I Have Reached 9000 Connections on LinkedIn. Here`s What I Learned

Recently, I crossed 9000 connections on LinkedIn. It's not just connections but it's a great network that I am able to build over the period of time. I believe with new connections, you get a peek into the professional network of the person you are connected with. Many will agree It is easy to reach 9000 connections. You just send as many invitations as you can and hope for the best. I agree, that can work too (even though I would argue it`s not the best approach). But what do you do with your connections, how do you become a valuable member of your network? After Connecting to this much people I got to know that their are millions of professionals working in HSE filed across the Globe. I joined LinkedIn back in 2014 when a university fellow just made my account and told me verbally about the plat form and then for four years till 2018 I never used the account. It was in 2018 when I came to UAE for the first time and some of the friends recommended me to use and get benefit form this amazing plat form.

I`ll try to partially answer this in just a few points, all of which I have learned through my 3 years of networking on LinkedIn.

Keep your profile Updated

This is the most important thing, to begin with. Your profile is what anyone sees first to connect with you on the platform. Ensure that you highlight all your experience , achievements and keep your profile updated always. The people who want to connect with you will see your profile first and if it is meaningful for them, will try to connect. I have always ensured that I keep my profile updated and that has helped a lot.

Remember, this is a professional platform

We all know that this is a professional platform. Try to stay professional enough. Yes, at times, you can always share your personal life's achievement and happiness with your LinkedIn network but that has to be random. We are human after all and giving peek into your personal life just makes the relationship with your network better.

Be Open to Share

Just making a network doesn't help. Be vocal to share your knowledge. Like the posts that you feel you really like, comment, share the posts or articles which will make sense to your network. You have to open up to learn. Sharing useful data with your network helps to grow your network in and also make them feel that you are really worth a connection.

I have always been contributing back to my network by sharing multiple things that I come across. I know some of that information is already available for use but sharing them I am ensured that my network also knows about it.

Help Your Network

Sharing is Caring. Make sure you share your knowledge with the network that you have. It is of utmost importance to help your network in all the ways possible. Help people by sharing their posts, commenting on what makes sense. Don't hesitate to help the network by recommending someone, helping them find a job, helping the network by sharing their posts. You can only grow by helping others.

Be open to celebrate other's success from your profile or post. Support and Motivate your network to open up and be vocal on the topics that matters to them. You only grow by helping others.

Don’t be shy

If you consider yourself an introvert, it might strike you as a bit “unnatural” to be the one to approach first, even online, even on LinkedIn. That`s where you need to get out of your comfort zone. If you have common interests with someone, met them at a seminar, or you used to work in the same group, send that invite. We are all here to connect, exchange ideas and information, learn and develop together, believe me, no one will mind! I am always happy to receive and accept invitations, unless it`s from a fake profile which sadly enough still happens (but this is another topic)

Use a custom invitation message

I use LinkedIn`s default invitation message only in very rare occasions (maybe when I connect with someone that I have known for so long that a custom message is really not necessary). Always try to put in a unique message, it will increase your chances of connecting by minimum 50%. After all, the person you`re asking to connect with, will want to know how the two of you are associated (maybe they forgot about that seminar you both attended?). If you don’t know them personally, a friendly message in the invitation will surely resonate better than a message that has been auto generates by LinkedIn.

I thought to write this post to motivate others to take LinkedIn seriously. There is a lot more to achieve out of this platform. Let me know your thoughts on what you feel about this post and anything else that you will like to add here.