How To Start Using LinkedIn To Your Advantage

Have you ever Googled your own name? ??

Let's be honest, nearly all of us have.

Try it now, what's the first thing that comes up? Chances are, unless you share your name with a celeb, LinkedIn will be the first result.

So why, in 2023, are so many people still neglecting it?

Everyone has a digital footprint, and everyone has a voice and value to share.

10 years ago, in 2013, I was working at LinkedIn and the perception amongst many then was that LinkedIn was very much still your online CV and a digital rolodex.

In the 10 years since, LinkedIn has invested heavily in shifting away from this. To become a platform filled with content, both long and short form, video and text based, that everyone has the ability to create and contribute too.

Yet, only 1% of members share content on a weekly basis ??

This begs the question, what are you using LinkedIn for, and what value are you getting out of it in 2023 - are you part of the 1%, or the silent 99%?

This post is my guide. As someone who's been active on the platform for a the past few years, and has experience in coaching businesses and sales teams on how to build their presence on the platform, on how to leverage LinkedIn to your advantage this year.

Build your reputation ??

Your reputation is what you make it, so be sure you're known for what you want to be known for. If that's being a voice in your industry, great. If it's being involved in a topic you're passionate about, fantastic. Whatever it is, whatever you care about, make sure you're known for it.

Too few people do this. We all have opinions on topics, and we have access to the platforms to share them so should use this to our advantage.

There are certain people who do this incredibly, incredibly well, and are the first names I think of when I think of a certain topic, for example:

• Remote & The Future of Work - Hanna Larsson & Tim Grimes
• Outbound Sales - Tom Boston & Charlotte Johnson
• Enterprise Selling - Krysten Conner & Sarah Brazier
• Personal Branding & Content Creating - Jenny Pater
• Pay transparency - Aydan Al-Saad

Everyone of these people leverages LinkedIn in a different way, but the consistent thing with all of them is that they've built a reputation as being known for their topic.

This is what you should aspire to get to if you want to really leverage LinkedIn to your advantage.

Whether someone is looking at you to hire, do business with, ask advice from or anything else, having a profile which shows that you're knowledgable and passionate about something is a HUGE advantage.

Connect with and follow relevant people ??

LinkedIn is only as valuable as who you're connected to and the people, companies and topics you follow.

Connect with just your co-workers and LinkedIn quickly becomes a very repetitive, dry place ??

I think of curating my LinkedIn feed just like you would a playlist or bag of pick and mix - you need to have variety in there.

1. Connect to your friends, co-workers & customers - this is basic.
2. Follow people who have a voice in the topics you're interested in - many topics have standout LinkedIn 'Influencers' who regularly post and are a leading voice in the space.
3. Search for hashtags for topics you're keen on - this will vastly broaden the number of posts you see from people you're not connected to.
4. Follow companies and brands you care about - brands don't post a huge amount but when they do it's usually relevant if you have an interest in them and LinkedIn's company post targeting has got a lot better in recent years.

Your feed will only ever be as interesting as you make it.

Side note on connecting with people...

There's a lot to be said for connecting with / without a personalised note. I have no preference, but if you send a note make sure it's relevant. For example "saw your recent post on the future of work, would love to connect - it's a growing interest of mine and there may be some common learnings to share".

Don't however connect with everyone you see who's of interest - you'll end up getting connection privileges suspended. That's what the follow button is for. When connecting, I think of it as:

1. Do I know them? or...
2. is there anything of value I can add to them?

If the answer is no to both, follow, don't connect.

Join the conversation ??

Once you've built your feed, start to engage with content. This is a must for building your LinkedIn brand and adding value to others by not just posting.

There's a number of ways to do this - low and medium touch.

Low touch is can be simple as interacting with a post or a comment through the 'react' button. You won't believe how a simple 'like' or 'insightful' reaction gets you name noticed and people looking at what you do and talk about.

Next is to comment. It's a great way to add your opinion on topics you may not yet be confident enough to post about yourself, and also a brilliant way to start a conversation.

If you're using LinkedIn to network, sell or look for a job, commenting on content others have posted is a huge step towards opening up a one-to-one conversation with someone.

Make sure your comments add value though ??

It's a similar rule to meetings - if you're just going to repeat what everyone else has said, it's not going to do a huge amount.

My rule of thumb and what's worked well for me is to find that balance between a super simple 'Great post' [a bot can do this], and a lengthy 2 paragraph comment [this is the sort of thing to take to a message].

If you're comment could fit in a Tweet, before Elon increased the character limit, you're on the right track ????

Own your profile ??

I cannot stress this point enough...

The company you work for, does NOT, own your LinkedIn profile ??♂?

Even if you work in sales, your profile is yours. You own the header image. You own the headline. You own the content you post.

Yes, you should add a relevant, concise description of what you do for the business under your current role, but this should be what YOU do, not what the business does.

If I visit a profile, I'm interested in the individual first, company second. When I look at the profile, I want to see their personality, not a header image, headline and 'job' description that are the same as every other person that works at the company.

Use this space to tell people what you do, and own the real estate LinkedIn gives you with the header image. There are some great templates you can use on Canva to customise this and really make it your own.

Every profile has a 'Featured' section - use this space to pin your posts, articles or work that is most relevant to who you are today, what you stand for or that you are proud of. This isn't a space to direct people to your company website, if you want to do that add a link in your contact section, this is a space to show off your work - think of it as your portfolio.

You want to stand out from the crowd ??

Again, whether you're using LinkedIn to find a new role, sell or simply build relationships, taking the time to curate your profile to best represent you is time well spent.

There are benefits to your company as well. How you show up is a representation of the business you work for. 20 years ago, if you showed up to a meeting late, dishevelled and with nothing of value to say, that would reflect badly on the business too.

The same is true today, but also how you show up online is no different. People want to hire, buy from and get to know people who are human. Use LinkedIn to your advantage to put your voice your best foot forward online.

Give back ??

Compared to other social platforms, LinkedIn is the one where I believe we are our true selves. There are no filters and most people are on here to try and better themselves and grow whether it be personally or professionally.

For many LinkedIn is an opportunity to find a new career, find a new customer, or find a mentor.

I myself have used it over the past year for all three, and have relied on the goodwill, help and advice of others on the platform along the way.

This can be as simple as an introduction to a hiring manager, or right person in your business to speak to, or giving up 15 minutes of your time to chat.

It can be sending someone a link to a role if you see they're searching for a new job.

Or it could be sharing a piece of content with someone after you saw their comment and knew they'd find it relevant.

All of this costs nothing asides a few minutes of your time, but for the other person can be incredible valuable and appreciated ??

Personally, I'm also a huge believer that things like this get remembered, and one day the good deed will come back around. As someone who's been though a lay-off round in particular, this sort of act is worth the persons weight in gold.

Try some of the above points, let me know how you get on.

It's not hard, but it does require effort and consistency.

Engage with peoples content and post some of your own for 3 months and see what happens. Try it for a year and then see ??

Want to learn more about building your brand on LinkedIn or how to set up your profile for what YOU want? Drop me a message ??

Happy to send you some resources and give you some tips ??