A couple of weeks ago I attended a workshop, held by Stephen Hart of Edenchanges training, about using LinkedIn commercially. So I thought I’d share with you some of the things I learnt.
Have a Clear Purpose
If you’re going to invest time into LinkedIn you have to have a clear purpose. Without a clear goal you won’t be able to assess if your time has been wasted or not.
At the workshop there were as many reasons why people wanted to use LinkedIn, as people there. Here are some of them:
To find a job
To find customers
To find franchisees
To find staff
To communicate a business ethos (PR)
Take Your Time
It will take you up to 16 hours to set up your profile. LinkedIn isn’t difficult to use, but you need to spend time on writing and then crafting your profile. While you want to present yourself in the best possible light do keep to the truth. If you don’t you’ll soon be found out!
Only start your activity on LinkedIn once you are 100% happy with your profile. This is your personal brand so you want it to shine.
You Must be Active
It’s no good setting up a great profile and then leaving it there. You must be proactive in the LinkedIn community. The reason for you having a presence on LinkedIn will determine what kind of activity you get involved in.
You will need about one and a half hours per week to maintain your groups, answer questions and respond to any emails you’ve received. This is best split up into three half-hour sessions.
Always be Professional
LinkedIn is a work related networking site so you always need to be professional.
Your profile should be about your WORKING life and interests not your personal ones. Your profile and activity will be read so don’t make silly comments or write something you’ll regret in years to come. Once it’s out on the Internet there is no way of getting it back.
And as with any professional communication, respond to others in a professional manner, be polite and check for any mistakes before sending off.
Monitor Carefully
As you can see, LinkedIn is time consuming. So, as with any marketing activity, you must keep careful records of the time you spend on LinkedIn and business generated by it. You will then be able to assess whether it is worth continuing with.
Does Using LinkedIn work?
Well, according to Stephen, yes it does. He claims to get 43% of his business through LinkedIn.
I have a healthy skepticism about all new marketing channels including this one. But I will give it a good test and keep you posted with the results.
In the meantime please feel free to link with me. I look forward to receiving your invitation.
LinkedIn Resources
If you think LinkedIn will help you or your business here are some links to help get you started:
