Your personal brand is your most valuable asset. Generating success on LinkedIn has everything to do with enhancing your personal brand. In fact, Gary Vaynerchuck talks about the importance of building your “Me 2.0” equity within the social media landscape during this motivational video below:
If that video doesn’t charge you up and teach you the importance of doing what you love and are passionate about, I don’t know what will. Without an identity on LinkedIn, your personal brand will suffer tremendously, so please consider this as I lay out my 13 ways to generate success on LinkedIn:
1) Take Control Of Your Personal Brand:
This is the most important aspect for me, and why I included the video with Gary. The best way to take control of your personal brand on LinkedIn is to fill out your entire profile and write concise, compelling, value driven content. If you type in your name on Google, and you don’t have an active blog or produce other content on the web, I bet your LinkedIn profile is one of the top five pages that show up. Control what others view about you by completing your profile, and add to it amazing value.
2) Connect With Your Niche:
There are thousands of groups on LinkedIn; connect with the ones that fit your interests or industry. The more you reach out to those who are targeted in your area, the more powerful you become to that niche.
3) Add Everyone You Know (and don’t know):
I know there are some of you who like to click the dreaded “I don’t know this person” button if you have never seen an invitations name before, but you are only doing a disservice to yourself. If you think about it, the more people you connect with, this expands your searching capabilities, even more importantly, expanding your reach for others to FIND YOU! Don’t limit yourself, expand your reach and let some of the major players find your profile.
4) Ask Compelling Questions:
That’s right. Actually get on LinkedIn and ask a few questions every now and then… is that so hard? I asked two questions that took me five minutes of my time and received over 50 helpful answers in return. Just make sure you ask the right questions and you tag it in the right places.
5) Become An Expert:
You don’t become an expert by sitting on your rear all day, you become one by answering questions attached with insane amounts of value. The more value you give away, the more people will begin to reach out to you as a consultant, hire you for a full time position, or contact you for future opportunities.
6) Host Your Own Event:
You would not believe the energy and enthusiasm created by attending a live LinkedIn networking event. The benefits are many, and the time you work on it is well spent. Just check out my images from my most recent event below, watch my video about how I utilize LinkedIn groups, or learn about the benefits of hosting your own LinkedIn event in this post.
7) Say Thank You:
In the real world, people love it when you say “Thank you”. It really solves a lot of problems and encourages positivity. Be sure to say those two important words every time someone does anything for you… makes a recommendation, comments on your status, makes an introduction, or answers your questions. This will continue the good karma cycle, and more success will flow your way.
8) Become Transparent:
It seems as though the only way to be successful online these days is to become completely transparent and put yourself out there. The more you try to hide something, act like something you are not, or stay too generic, others will see right though this and will never think twice about you. Seth Godin says that being remarkable is nothing more than having others remark about you. Take this advice into account as you go along your LinkedIn ways.
9) Enjoy The Party:
If you are attending a “real world” party or networking event, I hope you are going to this party to enjoy it. Who goes to a party and acts like a stiff? Those are the ones who lose in the end that night and go home miserable, right? Don’t be a stiff, take everything with a grain of salt and have fun. Show some personality, be a character if that’s who you are, and enjoy the ride. The more you do this, the more others will want to party with you!
10) Make Recommendations:
I know Jason Alba, Chris Brogan, or Scott Allen have probably said this in blog posts before, but it holds true with me also. Making a recommendation does a few things: When you write a recommendation for someone else, they usually will return the favor which helps build your street cred. The next time anyone views a profile you recommend, then that adds a link back to your profile as well, which increase your chances of being found. You can’t beat that.
11) Add Your Links:
I was amazed when I recently saw that a friend of mine did not have a link to his website on his LinkedIn profile. He has a multi-million dollar search engine optimization and website marketing company, yet he forgot to add his company site (or any site for that matter) to his profile. He wanted me to help him generate more leads for his company from using LinkedIn, and I told him all he needed to do was add his company link and his service would speak for itself. Since then he has gained new business, go figure 🙂
12) Don’t Be A Stranger:
If you never call or e-mail people, or go out to networking events and gatherings, then how do you expect to stay connected to those you know, and build a network with those you don’t know? Follow up with all of the messages you receive in your inbox, and continue to get online and network.
13) Use LinkedIn Applications:
There are many great applications on LinkedIn. I used LinkedIn Events to promote my live networking event and I had over 350 people show up. A friend of mine added the Amazon Book application and included his personal book to his profile and his sales doubled in a month. By adding a few applications that are right for your needs, you’ll be sure to succeed.
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I left out about 100 additional ways to generate success on Linkedin for a reason… I want to hear ways that YOU generate success as well. I am a co-author of a book entitled “LinkedWorking” that shows you how to achieve any professional goal you have by using LinkedIn, and Ill be sure to add more posts leading up to its release in late January. In the meantime, I would love to hear you thoughts on how to create amazing success on LinkedIn.
Thank you for telling me about the 13 Ways to Be Greatly Successful on LinkedIn that helped me a lot.ChatGPT