Protect your LinkedIn Assets

This post begins as a cautionary tale and ends with an actionable item. Let me set the stage:

Just today, I learned of a second friend in two weeks who lost their LinkedIn accounts and a third who went to “LinkedIn jail”. ? They all have something in common - they were all told they violated LinkedIn’s User Agreement, Terms of Service.

Here’s the thing: Two were not the ones who violated the UA-TOS. It was others who had access to their accounts and were working “on their behalf”.

But, in LinkedIn’s view, that doesn’t matter. It was still their account that violated the terms.

So, first, I want to share with you some of these TOS, even using LinkedIn’s own verbiage. Then I’ll share some warning flags and ways you can protect yourself.

Quick Review of some of the UA-TOS

Back when we signed up for our accounts, we had to click the YES, I Agree button. I know I didn’t read what I was agreeing to and you probably didn’t either. ?And, with all changes to technology, LinkedIn has updated the TOS since I signed up anyway. Here’s the most recent UA-TOS that we agreed to:

1.?????Not create a false identity on LinkedIn or misrepresent your identity, and use or attempt to use another’s account.

2.?????“Develop, support or use software, devices, scripts, or robots or any other means or processes (including crawlers, browser plugins, and add-ons or any other technology) to scrape the Services or otherwise copy profiles and other data from the Services.”

3.?????“Override any security feature or bypass or circumvent any access controls or use limits of the of the Service (such as caps on keyword searches or profile views)”.?Use limits here include Commercial Search Limits.

4.?????“Copy, use disclose or distribute any information obtained from the Services, whether directly or through third parts (such as search engines) without the consent of LinkedIn”

5.?????“Disclose information you do not have the consent to disclose (such as confidential information of others including your employer)”

6.?????Violate the intellectual property rights of others….

Prohibited Software and Extensions

LinkedIn states: “Any member who uses tools for such purposes is in violation of the User Agreement. This means they risk having their accounts being restricted or shut down.”

You can read more and get a list of some of the prohibited (banned) automation tools here:

https://womenlovetech.com/linkedin-bans-80-plus-automation-tools/

Warning Flags

There are TONS of people who are calling themselves “Lead Generation Experts” who are trying to get us to jump and pay lots of money to help us with our “prospecting on LinkedIn”.?I get invites from them every single day.?Their headlines say things like:?“We help coaches and consultants acquire new clients each month” or “Connecting coaches with their clients”, or “Helping you reach your clients faster”.

I’ve talked to a few out of curiosity. Their sales pitch is generally the same. They promise fast, quick, and mighty results so you can spend more time doing the things you love and less time looking for leads. ?

One promised to send 75-100 messages a day to “warm leads”. ?Another promised to put my “LinkedIn sales process on autopilot”. Another promised that I’d have 500 new connections in 3 months.

How? They won’t admit it, but they are going to use automation – bots, crawlers, scrapers, plug-ins. Automated scripts. And, that my friends, is against LinkedIn TOS.

If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.??

Protect Yourself with Research

1.?????Check out their personal profiles and company page.?One company I saw lists just a few employees and they have the exact same wording all throughout their profiles. I swear that two of the employees had the same face, just wearing different clothes. ?Do they, themselves have thousands of connections?

2.?????Check out their website. ?Drill deep and read between the lines. Look for words that imply technology and automation. Do they promise spectacular results?

3.?????Research the people who give their testimonials and recommendations. Are they real people and real clients? Contact them for their feedback.

4.?????Read the fine print EVERYWHERE!

Protect Yourself by Asking Direct Questions

1.?????Do they use automation technology?

2.?????Do they violate LinkedIn’s TOS?

3.?????Do they have clients who have lost their LinkedIn accounts?

They may tell you everything is OK by LinkedIn standards. Go one step further and ask for documentation from LinkedIn that they are not in violation. If they have communicated with LinkedIn, they should have it. ?

It’s Not Just Lead Generators that Automate

True story: A few years ago, someone I knew, created an automation tool to perform massive amounts of Profile Views in a day. His program would act as your account and view hundreds of profiles. The concept was that when someone saw you viewed their profile, they would be interested enough to check you out and then you would have an opportunity to engage, invite, message or whatever. Guess what? After a couple of months, LinkedIn shut him down completely. Not just blocked his automation but booted him forever.

Another true story: Last year, a colleague was booted from LinkedIn because she hired an organization to send Inbox messages to over 1,000 of her connections. The firm created four or five different versions of the message and sent them out over a few weeks.

Final Thoughts

Of course, not all lead generation organizations use automation. Please just be careful, ask a lot of questions, and understand the consequences.

A Precaution, Just In Case

This is for everyone reading this, especially if you decide to outsource any part of your LinkedIn, I highly recommend you “Get a Copy of Your Data” before you begin. LinkedIn will send you a zip file of your history including your connections, messages, posts, recommendations, skills and so much more.?

To get this go to Settings & Privacy – Data Privacy tab in the left column – Get a copy of your data.

If for any reason, you find yourself having to repair or start all over, you will at least have information to help you get started.?