Connections ? or Followers ? which one do I need more of to be most successful on LinkedIn (AskMeAboutLinkedIn) Q#071
Paul Ashley Jensen DTM
Business Development Mastery ?? 4 Accountants | BDMs | Brokers | IT | Lawyers?? Master Connector | Speaking | Content | CRM | FollowUp > Business Development results OnLinkedIn & InPerson | Servant Leader
The most common advice seems to be Connect Connect Connect ... as many connections as fast as you can. Question: "Connections ? or Followers ? which one do I need more of to be most successful on LinkedIn ?"
(1) All those Connections requests !
Most of us receive more than our fair share of Connections requests from people that we dont know and probably will never meet. And so many of the connection without any Connections Notes or clear reason why they are connecting (it's like collecting business cards out of a hat: what are you going to do with all those people who probably don't know you ?)
While there are many advantages to these on LinkedIn (there is a whole list of interactions you have with a Connection that you can't have with other users) a Connection seems to imply that you know the person, doesn't it ? So what if all those connections aren't people who are really "known" to us ? What differences does it make ?
(2) So maybe the answer is Followers ?
If you look at a profile like Seth Godin you may get a different perspective: only 7 Connections and 105,441 Followers ! So that doesn't seem to make sense ? Where are all the connections ! Yet in many ways his profile would be the envy of 99.9% of the users on LinkedIn. Seth profile while rare isn't unique: there are many successful profiles on LinkedIn with more: its just not very common.
(3) Followers it is !
The best answer seems to be: you need more Followers and less connections by perhaps several multiples ... considering Seth Godin and other rare profiles
- Followers consume your content and isn't that one of the key drivers to success on LinkedIn ?
- and you can have more Followers than Connections ?
(4) Why do you want more Followers ?
Why do you want more Followers ? Because of this definition of the essence of success on LinkedIn which is effectively sharing your own high value content targeted to a specific audience to encourage mutually beneficial conversations that create the opportunity of converting your audience into your customers / your connections
In more specific terms, for each of us the answer is different and it lies along the path of these questions:
(1) Why are you on LinkedIn ? What is your primary metric of success
(2) what is the one key action you are taking to achieve that metric ? (Directly or indirectly)
Side note 1: Note well: Not all Followers are equal in value to you as you build your Brand, your Business and your Network on LinkedIn:
- Followers on your Profile are good
- Followers on your page are better
- Followers on your showcase page are the best (more on that later)
Side note 2: Some other examples of people you may know off LinkedIn and their profile on LinkedIn:
Simon Sinek - 2,866,943 Followers
Brene Brown - 2,015,622 Followers
Amy Cuddy - 765,017 Followers
Reed Hastings - 358,188 Followers (Netflix CEO)
Anjali Sud - 154,333 Followers (Vimeo CEO)
Jennifer Lopez - 128,471 Followers
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Q#071 #askmeaboutlinkedinpj #digitalmarketing #startup #thelinkedinstrategist
Marketing Director & Coach | Talking about Mindset, Marketing & Mastery
4 年You know, i've been wanting to talk about Seth's profile for a while now, - I mean this is somebody that simplifies communication, he has. Godin uses the dot blog domain. seth.blog He doesn't use any imagery so there's no need to use proper social schema for rich snippets that show a featured image when he shares a link. (He just uses his profile picture) He's not posting on the platforms itself he's posting on his own blog he's building his list. - I think we can all learn something from the sort of minimalist approach when you have earned the trust and respect of your audience. - So.... all that considered, I don't think you can really look at Seth Godin anymore to make good tactical decisions on LinkedIn. - It's going to work but it won't work as well and I think this is the point Seth Godin's missing out on a lot of reach. And it's not just LinkedIn that is messing up its YouTube too. But you're talking to someone that's like a...He's reached some, like high level tier of influencer or authority, and you know his community will essentially back him and all that momentum that he built with his books will keep pushing him forward.
? TEDx Coach ? Helping Ambitious Women Entrepreneurs Become Recognized Experts and Confidently Sell Their Services ? Business & Life Coach ? Podcast Host
4 年Why more followers and less connections?