The 411 on Growing Your LinkedIn

To be honest, whatever little success I have on LinkedIn came by mistake. I started my account as a fresh-out-of-university graduate in 2018; all I wanted was to ‘put myself out there’ with the hopes of attracting potential employers. I put a lot of work into understanding the platform and it all paid off! Today, LinkedIn is my professional playground!

LinkedIn has worked so well for me that even strangers recognise me in public, which usually breeds opportunities to network outside of the professional set-up. Networking is not the only benefit that I have gained from LinkedIn; but without diving into an appreciation story, I’d like to share a few tips on how to adequately utilise LinkedIn.

TIP 1: GET CONNECTED. The only thing I was certain about when I started my LinkedIn account, was that: my NETWORK would be my NET WORTH. From the get-go, I was very intentional about building my network. So, I connected with my colleagues, former colleagues, friends, family, and people in my industry who inspired me. My intention was to get to 500+ connections. It should be noted that 500+ will not only be displayed on your profile – portraying you as a valuable influencer in your industry – it also offers you a great chance of being suggested to other users, which will ultimately help you to build your network. And just like I have suggested, once I reached 500+ connections, my network began to grow quickly. I currently have 6000+ followers and get hundreds of views weekly.

TIP 2: SHARE YOUR STORY. The secret to growing your LinkedIn is to share your story. People want to be inspired, encouraged, and motivated; all of these feelings come from gaining an insight into one’s personal experiences. However, instead of merely reporting what you do at work, it would be better to creatively reveal what your work entails. Take me for example: most of my work involves content creation for a youthful audience. No one wants to log onto LinkedIn and see me post: ‘Today I shot a video of students at University of Lusaka’. My trick? I share specific things that I learnt or that I enjoyed. So, when you read through my posts, you’ll find personalised stories that reveal my day-to-day tasks, but also highlight aspects of my personality.

TIP 3: CREATE A STRATEGY OR TIMETABLE. In order to reach your audience, you need to start by understanding them. Observe your network and assess when they are online and when they usually respond to your posts. Once you have this information, you can easily prepare to schedule posts in order to gain engagement and build your network further. It should be noted that frequent posting will lead to LinkedIn recommending your posts to your network. Additionally, once your network begins to engage with your posts, their connections will become aware of your content and hopefully they will want to connect with you too.

TIP 4: GET ENDORSED + REQUEST FOR RECOMMENDATIONS. The more your network grows, and the more your share your story, people will begin to recognise you as a valuable member of your industry or field. This will organically lead to people endorsing your skills. It should be noted that you will have to list your skills in order for others to endorse you. Furthermore, it will work to your benefit if people recommend you – this is some form of commendation for your work. However, you have to request for others to recommend you. The trick is to send recommendation requests to people who you work with or who you have worked with in the past.

TIP 5: FEATURE SUCCESSFUL POSTS. LinkedIn allows you to ‘feature’ some of your best work. This highlights your posts at the top of your profile – giving potential connections an insight into who you are. It additionally makes your profile more attractive – and could result in potential connections wanting to be affiliated with you.

With these five tips, I trust that you are now equipped to thrive on LinkedIn. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask in the comments section. I wish you the best in your LinkedIn journey.?