Having a strong network of professional connections on your LinkedIn account can work wonders in advancing your career, job searching, and conducting other outreaches. While it is easiest to connect with friends and colleagues, to truly expand your network and drive value, you’ll need to reach beyond just those people you personally know.
Decide Who Should Be In Your Network
To start growing your professional LinkedIn network, consider who would be a beneficial connection. Connecting with anyone and everyone will certainly expand your network, but not in a way that is helpful to you or supports you in achieving your goals. Develop a list of thought leaders in your industry, job titles of followers you’re targeting, specific companies, or topics of interest. Whether you have a free or paid version of LinkedIn, you can use the search bar to begin populating people who fit those descriptors. Be intentional about who you are targeting.
Use available filters to narrow or search through results. Browse through the person’s profile to see if they would be a worthwhile add before following or reaching out to connect. Finding people you already have mutual connections with can be a good place to start.
Become Active with Your Network
Now that you have started following professionals related to your industry or goals, interact with the content they share. Go beyond just giving their post a “like.” Attract their attention by making a thoughtful comment or reposting to your own feed with a caption that includes insight of your own. Spend time each day reviewing your LinkedIn feed or going directly to pages of people you’re following so you can stay engaged.
There are also a variety of groups on LinkedIn that you can join. Some are focused on general topics while others are fairly specific. Connect with individuals who have similar interests and participate in group discussions to slowly increase your followers.
Create Your Own Content
In addition to engaging with and resharing others’ content, build your presence and demonstrate thought leadership with your own posts, videos, and graphics. Share information that others will find helpful, thought-provoking, or educational. Developing a content plan will help you stick to a regular posting schedule and plan out the topics you want to cover as part of your content marketing strategy. Don’t forget to respond to people who have interacted with what you have shared too.
Be Patient
Organically growing your professional network takes time. As your follower count and connections increase, LinkedIn’s recommendations will improve and become more refined to reflect the audience you’re building. You can track your progress toward your goals and learn more about your network by using LinkedIn’s profile analytics (if you have Creator Mode enabled), content analytics, and the social selling index tool. Take a deeper dive into the demographics of your followers and use this information to tailor your approach when exploring new connections or creating content.
Optimize Your Profile
Don’t forget that as you’re expanding your network and searching profiles, other people are doing the same. Make sure your own LinkedIn profile is filled out completely, including work experience, education, professional affiliations, and skills. You want potential followers to get a positive impression of you and view you as a valuable connection for them as well.
Looking to expand your professional LinkedIn network? Make sure you’re not just connecting with anyone and don’t overlook your current connections either. Contact Grammar Chic by visiting www.grammarchic.net or by calling (803) 831-7444 to learn more about how we can help you build your LinkedIn presence the right way.