Basics - that's it!!

Curiosity prompted me to check my Social Selling Index today! I am at 82 which means I have established a professional brand, along with connecting with the right people and right insights and build professional relationships. Kudos to myself...J as LinkedIn and Sales Navigator has personally been an amazing way to connect with my customers.

However, let me share some stats about the last year. Not much of using Inmails or saving leads features, however, have always had a saved list of 100+ interesting companies and their news which pops on my Sales Nav homepage. I have exactly 2754 connections and I know and have interacted with all of them recently and in the past.

Still, I managed to retain an 80+ score all over the year and my tenure in using one of the best customer and career engagement platform.

How do I do it?

Basics!!!.... and below are TOP 10 BASICS my readers may consider to make the most of this tool.

1. I have never focussed much on SSI. For me, the activity and the return this tool provides me against the time I invest matters more than anything.

2.   Maintaining a professional brand which includes – my profile photo, tagline, background image and summary (think over what we see of others’ profile on our handhelds)

3.   Work experience – The last 10 years matters to me as to my current and future employer. I am not going to depict it in a boring way. Do we have a story in every job we did? Certainly yes! Put those stories there – the good ones...J and don't consider LinkedIn to be your resume.

4.   Your skills are important to you and people visiting your profile – Make sure you are endorsed for the right skills.

5.   Recommendations – Absolutely important. I think if someone is recommending me for a job her or his reputation is at stake. I take LinkedIn recommendations seriously.

6.   Education & Certifications – Never ever miss on your College or University because that might lead to common alumni somewhere. Certifications are so important to establish credibility. If you haven’t had any, my recommendation will be to try Linkedin Learning and take up some courses that you are passionate about or helps back in your job.

7.   Connections – I do have far fewer connections. However, I make it a point to send a connection request with a personal message, every time I connect with an individual. Even if she or he belongs to my organization or have met moments ago.

8.   Articles – I love writing. That's my way of expressing myself. May not be yours. However, without plagiarizing, there are so many amazing articles and reports around that you can read and frame a few opinions of your own.

9.   Groups – Ask to be added in the groups where you can share and engage with like-minded people. They may be your customers – but keep that thought secondary. Join groups with authenticity.

10.   Regular sharing of posts – this is the best way of engaging with your colleagues and customers. Just don't share – read them or at least scan through to know what the content is and then share with some thoughts of your own.

Lastly, amplify whenever you have written or shared a new article or a post. We all are busy and have thousands of connections. Our and their feeds might get cluttered. So asking friends and colleagues to read your article/post and give feedback is not a bad idea.

I am going to do that now.