Be Effective on LinkedIn by Being Active on LinkedIn

#TheLinkedInGuru Gazette

Hello again everyone and welcome to another edition of #TheLinkedInGuru Gazette!

A ??felt thank you to the 24,100+ newsletter subscribers for coming along on this journey!

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Introduction

Being active on LinkedIn should mean a different thing to every single one of us. Less than half of the total 756 million users (about 310 million people) are active on LinkedIn each month. Only about 5% of the total users contribute content on a weekly basis. (Source for these statistics Omnicore Agency)

I have been publishing this Newsletter since the beginning of August 2020. Publishing a Newsletter has been a VERY beneficial activity for me. That's a part of what being active on LinkedIn means for me. But, that is only part of the story. So I thought I would use this edition of the Newsletter to provide what I have found to be my best "guidelines" when it comes to being active and answer a few basic questions about being active on LinkedIn.

If you are already active please share what you do on LinkedIn in the comments so others can see what works for you. What has being active on LinkedIn done for you?

Why Be Active on LinkedIn?

The basic answer to this question is because in order to get real value out of LinkedIn, you have to DO something on LinkedIn. And, I have always found that the more I put INTO LinkedIn the more I get BACK from LinkedIn.

Given the statistics I mentioned above (Only about 5% of the total users contribute content on a weekly basis.) it certainly seems to me that an easy way to differentiate yourself would be to create content that gets you noticed.

However, I have to quote Stephen Covey on this one because "Begin with the end in mind" is very important on and off of LinkedIn. You need to decide what your GOALS are first because that should focus what you do and how you do it on LinkedIn.

And, to be honest, another answer to this question is "Because it is FUN"! Let's face it, if LinkedIn feels like too much work or you don't enjoy it, then why bother in the first place? Being active on LinkedIn has to "fit your style" and it is always best if you can make it a part of your normal routine and it becomes as comfortable as your favorite pair of socks...

Shout out and THANK YOU to Shelly Elsliger for the gift below. LOVE my socks, my friend!

Where and How to be Active on LinkedIn?

Does the word EVERYWHERE come to mind as the answer to this question?

It should!

But, I also need to add that there are so many different places to be active that NOBODY can be ALL places at ALL times, so you are going to have to pick and choose where you will be the most effective on LinkedIn.

Folks who know me, know that I love a good acronym and I think LinkedIn is SUPER! So I thought I would repeat one of my acronyms to give you an idea of where and how you can use LinkedIn.

LINKEDIN

L - Learning, you can learn something new every day on LinkedIn.

I - Inspiration, you can find inspiring content and people.

N - News, you can keep up with what is happening with your "peeps" or the world in general.

K - Kindness, you can generate a wave of kindness that travels the entire globe.

E - Excellence, you can observe excellence or create your own excellence.

D - Diversity, you can find a globe full of many diverse people and backgrounds.

I - Inclusion, you can help foster the most inclusive and tolerant social media on the planet.

N - Networking, you can build a big or a small network that fits your specific needs.

What to do to be Active on LinkedIn?

There are two basic areas where I contribute on LinkedIn.

First, I spend some time creating content (like this Newsletter and the LinkedIn Tip of the Week) with the intent of helping others be more effective on LinkedIn.

Second, (and here is where I spend most of my time) I engage with my network on the homepage feed, in comments and through Direct Messages (DMs). Yep... it's called networking!

In the interest of time, rather than list all of what I do I thought it would be best to provide you a couple of other resources that I have found MOST useful in helping me and others be active and effective on LinkedIn.

If you would like an excellent reference on the different kinds of posts, pros and cons of each, and how to publish effective content then please check out "How to Use Content to Build Your Presence on LinkedIn" by the fantastic LinkedIn Word Wizard, Lynnaire Johnston from Auckland, NZ. Also take a look at Lynnaire's book: Link?Ability, 4 powerful strategies to maximise your LinkedIn success.

If you want your content to really build your personal and professional brand, then please check out the book Content DNA by the "relentlessly helpful" B2B content writer and fellow "LinkedIn Nerd", John Espirian from the United Kingdom.

These folks are both great at what they do, I highly recommend them, and I hope you learn as much from them as I have over the years!

Summary

And so this brings to end another edition of #TheLinkedInGuru Gazette. I hope you enjoyed it and found something you can use if you wish to become more active out here.

I am always finding new things to do on LinkedIn and new ways of learning to use this tool. I hope you are too!

As always, I appreciate any feedback you may want to give and urge you to please share these tips with your network.

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Namaste ???? and thank you!

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