Leveraging LinkedIn: The ultimate guide for Success

With over a billion members, can you afford not to have a powerful presence on the professional network? Not knowing how important leveraging LinkedIn is, would be a killer.

It is a great place to grow your client base and an excellent way to find and recruit the talent your business needs.

Read this article to understand how to

Optimise your profile to…

Use comments to grow your followers

Post consistently

Optimise your profile

With all the great work you’ll be doing if you follow this guide, you’ll be getting a lot of eyeballs on your profile page – so it needs to be something that people want to click the magic ‘follow’ or ‘connect’ button, right?

Your header image

The big header image should contain a simple message about what you do. I want to read it and know clearly and precisely what you do so I can decide if I want to follow you. See this great example from LinkedIn trainer, Ashley Leeds.

Your Name

People often try to add extra words along with their names. DO NOT do this – it is a direct violation of the terms and conditions you signed up for when you joined the network. LinkedIn will not like it, and we need them on our side!

Your Description

Again, we want a clear one-liner here to show the benefit of following you.

Your Experience

Don’t make me read a lot of words to get to the meat of each experience – make each one short, sweet and clearly beneficial to your current work.

Your profile photo

You need to clear head and shoulders shot with a nice bright background.

The rest of your profile

Remember to add a link to your site or some other good first step – maybe a survey or sign-up form. Optimise your hashtags, and recently, you can also verify your profile, which you should do.

Now the work of Leveraging LinkedIn begins.

The best way to really grow your presence on LinkedIn is to carve out a small chunk of each day to do some work.

15 minutes really could be enough, but if you also want to create a nice post, you’ll probably need a bit longer. We love the work of Ashley Leeds, the 15-minute guy – his LinkedIn training course is extremely reasonably priced – about £140 ($170) and lasts for 15 minutes each day for a week. It is excellent!

You should split your LinkedIn work into the following areas:

Commenting usefully on other posts

I must first be very clear: simply clicking like on a post is absolutely pointless.If you met a friend in the street and they told you about a great idea they had, and you simply gave them the thumbs up and walked away, what would they think of you?

Weird, right?

So don’t do it on LinkedIn. Comment on your contact’s posts and also comment on the posts of key LinkedIn influencers. In both cases, your followers will see your comments, so make sure they are an intelligent build on what has already been said and something that points to your expertise, your opinion, or your personality.

Posting great content on Linkedin

Your posts do not always have to be very complicated high-powered posts about your work area.

Showing your personality is just as important, so try to free yourself up from concerns about how you appear and instead share opinions and your thoughts on events that are happening, and if you can use video, then do so because it is still very rare on LinkedIn.

Engage with Your Network by staying active on LinkedIn by engaging with your connections’ content. Like, comment, and share posts to show support and foster meaningful interactions. Participate in relevant LinkedIn groups and discussions to expand your reach and visibility within your industry.

Finding people to connect to

The work above will grow your following slowly, but it’s obviously important to target the exact people you need to grow your business. To do this, you need to use the LinkedIn search function, which is incredibly powerful.

Connect Thoughtfully when sending connection requests, personalise your message to establish a genuine connection with the recipient. Explain why you’re interested in connecting and how you can potentially add value to their network.

Understand your LinkedIn score

Yes, LinkedIn is scoring you! They call it your Social Selling Index, and if you’re logged in, simply visit https://www.linkedin.com/sales/ssi

This is a great way to know if the work you are doing is working and an excellent guide to any weak points.

Explore new features to leverage LinkedIn

Utilize LinkedIn Features to take advantage of LinkedIn things such as LinkedIn Live, LinkedIn Events, and LinkedIn Polls to engage your network and showcase your expertise. These interactive tools can help you stand out and establish yourself as a thought leader in your field.

Leveraging LinkedIn to find great new team members

LinkedIn is a great place to find the talent your team needs. You can post jobs on there and use the various screening features to narrow down your search. Equally, you may use it to proactively find people with the skillset you need.

Leveraging LinkedIn for Career Growth, Job Search and Beyond

LinkedIn is not just a networking platform; it’s also a powerful tool for career advancement and professional development. Whether you’re actively seeking new opportunities or looking to expand your skill set, LinkedIn offers a plethora of resources to support your career growth.

Finding a job

Utilize LinkedIn’s job search functionality to explore job openings, connect with recruiters, and apply for positions directly through the platform. Optimize your LinkedIn profile for relevant keywords to increase your chances of appearing in recruiters’ searches.

Linkedin learning

Take advantage of LinkedIn Learning, a platform offering thousands of courses industry experts teach. Upskill or reskill in areas relevant to your career goals to stay competitive in today’s rapidly evolving job market.

Join LinkedIn groups and communities related to your industry or interests to connect with like-minded professionals, share insights, and stay updated on industry trends. Actively participating in these communities can enhance your visibility and credibility within your field.

Leveraging LinkedIn for professional growth, remember that success on the platform is achieved over time. It requires consistency, strategic networking, and a commitment to building your personal brand.