Linkedin Archives - The Curly Marketer

May

2017

Top 10 Linkedin Mistakes That You Need To Avoid

One of the leading Linkedin experts is Melonie Dodaro founder and CEO of Top Dog Social Media.

Recently I came across an excellent article that Melonie had written in which she listed 19 mistakes made on LinkedIn, that we need to make sure we all avoid.

I wanted to share what I think are the top 10 LinkedIn mistakes that you need to avoid from this list because I am still surprised at some of the profiles I see and how some people go about sending me a connection request.

In a great post by Mike Stenger he illustrated an excellent infographic that shows how 80% of new business leads now come from LinkedIn and based on recent research, LinkedIn now boasts 433 million users and growing.

Tweet: LinkedIn now boasts 433 million users and growing

With figures such as this, ignoring LinkedIn in your sales and marketing mix is crazy, because if utilised correctly it can allow you create new relationships, and become more relevant to your target audience. Therefore, ensuring you are not committing these cardinal errors will allow you begin to reap the rewards from Linkedin.

1 Not Completing Your Profile

This one I can never understand. Why set up a LinkedIn account if you are not going to complete your profile? LinkedIn has 1 in 4 of the leading executives as members, so remember your credibility, and take the time to make sure you present a polished first impression.

2 Don’t Be Vague When Completing Your Profile

Be specific and detailed about what you do. Saying that you do a bit of this, and a bit of that, and some of the other won’t cut it.

3 Optimise Your Profile For Search

Just as you would use keywords when creating your website, it is important to choose a couple of keywords that describe what you do. This will help you to increase the chances of your profile been found by a potential prospect when they do a search on LinkedIn. Check out these 21 steps to creating the perfect profile by Melonie.

4 Don’t Send A Connection Request Without A Personal Message

I am very happy to connect with anyone, but it would be nice to know why this person would like to connect and engage with me, as opposed to becoming just another connection statistic. Also, be warned. It only takes a couple of people to say they don’t know you, and LinkedIn will penalise your ability to connect with people unless you have an email address.

My advice, make a point of reaching out with a personalised message and reason you want to connect with them and 90% of the time people will accept.

5 Unprofessional or No Profile Picture

LinkedIn is a place where professionals come to engage and discuss business, it is not Facebook. Yet I have seen profile pictures used from nights out, the person is not even looking at the camera, they are unrecognisable due to wearing a hat and sunglasses and worse of all they leave the generic blank outline frame and have no picture. Maybe I am just getting old, but for potential prospects and your customers to take you seriously you have to look professional and be credible.

6 Key Word Stuffing Your Profile

The LinkedIn search algorithm works like search engines of old, so if you stuff a keyword such as Marketing Manager all over your profile, the chances are your profile will perform very well when a search is done on these keywords. However, when the potential person comes across your profile, stuffed with Marketing Manager everywhere, it will read terribly and they will leave with a poor perception of you.

Build your credibility and impress rather than deceive.

7 Asking A Stranger For A Recommendation

You may be amazed, but yes this does go on. Only ask people you really know well that can legitimately critique and give you a recommendation for your work. Any other method will tarnish your reputation.

8 Selling Before Saying Hello

Don’t confuse the term “Social Selling” to mean just sending off sales promos via social media. On Linkedin, it is about creating relationships built on communication, partnership, genuine engagement and relevance. The more you engage and provide valuable solutions to your connections, the sales will come as trust and credibility are earned.

9 Not Posting Status Updates Daily

Just like Twitter or having a BLOG, there is no point setting up a LinkedIn account if you are not going to post and share information you feel would be of interest to your target audience. By being active, it keeps you relevant and top of mind.

10 Saying “I see You Viewed My Profile” when sending a connection request

Thankfully this has never happened to me, but personally, this would instantly make me not want to connect. Don’t creep out the people you want to connect with. Just act like a professional, reach out with a genuine personal message, and you will do just fine.

For more LinkedIn tips check out this other post I wrote for LinkedIn success.

I hope you enjoy this post and please share with your community.

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Phillip (The Curly Marketer)

Jan

2017

Here are 5 tips to follow if you want success on Linkedin

I have been very fortunate enough to become connected with some incredible business leaders on Linkedin, who I am able to learn and engage with for guidance. One such expert is Melonie Dodaro who is regarded as the number 1 Linkedin expert in Canada, and from reading her excellent book, The Linkedin Code, my entire approach to this very important business channel has changed for the good and here are 5 tips to follow if you want success on Linkedin

5 Linkedin tips to follow if you want success

1 Let Me See You

I am still amazed to see on Linkedin, many profiles in which there is no photograph of the individual. They say first impressions last and when I don’t see a profile photo it does leave an impression, the wrong one.

In my opinion, it creates a mistrust and a doubt about the validity of the individual. Why don’t they want to show their face, have they something to hide, can I believe what the person says in their profile? Just as bad as not having a photo, is having one which is poorly taken, trying to be creative but ends up looking ridiculous or is just an angry scowl.

I have seen all these variations and I often wonder what were people thinking of at the time. Remember, your Linkedin photo is a visual representation of you and your personal brand, so make it count to show yourself in the best light possible and please smile, it can’t hurt that much, as you may never know who is looking you up.

2 Tell Me Your Story

Your profile and biography on Linkedin is your chance to shine and tell the community what you do, your achievements and how you ultimately solve problems. But if you don’t put the effort into completing your profile and writing it with search in mind, you will become another member that will see very low profile views.

If you are familiar with Google Adwords or have been involved with Search Engine Optimisation for your website, you will no doubt have heard of the phrase ‘keyword’. In simple terms, a keyword is a word or a series of words that someone uses to search for the answer to a question, problem etc when they conduct a search online. Having certain keywords on your website will help and increase the chances that your website will be found.

The same goes for Linkedin. By using keywords specific to what you do and your expertise in your profile, you can improve the chances of being found when someone does a search on Linkedin for a particular person with a certain skill set.

The key thing to emphasise without going through this step by step is that it is imperative that you go through every part of the profile section and complete it to 100% and especially getting a couple of recommendations.

Not only does it validate you as a professional, but you will be giving yourself an excellent chance of ensuring that your profile will be found by like-minded professionals, who may want to do business, discuss opportunities or connect to learn from you.

3 Personalise Every Invitation To Connect

I don’t know about you, but I tend not to accept a request from someone who has not made the effort to at least introduce themselves to me. There is something I think very cold about “I would like to add you to my connections” etc etc. So why do you want to add me?

Maybe I am just making up the numbers for you so that you can get to that 500+ connections and look like a big hitter?

My personal rule is that for people I know and people who I don’t know but would like to make contact and grow a business relationship with, I always send a personalised message with my invite.

The key thing is that you have to find that common ground and core reason as to why you want to link in with the person, and likewise for them, they need see some value from you.

So with this in mind, I would urge you not to send Linkedin requests via the app as there is no functionality within it to send a personalised message so this defeats the purpose in my opinion.

4 Go On, Say Thank You

This is a simple action that I feel really helps the start of a new Linkedin relationship. If someone you have invited to connect accepts, my advice is, send that person a little message to say, thank you. You would be surprised at how positive your new connection will feel when they are thanked, and it gives you that bit of extra professional polish and a personalised touch.

5 Get Into Groups

Linkedin, like all social media, is first and foremost about been social and engaging with your audience, target market, and all your connections. One excellent way to engage with like-minded professionals, share your opinions, give guidance and ultimately boost your own professional status as an expert, is to join relevant groups in your niche and sphere of interest.

From my own personal experience, trying to be active in 5 groups for me is a struggle, so I would advise those of you starting off to maybe pick one group initially and see how you get on. The key thing is to just get started and join in the conversation

I will be writing more about Linkedin in future posts, but I hope you will find these 5 tips useful to get you becoming more linked in on Linkedin.