Making Better Use of LinkedIn

Do you, like many other professionals, have a LinkedIn presence but don’t use it? If so, you’re missing out on a potentially huge audience. Originally founded as a business networking site, it’s evolved and grown over the years to become far more than that. Here are five ways you could make better use of LinkedIn.

Share Your Knowledge

People love free stuff, especially when that free stuff is information. There is a new paradigm in business promotion; it’s called “social selling”. This is soft selling where knowledge dissemination is about setting yourself up as a thought leader. Aim to post every day and you will make yourself visible. Become a thought leader, and you can make a success of LinkedIn.

Use Hashtags

Twitter started it. Then Facebook and Instagram adopted it to make following certain subjects easier. If you’re not using hashtags on LinkedIn, you’re not making the most of the platform. These tags help highlight and identify hot topics. In the complex world of law, you make it easier for your connections and clients to follow trending subjects. Also, don’t forget to tag interested connections too.

Join Groups

Like Facebook, LinkedIn has groups covering a multitude of subjects. Anyone can set up a group and subject to a brief vetting process, anyone can join them. It’s a good idea to get involved with such groups. You never know when you’ll make a new contact, client, supplier, or even learn about new events near you. Groups are about social and professional engagement, one of LinkedIn’s key strengths.

Have a Blog? Re-publish to LinkedIn

Now, you can publish articles (different from posts) where you can share your professional opinion with the world. No matter how wide the audience on your professional blog or website, you can increase it again by republishing as a LinkedIn article. Your contacts are unlikely to spend time searching your website unless they want to know something specific. On LinkedIn, it’s handed directly to them.

Don’t Neglect Your Profile

All the other points on this list have concerned engaging others. However, you should not neglect your profile. If you have not updated it in a few years, now is a good time to do so. Fill out as much information as you are able and look through the profiles of successful contacts in your area. What are they doing that you are not? Keeping your profile updated is not just good for customer outreach, but for improving your network too.