One thing we emphasise at BNI is that networking doesn’t begin and end at weekly meetings
After people come to BNI your chapter visitors will likely check out your profiles on LinkedIn. They’ll be looking for more information and expect to see that on your profile. You may have made a great presentation at BNI with your 60 seconds, but do you also have a strong LinkedIn profile?
More and more LinkedIn looks like the winning social media tool for business networking. Whether you are trying to grow your reach, find content, explore opportunities or recruit talent, this virtual meeting place is for many the first and last stop. You’ll do well to really explore the depth of resources on LinkedIn so you can more easily build and manage a powerful network. But features are constantly changing and your behaviour must adapt. Even some good ideas can become annoying to other users very quickly.
Here’s are few key do’s and don’ts for networking on LinkedIn:
- Do make your profile as professional as you can. Use an appropriate-looking profile image and put in complete and up-to-date information. First impressions count in business.
- Do give a detailed description of what you do at the top of your profile. Just giving your company description under your title makes people think you have no idea what your position entails or that you just don’t care.
- Do reach out and make meaningful connections. Take the time to find common ground based on your profiles and consider how you can bring reciprocal value.
- Don’t let your profile sit there – people won’t connect with you on LinkedIn and give you business if your profile is dated or inactive.
- Don’t spam or hard sell. Show respect and use the Update feature to get your message out. Imagine you’re at a BNI meeting – you wouldn’t start a conversation by trying to sell someone something. Adopt the philosophy of engaging, listening and nurturing contacts.
- Don’t hog the conversations in groups or make it your personal agenda. You should always consider others and bring value with every post.
Take time to think about the first impression you want to create and the service offering you are describing. Remember people are looking for solutions to their problems – outline how you solve these in your LinkedIn profile. If you aren’t sure how to structure it or write the copy, seek out a professional marketer for support.
Lift your game copy wise and you’ll be surprised by the impact this has on business. A strong LinkedIn profile equals a strong online business presence and greater interest in you and your business.
