“LinkedIn doesn’t work for me.”
“Is your Profile complete? Do you invite people into your network? Do you introduce others? Are you sharing content? Are you in Groups? Do you spend intentional time in LinkedIn?”
“I haven’t had any success on LinkedIn.”
“Are you trolling or are you trying to build and add value to your network?”
I have these conversations every day. I am not sure why people think using LinkedIn is different from anything else.
If you exercise once a week and don’t change your eating habits, are you going to lose a lot of weight? If you exercise four times a week and change your eating habits you are more likely to lose that extra ten pounds.
If you prospect only when you are slow, it’s harder because you’re feeling a bit low anyway, you’re a bit rusty perhaps, and worse, you know you have a valley to work through before you climb out. If you prospect every day you will continually be adding to your sales funnel and will continually be growing your business.
See where I am going? Expecting success on LinkedIn when you’re inconsistent, trolling not nurturing, and clearly not interested in other people is unrealistic.
Here are 5 reasons LinkedIn doesn’t work:
1. You have not committed intentional time to learn LinkedIn. There is a protocol and etiquette for garnering meetings, new contacts, talent, business. Schedule LinkedIn Segments into your calendar.
2. You are looking for a sales shortcut. Bad idea. There are no shortcuts especially if you don’t look good on LinkedIn. Have a great LinkedIn Profile and you may have a chance of getting lucky but it’s not sustainable. Why? You still don’t know what you are doing. In one of our sessions this past week one of our guest’s Profiles was spot-on, complete and relevant so I was inclined to think he was proficient on LinkedIn. In the first five minutes of the workshop he said he had no idea how to use LinkedIn. His Profile looked good because his corporate communications person told him what to put in it. Own what you need to know on LinkedIn.
3. You’re only thinking about yourself. Be a good networker, introduce people you think might benefit from knowing one another. Be the first to reach out, make an impression. By the way, the first thing that happens when you introduce two people—they talk about you.
4. You are not clear on the value you bring to your clients, prospects, colleagues, and network. Define your value, expertise and share your insights and opinions, challenge your status quo. Build value, create influence.
5. You have not been trained. Sales training has been cut in many organizations and in many cases because companies don’t understand LinkedIn, they have no idea they should look for LinkedIn training. It’s the early adopters and natural learners who are finding success because they are learning on their own or seeking out training. A trainer takes the pain away and shows you the why and the how. They keep you accountable too.
Social selling and LinkedIn are now mainstream and becoming increasingly more sophisticated and all encompassing. Want LinkedIn to work for you?
- Commit to learning LinkedIn
- Commit to building a complete and optimized Profile
- Commit to mastering LinkedIn one area at a time
- Commit to regular time inside LinkedIn
- Commit to be a good networker
If you move in this direction, you will see how your professional brand becomes stronger and the likelihood of uncovering new opportunities increases. If you found this post valuable pass it along and check out resources that can get LinkedIn working for you.
