9 Things You Should Stop Doing On LinkedIn
LinkedIn is one of the world’s largest business platforms. It focuses on professional networking and career development. It displays your resume, searches for jobs, and enhances your professional reputation. It helps you engage with other people and post updates. Many people forget LinkedIn is a professional business platform. It does not work as others. People usually post their personal information unprofessional content on Facebook and Instagram.
LinkedIn helps people from professional backgrounds build work-related relationships. It promotes their careers and forms their organizations in public. Sometimes, people do not understand the true purpose of LinkedIn.
- Posting Spam Comments
If you post articles on LinkedIn, you are not a stranger to the comments section. You will either find people who take interest in your topic or people who disagree with it. You might also have noticed a small section of respondents who attack you personally. They throw out their anger at you for no particular reason. Businesses should have a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to spam comments. Your comment section is a precious social media real estate, and you must utilize it to represent your brand values and customer's voice. Hence, you to remove spam comments once and for all.
2. Posting Political Content
Political content has no place on professional business platforms like LinkedIn. It is nothing more than a significant waste of time. It is useless to argue with people who have different opinions. Arguing on professional business networks will not change their perceptions in any way. Your only job is to be professional and serve your clients. Politics as a career is not a good option for LinkedIn as it has its own time and place. This doesn’t only include posting spam comments about politics. Talking about anything political might seem very unprofessional to some people.
Don't forget that you represent an organization associated with you on your profile. Hence, LinkedIn is not an appropriate platform to list in your political discussions.
3. Discussing Religious Point of View
If you are talking about religion on LinkedIn, stop right there! People tend to misinterpret meanings if you casually mention religion on LinkedIn. LinkedIn is a global platform. Whatever you talk about will associate with you and your profile. If you talk about religion, your followers or clients might associate you with it. Your followers might build false assumptions about you.
The reasons would have nothing to do with your business. It is true that we have different religious beliefs. But, every topic has a specific time and place to discuss. You can talk about religion on platforms designed for it. Religion is one topic where people have strong perceptions. It might bring out the worst in people. People are quick to judge on public platforms. It’s essential to avoid posting something that could drive potential followers away.
4. Using Unassociated Mentions in Your Posts
Suppose, you post articles over certain people that influence you. Or, ask particular questions from people in the comment section. In that case, it is a great way to raise awareness and increase your exposure on LinkedIn. Some people try to attract unnecessary attention by tagging irrelevant people. These unnecessary tags have a considerable following. People think it might attract their connections as well. It is like when you post a cluster of unrelated hashtags at the end of your posts on Instagram and Facebook. It is not a bad idea to tag people if you want to gain some exposure.
Make sure you tag relevant people associated with the type of content you post. If you tag a massive number of unnecessary people, it might reduce your credibility. This will affect the reliability of your content. Moreover, the person that you tag might feel annoyed and remove you as their connection.
5. Bragging About Yourself
It is a great strategy to tell people about what you are and what you do professionally. Or let’s say, what your company is about. If you overdo it, people might feel irritated and remove you as a connection. LinkedIn was built to promote your business profiles. If you brag about yourself or your company too much, it will annoy those connected to you. It is okay to do it every now and then and on different sites. It is great to share exciting information, but posting the same content becomes boring.
6. Marketing Using LinkedIn Messaging
If you use LinkedIn, you might be aware of the sales pitch you receive on LinkedIn messenger. Some people send automated marketing pitches on messenger selling their business. The new bait marketing businesses send you automated messages. They act interested in your business and try to form a connection. Next, they make a sales pitch through LinkedIn messenger as soon as you accept their invite.
This is a significant mistake that businesses make. It causes them to lose credibility with potential connections. It’s like baiting viewers on a youtube video, that has nothing to do with the thumbnail. It is important to build a relationship with the person you wish to connect with. If you try to develop forced relationships with people who have nothing to do with you, you might rub them away. They will lose trust in your organization as they no more feel personal or genuine.
7. Spelling and Grammatical Mistakes
No matter how good your business is, you rely on the written word to get your message across. In this digital era, business dealings in written form can take many shapes. These can be applications, letters, reports, emails, and websites. Your written material might include different business queries through LinkedIn Messenger. and much more.
If your content has spelling and punctuation mistakes, it might confuse the viewers. It will leave them guessing what you are trying to say. In this competitive market, nobody has the time to sit and analyze. They have many other options. You definitely do not want poor grammar to ruin valuable business deals.
8. Uploading a Non-Professional Display Picture
When you upload a profile or a cover picture, your account earns a personality. LinkedIn is a professional business platform. Uploading specific images can give off a wrong impression of your business personality.
For example, a cropped group photo with your best friend’s face squished next to you. It is not an appropriate picture for your LinkedIn profile. Uploading images with pets or partying will give out a non-professional impression. You must upload an excellent and clear portrait with a smile. It will give off warm and friendly gestures. Make sure the dressing is correct. Not uploading a profile picture will make your profile appear very bland and boring. Hence, people might not feel comfortable making connections with you.
9. Having Many LinkedIn Profiles
LinkedIn does not allow two or more profiles for a single person. If you have two careers, and you make multiple LinkedIn accounts, someone might find out and report you. These reports might completely shut your LinkedIn profile. If you have two careers, decide which do you want to act as a lead. You can add more experience by editing your profile. Make sure you avoid creating multiple profiles for different jobs.