Trade shows and conferences are canceled for the foreseeable future. Networking groups have moved to Zoom. But you still have a powerful tool at your fingertips that can help you maintain and even improve your networking and relationship-building.
I’m talking about LinkedIn.
Hopefully, LinkedIn was a part of your in-person networking prior to our current work-from-home situation. In other words, you used LinkedIn to invite people you met at conferences and trade shows to join your network. This is a core strategy that I’ve routinely recommended to clients, but if those events are no longer happening, how can we pivot to instead develop a powerful LinkedIn network remotely?
Step one is ensuring that your LinkedIn profile is optimized. Before you kick off an outreach plan, it’s important that your profile clearly conveys your industry, area of expertise, and the value you offer. People will look at your profile so the more complete, the better!
TIP: Make the right first impression with a professional profile photo and a banner photo that is either branded to your company or tells your network something about you. Not sure what to use? Your city’s skyline is a great option.
From there, start with your current connections. If you haven’t done so already, download and review your current network. Identify possible business targets or people worth reconnecting with and use LinkedIn messaging to contact them. These messages should be personalized and provide value—they’re not a sales pitch. If you know someone well, this is easier. If not, check out their profile and use something you find there as a starting point for a conversation.
TIP: Look at someone’s recent activity and reference one of their posts in your message.
Perhaps you want to use this time to add some new connections to your network. After all, if you were at a trade show or conference, you’d be meeting new people. Take advantage of LinkedIn’s extremely dynamic search capabilities. Determine three or four titles or other qualifiers and search for second-degree connections. Why second degree? Because people are more likely to accept a connection request from someone they don’t personally know if they have people in common.
TIP: Personalize the connection request. It can be a quick message, but it’s important to include one, especially when sending to someone you haven’t met. Look for something in their profile to mention, such as a company where they worked, the school they attended, or a recent post they shared. Here’s an example:
NAME,
I would much rather be meeting you in person at _____ conference but I hope you will accept this introduction on LinkedIn. I was interested in the post you shared about changes to data requirements—you asked some great questions. Looking forward to learning more about you.
Finally, a great way to build relationships on LinkedIn is to simply engage with other people’s content. A comment goes a long way and is not only appreciated by the author but will also help people see you and possibly check out your profile. Go beyond “Nice post!” and take the opportunity to show your expertise by sharing a thoughtful response, ideally one that helps build the conversation.
TIP: Bookmark 10-15 LinkedIn profiles who you consider to be thought leaders in your industry. Create a folder in your browser called “LinkedIn People to Follow.” That lets you quickly click through everyone’s recent posts to see if you can add a valuable comment versus scrolling through the entire newsfeed or searching for them. You can also follow hashtags specific to your industry to see content on those topics.
The good news is that developing great LinkedIn habits now will continue to serve you when we can return to the normalcy of face-to-face networking. I challenge you to give it a try and see how much opportunity LinkedIn holds.
Need help growing your LinkedIn network, developing compelling posts, or engaging with others in a more personalized way? We can help.