool response to my response! This is all about connecting. Let’s make a note to keep that philosophy front and center!
4) Status Updates: Use them! Make sure you stay on your network’s radar screen by updating a few times a week. Avoid needless “play by play”. Do include a helpful tip, an inspiring quote, a link to a useful article, something funny etc. Oh, and make sure it isn’t always a “me” centered comment . . . that tends to get old fast!
5) Your Network’s Status Updates: Everyone has a story and wants to be heard. With business moving at the speed of light, our own individuality is often “lost in the sauce” Your network’s status updates are a golden opportunity for you to acknowledge and validate others. In many ways it’s the modern day application of Dale Carnegie’s How To Win Friends And Influence People. Pop Quiz: People dig hanging out with people who make them feel good Si or No?
6) Take on a “Go Giver” mentality. Be willing to give, proactively and without keeping a scorecard. You can accomplish this by taking on the role of “matchmaker” and introducing people within your network. Give your advice freely, offer resources, cool books, websites, etc to those in need. I guarantee you that when you help enough other people, there is a natural tendency for them to want to help you in return. Do this enough and the feeling you will get from that giving will offer you a wonderful ROI.
7) Join The Right Groups! As many of you know, I am a card carrying member of the printing industry. I see so many people from my industry join only printing related groups. I’m just curious . . . How much printing do ya think another printer is gonna buy from ya dude? Cut the damn umbilical chord already! There are 5 types of groups that I recommend:
- Industry Groups (don’t over indulge) . Always good to know what’s going on, perhaps you want to bounce things off of peers etc. Just know that at times, this can be like that familiar face you cling to at a networking event. It’s safe and can become a convenient excuse for you not to branch out. Don’t spend all your time here!
- Vertical Groups you want to own. A Vertical Group is an industry that you are targeting. For example: If I am targeting IT, I would want to join a group from that industry. Tip: Go where the money is! There are certain industries that are thriving right now such as education, healthcare, consumer food products etc. By joining these groups you learn lingo, challenges, opportunities etc. You also begin to position yourself as an authority to your target audience.
- Local Groups & Groups in areas you want to build up. For example, I live in NY so it would probably make sense that I belong to a few local groups. At the same time, I travel quite a bit to Houston, hence my membership in the InHouston group. Easy enough!
- Professional Groups that help you hone your craft. As an aspiring sales rock star I belong to numerous sales groups, my recruiter friends belong to recruiting and HR related groups. Make sure you surround yourself with other professionals in your chosen line of work!
- Parallel Groups: These are groups that share the same target audience as you but are in different industries. Example: When I owned my sales training business, I networked with recruiters who placed high level senior sales leaders. I benefited because I had a newly anointed sales maverick who was open to my Jedi ways. My recruiter friends benefited because I knew sales leaders who needed talented sales Jedi. You can do the same in building your network through the various parallel groups!
8) Participate! Can’t hear me? Let me say that one louder PARTICIPATE! Oh, and just for the heck of it, participate! If all you are going to do is show up, collect connections and sit on the sidelines, please quit now! You will fail and write Linkedin off as a huge waste in the process! You need to participate in group discussions. Add your 2 cents, start a discussion of your own. Doing so makes you visible and helps you stand out from the masses. You will learn a thing or two and get this . . . meet people who like the way you think! On your homepage there’s a handy dandy Linkedin Answers thread. Answer questions and ask some of your own. Invite people from your network to participate in that Q & A. Linkedin even has a cool button you can push to make it easy! And please (pretty please) don’t launch into a sales pitch in the groups or in the Q & A. It’s the equivalent of saying “Hi, nice to meet ya, wanna screw?” It’s just wrong and we’ll leave my rant at that!
9) Understand that the key to “Social Networking” is to be (get this) sociable. To do this you have to be responsive when someone shoots you an email. It means that you shouldn’t be afraid to show your personality, your humorous side etc. It also means that you might want to take it down a notch in some of the group debates that happen from time to time. I want you to imagine something for a moment, in true theater of the mind style. I want you to think about this gigantic ball room where there are 10’s of thousands of people engaged in a round table discussion (that’s one gigundo table huh) Would you get up in front of all those people and verbally attack someone in that room? And just in case you were stupid enough to say “Yes” I’m curious as to how you think you would look to those observing your foolish behavior. I would venture to say that it probably wouldn’t present you in the best light? That’s exactly what happens on Linkedin when you partake in a public pissing contest. Way to brand yourself as angry! I’m sure prospects and potential employers dig angry people. When you disagree with someone, do it respectfully or shoot an offline email. Otherwise you look like a “DICK” (Dopey, Ignorant, Callous, Killjoy)
10) You must move these virtual relationships to real time! Having 2,000 connections is absolutely meaningless . . . until you do something with them! Make it your mission to connect “live” with 3-5 people each week from your network. It could be as simple as a “getting to know you” phone call, meeting for coffee, lunch or as many of you know, one of my favorites is to get 5-6 people from my network on a conference call for discussion on a relevant topic. Watch how fast you stand out and expedite your progress when you master this simple step!
11) Repeat After Me . . . Patience! Linkedin should not be embraced as a short term strategy. Think I’m kidding? Disagree with me? Watch how fast you’ll think Linkedin sucks when you try to rush something that experts call “Trust”. That’s what this is really about. Its not just about my network and your network. Its not just the old, “it’s not who you know, it’s who knows you”. Its about creating enough trust to move to a next step. When does that happen? The answer is simple, it happens when it happens. Patience grasshopper!
So there you have it. 11 of the simplest, easiest things to apply to make your Linkedin experience more productive!
Wishing you incredible success!
To check out Paul’s Linkedin group click on the rock star 
To receive deadly sales tips from Paul click on the Jedi 
