Developing a Real Plan to Make the Most of LinkedIn

Like most things for your business, everything is better with a plan. You’ve heard the saying that “if you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” It’s true. Crafting a plan in the beginning phases of use about what you want to do with your LinkedIn network will help you create better connections and reach your goals.

• Know Your Audience – Take some time to research your audience before you get started so that all the activity you do on LinkedIn will resonate with your audience. After all, even when it comes to your profile and your actions on LinkedIn, it’s all about your audience.

• Become a Thought Leader – The way to become a thought leader is to be published, get interviewed, comment intelligently on issues, go to live events and then share all that with your connections on LinkedIn.

• Publish on LinkedIn – While you do still want to publish mostly on your own property such as your website, blog, courses and books you still want to publish on LinkedIn because a high portion of your audience will see what you published.

• Share Your Blog Updates – When you post a blog (or even a book) always share it with your audience on LinkedIn. Write a blog post about it, and then share that with LinkedIn in the form of an update. People will then click through to read your blog and they’ll know that you’re very active in your industry.

• Participate in Groups – LinkedIn has a lot of groups, and you can even start your own. The best type of group to join is one that consists of your target audience, not the people who do what you do. The best type of group to start is also one that will attract your audience, not one that will attract people just like you. You want to network with potential customers more than you network with your competition.

• Keep Your Profile Active – Try to keep your profile updated and active as much as possible without spamming. Don’t place updates more than a few times a week, but you can do other things such as posting an image, or publishing a post or updating something about your profile.

The very most important and useful thing you can do to make LinkedIn work best for you is to ensure that you are providing value to your audience in every possible way. The truth is, the more giving you are of yourself, the more people will seek you out and want to connect with you and work with you.