Hillary Clinton Joined LinkedIn And So What?

I think most people logging on to LinkedIn regularly couldn’t help but notice that a certain US presidential candidate has joined LinkedIn. She bluntly stated “I created a LinkedIn profile. Yes, I am looking for a new job.” We’re of course talking about Hillary Clinton who suddenly found out that this social media thingy is probably something she needs to get better at and, therefore, decided to also be on LinkedIn to promote her views on business. For me, however, there is one very important thing wrong with this. 

“Everyone knows you don’t join LinkedIn only when you’re looking for a new job or are out of a job” 

Networking is continuous and not a one-time thing

In fact LinkedIn is about continuous networking with colleagues, peers and future employers or recruiters. Now I know that there is no head-hunter calling you to ask if you want to be President of United States of America however why wouldn’t some of the same rules apply to even Hillary Clinton? Now more than anything it becomes such an obvious political stunt that it seems like an abuse of LinkedIn and a mockery of its purpose! 

Time for some advice

Alright, I can’t just be negative without being constructive as well so what should Hillary have done instead? Well here are 3 suggestions that would have made her entry into LinkedIn much more smoothe. 

• No matter when Hillary Clinton had joined LinkedIn she would have surely been made an Influencer no matter what so why wait so long? Why not just join one year ago and publish a couple of interesting yet unrevealing stories as to whether or not she would run for President?
• She already published she was running quite some time ago so why is she only coming to LinkedIn now? If she really was serious about reaching out to the millions of American business professionals on LinkedIn she should have made it part of her launch strategy to become a member immediately.
• LinkedIn for Influencers is about showcasing thought leadership and not sell a product and I wonder if the mix of saying “I’m looking for a job” and trying to promote your thoughts (and election program) isn’t a bit too obvious? Everyone knows she’s running anyway so she could probably have found a better way of introducing herself to the platform.

Still it seems like a very successful entry for a presidential candidate

I’ll admit straight away that it probably doesn’t matter much anyway to critique Hillary’s entry to LinkedIn as she will do just fine regardless. In 3 days and counting, she has gained more than 35,000 followers and almost 30,000 likes to her opening statement. Still some way to go through to beat Obama and his 1,934,618 followers however in general she’s probably way ahead of many of the other candidates like Rand Paul having a measly 128 connections i.e. not even being an Influencer. So let me end by congratulation Hillary on her impactful entry to LinkedIn despite the obvious flaws. Let’s see if you can keep it up and actually be a thought leader! 

What do you think of Hillary Clinton’s entry LinkedIn? Are you already following her? I’m not and probably will not, but that’s a different story. Also, if you like what you read let me know by clicking the “like” button or share the post. Please also post a comment if you have a different opinion! 

For more posts on how to promote yourself or make an impact on LinkedIn please check out some of my previous articles. 

If I Were 22: Stop Thinking About The Future – Focus On Right Now

7 Steps To Improve Your Personal Brand

Grateful To Be Here Or Already Moving On?

5 Insight From A Year Of Blogging

Personal Branding Is Like Building A Business 

Anders Liu-Lindberg is the Regional Finance Business Partner for Maersk Line North Europe and is working with the transformation of Finance and business on a daily basis. Anders has participated in several transformation processes amongst others helping Maersk Drilling to go Beyond Budgeting and transformed a finance team from Bean-counters to Business Partners. He would love the chance to collaborate with you on your own transformation processes to help you stay out of disruption. If you are looking for more advice on how to get the most of LinkedIn Anders also has a few tips to share as well as if you want help in your job search. Don’t be shy! Let’s get in touch and start helping each other.