LinkedIn Local - Will You Be There?

??It's coming home, it's coming home, LinkedIn's coming home...??

In 2017 Anna McAfee, from the East Coast of Australia used the hashtag #LinkedInLocal in a post, asking her local LinkedIn connections if they'd like to meet up for a coffee. Little did she realise that she was about to start a world wide phenomenon!

The response Anna received to her post amazed her. Not only did her local LinkedIn community respond with a resounding 'Yes, let's meet up', Anna's post began to receive interest from cities around the world and a movement was begun.

Today LinkedIn Locals are being held in more than 100 cities around the world and on Thursday, July 19th, from 6:00pm until 8:00pm, Harrogate hosts its first, very own LinkedIn Local meet up.

What Is A LinkedIn Local?

LinkedIn Locals have a clear mission - it's about collaboration, not competition. Each event has a host or co-hosts and attendees are encouraged to help promote the event by sharing details with their networks.

What is unique about a LinkedIn Local event, compared with more traditional forms of networking meeting, is the combination of physical and virtual networking working together in harmony. You get together with those you've been connected with on LinkedIn for some time and yet you've probably never actually met face-to-face.

It's Physical & Virtual Networking - It's Different

LinkedIn becomes the connecting source: the event is promoted via LinkedIn, if you're interested in attending, then you invite your LinkedIn connections or use the event as a reason to connect and hopefully then meet with new people from your area.

By utilising some of the latest LinkedIn mobile app features, such as Find Nearby, which allows you to make yourself visible to others in the same room, you can quickly locate useful LinkedIn members and check out their profile, before going over to say hello.

There's also the new LinkedIn QR code function - (accessed from the mobile app search bar shown above) perhaps signalling the end of the traditional business card? By opening this feature and holding your phone against another person's smartphone you can both instantly connect with each other - all the more reason, of course, for ensuring your profile is credible and fully completed.

Oh yes, you'll also want to ensure that your profile photo is up to date - you don't want to attract any confused glances when someone compares your LinkedIn profile with the real you! ??

It's About Community, Not Profit

Another reassuring feature of LinkedIn Locals is that they are not-for-profit events. A nominal fee may be charged, as with the Harrogate event but only to cover any costs incurred by the hosts or the venue. This really is about strengthening relationships in your local business community and not a money-making exercise. LinkedIn Locals encourage face-to-face connection, beyond the online profiles.

Not Just Hosted By LinkedIn Gurus, Trainers & Consultants

You don't have to be connected in any way with LinkedIn to host your very own LinkedIn Local, in fact many events have been started by regular LinkedIn users who wanted to bring their own local business community together.

LinkedIn Locals are not part of LinkedIn, although the global online networking organisation is very supportive of the movement. If you want to run your own LinkedIn Local event then you simply get in touch with the LinkedIn Local Team, co-founded by Anna McAfee and they'll arrange for a brief online interview with you, where they'll explain what is required to help make your event a success - the interview is also to ensure that no one is already nominated to host an event in the area you've chosen. If this does occur, then there is possibly an option to discuss co-hosting an event. Co-hosting often works well, as 2 or more people co-hosting a LinkedIn Local means the event promotion can reach a much wider network of possible attendees.

Success Breeds Success

With more than 560 million LinkedIn users in over 200 different countries, many of whom have experienced wonderful business and networking results from their time spent on this site, LinkedIn Locals are the next logical step. In a world where so much of our time is spent online, we must never forget that some of the very best friendships and relationships usually occur when 2 people meet face-to-face.

Have a great rest of your week and happy networking.

Steve

#LinkedInLocal #Harrogate #Networking #Engaging #Relationships

Book Now To Attend Harrogate's First Ever LinkedIn Local - July 19th - 6:00pm-8:00pm.

If you would like to do more meet other professionals, like you and do more business in Harrogate and the Yorkshire area, then I'd be delighted to welcome you to this event. Please use this link to reserve your place https://bit.ly/2KQJPBy.

Many thanks for reading this. If you liked it then please share this post with your networks or better still leave your thoughts in the form of a comment. Constructive comments are always welcome and if you have questions on the subject matter you can connect with me on LinkedIn and send me a message, or else you’ll find my contact details on my LinkedIn profile uk.linkedin.com/in/stevephillip.

You can also visit my website for details of my social selling and traditional sales performance training and coaching here https://www.linked2success.co.uk/

You can also follow me on Twitter at https://twitter.com/stevejphillip