Power Formula LinkedIn Blog

I'm frequently asked Should I connect on LinkedIn with competitors? My quick answer is Are you nuts? Why would you want to hand over your database of prospects and customers to a competitor?

However, because not all relationships are simple and one-dimensional (competitor or not a competitor), here are some factors to consider when deciding whether to connect with a "competitor."
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• Is the identity of your customers already public knowledge? If it's public knowledge, then connecting with competitors is not as big of deal.

• Do you hide your list of connections from your network? If you do, then they can't see who you're connected to anyway, so there's less risk.

• Do you think you're better at LinkedIn than your competitors? If so, then maybe you're going to gain more from having the ability to look through their connections than they will gain from looking at your connections.

• Are you connected to only people you trust or is your network more open? If you choose to connect with people who are not your trusted friends, those people could potentially allow your competitor to come over to their office and scroll through your list of connections. This is certainly unlikely, but it is possible.

Also, keep in mind that relationships change over time. If a trusted coworker who's in your network goes to work for a competitor and becomes your number one nemesis, then you may want to consider disconnecting from that person.

As you can see, there's no simple answer to the question of whether you should connect with competitors. But after you consider the points mentioned above, you can make the decision with your eyes wide open.

SPECIAL OFFER

To learn about terrific company page changes, address the mistakes you're making, and formulate a specific strategy for your company page, be sure to check out my April 24 virtual workshop Optimize Your LinkedIn Company Page & Effectively Market Your Business.

 

When was the last time you updated your LinkedIn Company Page? One, two, five years?

When was the last time you checked to see what some of your most influential outward facing employees said about your company on their LinkedIn profiles? A long time ago, never?

The answers to these questions may just lead you to the fact that you have been a bit delinquent in not making sure you put your best foot forward as it relates to your company's presence on LinkedIn.

To help business leaders corral this potential value, I have written an eBook titled 10 LinkedIn Mistakes Companies Make—and How to Fix Them Before They Damage Your Company's Reputation.

In this 15-page eBook, I address common mistakes, provide solutions, and give tips for using LinkedIn to grow revenues, find new employees and suppliers, and maintain a consistent brand in the ever-changing online world.

Download your copy of my eBook here.

Note: Don't miss your chance to register for my April 24 virtual workshop Optimize Your LinkedIn Company Page & Effectively Market Your Business. 

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How many of these five mistakes are you and your company making?

1.  Unprofessional or poor-quality employee profile photos—or, worse yet, no photo at all

2.  Sharing incorrect or inconsistent information about the company

3.  Failing to monitor employees' profiles and activity as well as what's being said about the company through LinkedIn

4.  Underutilizing the features and tools available on the company page—or not even having a company page

5. Having a woefully inadequate corporate social media policy—or none at all

To learn the rest of the mistakes and how to address the mistakes you're making plus formulate a specific strategy for your company, be sure to check out my April 24 virtual workshop Optimize Your LinkedIn Company Page & Effectively Market Your Business.

 

LinkedIn's database includes over 950 million professionals, and smart companies are capitalizing on this massive database. However, LinkedIn is not very user-friendly when it comes to searching for great new employees.

LinkedIn's simple solution is to purchase their Recruiter product—but Recruiter licenses come at an annual cost of $6,000 to $8,000 per user.

Well, as a past CFO myself, I never really thought much of one-size-fits-all solutions—especially those with hefty price tags.

So, as your trusted LinkedIn advisor, I have some simple ideas to help you use LinkedIn to recruit great employees for your organization, and you don't need a premium LinkedIn account to take advantage of them.

To learn all my secrets for capitalizing on LinkedIn's recruiting potential, join me on Monday, March 13, from noon-1:30PM CT, for my 90-minute webinar Using LinkedIn to Recruit Top Talent Without a Premium Account. 

If you can't attend live, no worries, because you'll receive a link to view the recording at your leisure. Seating is limited, so grab your seat now at https://linkedinrecruitingmarch2023.eventbrite.com.

Here is a sneak peek at two of the secrets I'll be sharing.

Advanced People Search. Use these criteria when building your Advanced People Search:

Title. Be sure to try some different words for the same job separated by the OR operator. For example, purchasing OR sourcing OR buyer.

Current and Past Company. Put your competitor's name(s) here. You can choose current or past, based on your desire to hire someone who is still there, has left their employ, or either. This is really helpful. It's how I found the last employee I hired.

Connections of. Drop the name of one of your connections in this filter box, and then use any of the other available filters to get a great list of potential candidates that he or she knows.

From the search results, send customized LinkedIn connection requests to people you aren’t connected to whom you might be interested in hiring, and explain your interest in speaking to them about your job opening.

Direct message candidates in your first-degree network. Using criterion similar to those listed above, perform an Advanced People Search of your network. Then send direct messages to the best candidates from the search results, and give them the details of your current job opening.

On Monday, March 13, I'll cover these strategies in depth and many more—including a simple way to start receiving regular notices from LinkedIn that include prequalified candidates for your job openings.

Be one of the smart companies that uses LinkedIn to recruit and hire top talent—without a premium account.

Get more info about the webinar and register here: https://linkedinrecruitingmarch2023.eventbrite.com

Have you taken advantage of your free LinkedIn job posting?

What??? You didn't know you could do that?

Yes, and it has been that way for quite a while now. However, in typical LinkedIn fashion, they failed to let you know.

Here is an article from the LinkedIn Help Center that will give you the blow-by-blow details. Of course, they will encourage you to boost that free job post, but you don't have to do it.

https://www.linkedin.com/help/linkedin/answer/121660

But is that really the only way—or the best way—to use LinkedIn to find your next great employee?

My answer to that question is a solid "maybe." It might be all you need to do, but my experience in working with lots of companies is that it isn't the only thing you need to do. What really works is to put together multiple LinkedIn strategies in addition to just posting the job and hoping people will find the post.

During my upcoming virtual workshop Using LinkedIn to Recruit Top Talent Without a Premium Account on March 13, I'll show you eight ways to effectively use free LinkedIn to directly find and reach out to people who have the perfect experience for your open positions. You can check out the details of that workshop and register here.

Here is a preview of just one of the eight highly productive LinkedIn strategies I will be sharing during the workshop.

LinkedIn Alumni Tab on the University Page. Use the Alumni feature to find potential candidates who attended a specific school. Fellow alumni of the schools you attended is a good place to start.

Step-By-Step Instructions

1. In the large search box on your top toolbar, type the name of the school you're interested in. When it shows up in the drop-down list, choose that entry—or you can just click the name of a school on anyone’s profile.

2. Once you're on the university's page, click the Alumni tab. This will take you to that school's Alumni page.

3. You can now filter the entire list by entering words in the Search alumni by title, keyword or company box, entering years in the Start year and End year boxes, or selecting or entering information into one or more of these six columnar filters:
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• • • Where they live
    • Where they work
    • What they do
    • What they studied
    • What they are skilled at
    • How you are connected

If you are looking for a person from a certain age group or years of experience, use the Start year or End year filters on the top right to find alumni who are probably in that age range. Granted, it isn’t exactly an age search because not everyone gets an undergrad degree at age 22, but it should still provide some valuable information.

4. Once you have selected your filters on the Alumni page by clicking the bars under your desired selections, LinkedIn displays a mini-profile for everyone who meets your filtering criteria.

Without leaving the page, you can send a message to any first-degree connections or use a personalized message to invite anyone on the list to join your network. As part of your personalized invitation, you can begin a conversation about your job opening.

If you'd like to see this strategy demonstrated on live LinkedIn or learn about my other seven proven ways to find great employees with a free LinkedIn account, then join me on March 13—or at least register so you can get the recording after the event. The full 90-minute workshop is only $99 plus fees.

Here is the link to check out all the details and grab your seat:

https://linkedinrecruitingmarch2023.eventbrite.com

 

LinkedIn is always the best research tool to find the right people, but it may not always be the best tool for communicating with them.

I confidently share this statement with most of my audiences, and here's why.

Most people have a LinkedIn profile by now, and we can find those pretty easily. But based on user statistics that LinkedIn used to share often (but hasn't shared since its purchase by Microsoft) and also reports from others who track actual usage of social media sites, the majority of people who have profiles don't access the site monthly—yes, that's right, not even monthly.

Thus, you need to think about your options (on and off of LinkedIn) for taking the next step and communicating with someone in your target audience who has a LinkedIn profile. You'll need to decide which option is most appropriate for your situation and whether the person's profile tips you off to whether that person is on LinkedIn consistently (profile photo, number of connections, complete profile, posting information, etc.) or may not even remember his/her password.

Note: I will be covering strategies like these specifically for recruiting employees on LinkedIn at my 90-minute virtual workshop "Using LinkedIn to Recruit Top Talent Without a Premium Account" on March 13. Check out the details and register here.
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LinkedIn communication options

Send a direct message. This option is available to you if you're already connected or if you're in a group with the person you want to contact. LinkedIn lets you send an unlimited number of direct messages to your current connections and to fellow group members.

(Note: LinkedIn users can change their settings so no one can direct message them in the group, but it is not the default, so you can usually do this.)

To message a connection, just go to the person's profile and click the Message button.

To message a person within a group, click the Groups icon in your Work tab in the top toolbar, and then pick the group to which you both belong. Click Show all, and enter the person’s name in the Search members box. When the person’s entry comes up, click the Message icon to the right of his/her name and type in your message.

Send an InMail. InMails are direct messages to people you're not connected to. This option is only available to premium LinkedIn members. When you're on the person's profile, simply click the More button, and then select Message from the drop-down choices.

As a premium member, you get a specific number of InMails each month as part of your premium membership. You can purchase additional InMails at $10 each.

If someone responds to your InMail within 90 days, you get a credit from LinkedIn for another InMail. In other words, LinkedIn gives you credit for sending InMails to people who are more apt to respond. This helps control spamming.

LinkedIn power user tip: If you want to message someone who isn't one of your first-level connections, join one of the person's groups, and go through the steps outlined above. This will save you $10 or one of your allotted InMails.

Get introduced through a connection. This step not only enables you to have your first-level connection introduce you to your target but also gives your connection the opportunity to write something nice about you, your services, or the products you offer.

Although LinkedIn's official Introduction feature was eliminated several years ago, you can still forward to one of your first-level connections the profile of a person you're interested in getting introduced to. Simply go to your target's profile, click the More icon, and select Send profile in a message. Then put your connection's name in the Type a name or multiple names box and enter the details of your request in the message box, which now has been populated with a link to your target's profile.

Include your message in an invitation to connect. If the person is someone you want in your network, this is probably the best option, because if the person accepts your connection request, you can direct message him/her forever, assuming (s)he doesn't disconnect from you.

Because it's advantageous to customize your invitation, go to the person's profile. For 2nd degree LinkedIn members, click the big blue Connect button. For 3rd degree members, click the More button and choose Connect from the drop-down menu. If you don't see either of these options, the person may have changed his/her setting and will not accept invitations. Once you click Connect, select the Add a note button and craft your best 300 character invitation to that person.
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Non-LinkedIn communication options

Call the company and ask for the person. Duh! Believe it or not, this still works with some people, especially with people who grew up using the phone as a phone 😉

Send an email. Some people provide their email address on their profile or you can use any one of the many internet tools for tracking down emails—or now that you know where the person works, check out the email format the company follows and take a guess at the person's email address.

Send the person something by snail mail. Since the dawn of email, most of us receive less physical mail. Personally, this causes me to open most of the snail mail I receive. An envelope with a handwritten address is even more likely to be opened.

Stop at the person's place of business and drop off some goodies. This will surely surprise the person. When I worked at M&M Office Interiors, we would drop off a bag of plain or peanut M&M’s.

LinkedIn is a great tool for researching and finding people and also communicating with them, but sometimes the best communication method might be one of the traditional methods.

Good luck engaging with the important people you find on LinkedIn!

If you'd like to learn about my proven ways to find great employees with a free LinkedIn account, then join me on March 13—or at least register so you can get the recording after the event. The full 90-minute workshop is only $99 plus fees.

Here is the link to check out all the details and grab your seat:

https://linkedinrecruitingmarch2023.eventbrite.com

LinkedIn could quite possibly be the greatest tool you have to address all of the openings you currently have at your company, and I don't mean just paying LinkedIn to post your open positions.

So how much time did you spend on the site last week taking advantage of the world's largest professional network with over 900 million members?

Don't feel like you're alone if you answered "very little time." I find that most people still don't know how to take advantage of LinkedIn to find and reach out to people who could be just the right fit for openings they have.

In this article I will share with you some of the best strategies to do just that—and you don't even need a premium LinkedIn account.

To learn all of my strategies for capitalizing on LinkedIn's recruiting potential, join me on Monday, March 13, from noon-1:30PM CT, for my webinar Using LinkedIn to Recruit Top Talent Without a Premium Account.

If you can't attend live, no worries, because you'll receive a link to view the recording at your leisure. Seating is limited, so grab your seat now at https://linkedinrecruitingmarch2023.eventbrite.com.
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Four easy ways to recruit on LinkedIn

1. Individual Update.  Post an update to ask your network if they know of anyone who is qualified for the position you're attempting to fill. After all, this is your network, and the people in your network know you well and understand the nature of your company. If someone in your network is aware of a prospective candidate, he/she should be able to quickly introduce you to the candidate.

This is the easiest and most efficient way to find your next hire. That being said, I would not post this update every day, but try to limit this update to a couple times per week at different times of the day, maybe even once on the weekend.

To get additional exposure, ask a few of your most connected coworkers or friends to like, comment on, or share the post. That will get the post in front of their connections as well and increase your organic reach.

I know a president of a local company who found a new VP for his company in just five days after using the status update to ask his network for help. Think of the time and money that saved him.

2. Company Update.  On your company page, post a similar update. This shares the information with some of your company page followers. Job seekers interested in working for your company are probably among your followers.

To get more viewers of this update beyond your company followers, ask all employees in the company to like, comment on, or share this update so their connections may see it as well.

Consider “pinning” your status update to the top of the update feed.

3. Company Followers.  Review the list of your company followers periodically to look for good candidates. Several HR directors have told me they found the exact right candidate (sometimes working for competitors) in that list of followers just waiting to be contacted.

If you are an administrator of your company page, you can view a list of your followers, in reverse chronological order of when they began following your company.

Go to your company page, select Followers from the dropdown menu on your Analytics tab (see screenshot). If you find someone interesting, consider sending a connection request (or InMail) with a message asking the person if he/she might be interested in a role with your company.

4. University Page.  Here you can find potential candidates who attended a specific school. Fellow alumni of the schools you attended is a good place to start.

Access this by clicking the name of one of the schools on your profile. Once you’re on the university’s page, click the Alumni tab.

You can sort the individuals by:
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• Where they live
• Where they work
• What they do
• What they studied
• What they're skilled at
• How you're connected

Reach out to qualified candidates about your job openings. Because most people have warm, fuzzy feelings toward fellow alumni, they'll probably respond to you if they're interested in a new job.

On Monday, March 13, I'll cover these strategies in-depth and many more. Join me, and be one of the smart companies that use LinkedIn to recruit and hire top talent without spending a dime.

Get more info about the webinar and register here: https://linkedinrecruitingmarch2023.eventbrite.com

 

Recommendations, testimonials, positive reviews, and five-star ratings are all ways you and your company's brand can be compared and contrasted with others. Then you are either selected—or not!

LinkedIn has always made recommendations a very prominent part of your personal profile. Has it been a while since you thought just how helpful—or not—your LinkedIn recommendations are for you?

This article will help you think about recommendations in a new way, and it's one of the important strategies I will share at my upcoming virtual LinkedIn workshop Using LinkedIn to Generate a Steady Stream of Sales Prospects on January 30. You can get more details and register here. By the way, if you can't attend live, all registrants receive a link to watch the recording at a later time.
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LinkedIn Recommendations: The Secrets Revealed

This will not be the standard discussion of LinkedIn recommendations—how important they are and how you should strive to get a couple for each job entry on your profile. For "Recommendations 101," I suggest you pick up a copy of my book that includes an entire chapter on recommendations.

Here are some winning strategies relating to recommendations on your profile that you might not have considered.

1.  Your name appears on other people's profiles.

What better place to have your name and your job title show up than on the profile of a very important, well-respected individual in your town or industry. Talk about personal branding and increasing awareness of your brands—this really hits the target.

2.  The recommendations displayed in the Recommendations section of your profile can be used in other profile sections for increased exposure.

Currently, LinkedIn displays the three most recently received recommendations in their entirety, which I really like, but the rest of them are typically not viewed because the reader needs to click Show all [number of recommendations] received to see the entire list.

Action steps: Review all of your recommendations. Grab the most impactful quotes/statements, and include those in the Description section of any Experience entries to which they apply.

Another idea is to put together a document with a page full of your best quotes/statements, and add that as media in your Featured section or applicable Experience entries.

Both of these strategies will encourage more people to read your very best recommendations and could move you ahead of your competitors.

3.  The number of recommendations you have and the keywords included in those recommendations are part of LinkedIn's search algorithm (their "secret sauce").

LinkedIn has shared that a couple of the important components of their "secret sauce" recipe (who gets picked up in a search and how high he or she appears) are the number of recommendations and the keywords that people are searching by and for. You don't have to like this or agree with it—just understand it and then make it work for you.

Action step: Go out and get lots of recommendations loaded with your most important keywords. This will help you move up in the search rankings when people are looking for someone like you.

4.  Recommendations can give you insight into how people think.

This one is from one of my former job-seeking friends (notice I said "former").

Prior to an interview, she reviewed the recommendations the interviewer had written for others. From this she learned that the interviewer appreciates attention to detail. Armed with this insight, my friend made a point of sharing with the interviewer all the wonderful real-life examples she had that pointed out her attention to detail. She got the job!

This process can also be used to learn what attributes are important to your potential customer, vendor, donor, employer, etc.

5.  Recommendations are one of the fuels of the new trust economy.

Pre-Internet, selecting the vendor of choice included lots of phone calls, meetings, brochures, proposals, interviews, presentations, more interviews, more presentations, etc. by almost every potential vendor in the market. Now think of how we do it in the Internet age: Google, Google, and more Google.

I am not saying that all the steps I mentioned are no longer part of the process, but by reviewing company websites, business and product review websites, comparison shopping websites, blogs, and all the other social media sites, we are able to eliminate vendors before we ever actually contact them.

You may be thinking, sure, Wayne, but all those recommendations you got are written by people who like your products and services. No one ever writes a bad one—and if they did, who would let it be posted on his or her profile anyway.

That may be true, but would you want all those recommendations on your competitors' profiles instead of yours?

So get busy and seek out some impressive recommendations from your customers, clients, vendors, professors, anyone who can attest to how great you and your products or services are. It will make you stand out from the crowd and help you land your next business or career opportunity.
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SPECIAL OFFER

If you'd like to learn more simple but powerful ways to use LinkedIn to sell more products and services—or, if you're not directly selling something, maximize LinkedIn for yourself or your organization—join me on Monday, January 30, for my virtual workshop Using LinkedIn to Generate a Steady Stream of Sales Prospects.

 

Because LinkedIn is constantly changing, people frequently ask me what they should be doing each day for maximum LinkedIn success. So today I'm going to give you a 15-minute daily to-do list.

If you want more help with time management on LinkedIn, especially if you are involved in sales or growing your business then be sure to attend my upcoming virtual workshop Using LinkedIn to Generate a Steady Stream of Sales Prospects on January 30.  Get details and register here.
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Your daily 15-minute LinkedIn to-do list

These four critical steps should take you no more than 15 minutes—and if completed consistently, they should bring you quantifiable LinkedIn results.

1.  Review Who's Viewed Your Profile and reach out to the people you should be meeting (3 minutes).

Viewing your profile is the equivalent of walking into your retail store; so be sure to reach out and ask the person how you might be able to help him or her. This feature has some limits, depending on your personal settings and if you're paying for a premium account or not. Check out this article for a full discussion.

2.  Send customized invitations to join your LinkedIn network to people you met (in person or on the phone) since the last time you sent invitations (5 minutes).

Making this part of your networking process or routine will help you in many different ways on LinkedIn. To get the inside scoop on adding gas (connections) to your LinkedIn tank, be sure to download a copy of my free article The LinkedIn Connection Conundrum: Who Should be in Your Network. Improving your search ranking on LinkedIn is all about connections, especially the right ones, and people you have already met are spot on.

3.  Review all the important information in your Notifications Tab (4 minutes).

This tab on the LinkedIn desktop is awesome. It puts all the most relevant information about you and your connections in one convenient place. For a deeper discussion of this feature, check out this article on the Notifications tab.

4.  Take time to review all of your inbound invitations to connect (3 minutes).

That's right—take a little time. Don't just quickly click Accept or Ignore. My suggestion is to first read all the messages that people took the time to write in their connection request and respond accordingly.

Also, look at the profiles of the people you may want to follow up with, looking for areas of commonality or opportunity. Remember—these people took the first step, and it's your job to figure out what the next step should or could be.

Of course, there will be people who attempt to connect with you that are probably spammers and others whom you simply see no reason to have in your network. Don't hesitate to click Ignore in these cases.

Make sure you find 15 minutes in your day to accomplish these four tasks, because it will undoubtedly lead to new and deeper relationships with people who can significantly impact your professional career.

If you'd like to learn more simple but powerful ways to use LinkedIn to sell more products and services—or, if you're not directly selling something, maximize LinkedIn for yourself or your organization—join me on Monday, January 30, for my virtual workshop Using LinkedIn to Generate a Steady Stream of Sales Prospects.

 

Have you added the Featured section to your profile yet?

I am simply confounded by how many people I help with a one-on-one virtual consultation have not taken advantage of this powerful section. And even those who have added it, many of them haven't included their most current and important information.

I often refer to this feature as the carousel of your best stuff. It's a can't miss visually and the easiest, most functional way to drive people from your profile to your website. In addition, you can upload your most important documents or media files. It works kind of like the old-school slide projector, but instead of clicking to bring up the next slide (document), you slide left to unveil more and more goodies about you and your company.

Effectively using the Featured section is one of the key profile lead generation strategies I will be sharing at my upcoming virtual workshop Using LinkedIn to Generate a Steady Stream of Sales Prospects on January 30. Check out the details and register here.
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How do I get the Featured section and how does it work?

Loading it on your profile is super simple. On your profile, click the blue Add profile section bubble, then the down arrow next to Recommended, then Add featured, and then click the plus sign.

You can then select any of the four items you can feature in your Featured section (LinkedIn post, LinkedIn article, link to a webpage, or a media file). LinkedIn will then take you through the specific steps for adding the item you choose.

The items are loaded with a title and description which you choose, along with a thumbnail visual of the item to grab the reader's attention. LinkedIn does not allow you to adjust or change the visual. Therefore, if you don't like the way it appears, you may want to feature a different item.

By default, they display in the order you loaded them, but you can rearrange them so the best two are always up front. Simply click and drag the item using the hamburger icon (four horizontal lines), which appears after you click the pencil in your Featured section. Play around with this. I think you're going to find it works as intuitively as anything LinkedIn has ever come out with.
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What should I feature in my Featured section?

You should feature the kind of content you wouldn't want your target audience to miss and things you can't explain or adequately emphasize with words alone. Here are some examples of what you may want to feature.
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Business Growth
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• PDF file or presentation of your products and services
• Videos of people using your product or service
• Written or video testimonials
• Case studies
• Job openings
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Looking for Work
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• Resume (written or video)
• Presentation of important accomplishments or recommendations
• Examples of your best work
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Improving Personal Brand
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• Articles you wrote or were mentioned in
• Links to important projects or samples of your work
• Information about your favorite nonprofit
• Alumni news
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Increasing Nonprofit Impact
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• Annual or impact reports
• Articles highlighting awards and honors
• Signup sheet or link to volunteer page
• Videos previewing upcoming events or a wrap-up of completed events
• Press releases

As I mentioned, based on the one-on-one LinkedIn consultations I do each week, most people have either failed to find the Featured profile section or haven't really been strategic about what they include in this section. Don't let this be you!

If you'd like to learn more simple but powerful ways to use LinkedIn to sell more products and services—or, if you're not directly selling something, maximize LinkedIn for yourself or your organization—join me on Monday, January 30, for my virtual workshop Using LinkedIn to Generate a Steady Stream of Sales Prospects.

This is your chance to learn how you can make 2023 your best year ever.

 

Happy New Year!

I hope you had a safe and fun New Year's celebration and are looking forward to having a super successful 2023.

In doing my part as your trusted LinkedIn advisor, I'd like to share with you the very best resolutions for improving your LinkedIn profile and LinkedIn activities so that your efforts on the site can contribute (hopefully in a really big way) to your success this year.

I have also included an additional resource for each of the resolutions in case you need more details on that specific LinkedIn strategy.

 

Resolutions for your LinkedIn profile

I will make sure that my LinkedIn profile photo and background photo are current and properly reflect my personal (and company if applicable) brand.

These photos are very important because they set the tone for the rest of your profile, where you can only include a few photos and limited graphics. So choose photos that display your professionalism and will make a great first impression when people view your profile.
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• Additional Resource: "Picture Perfect: Make A Great First Impression with Your LinkedIn Profile Photo"

I will make sure my LinkedIn profile Headline clearly states what I do and how I can help people.

Are headlines important on articles we read—or don't read, for that matter? Of course, they are. So don't simply use the default LinkedIn headline (your current job title and current company name). Create a headline that will entice readers to look at the rest of your profile and then reach out and ask you to connect—and hopefully these relationships will lead to quantifiable results.
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• Additional Resource: The Definitive Worksheet to Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile Headline

I will properly keyword-optimize my profile so the LinkedIn search ranking algorithm gives me the favor I deserve.

I do quite a few one-on-one LinkedIn consultations each week, and keyword optimization is the quickest way to get my clients to come up on the first few pages of LinkedIn searches for their products and services. It is not the only thing that goes into the magic LinkedIn algorithm, but it is the easiest thing to fix. Don't wait around to make this critical adjustment to your profile. Your competitors and the other candidates for the job you're looking for may be getting this advice as well.
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• Additional Resource: Keywords: The Key to Being Found on LinkedIn

 

Resolutions for your LinkedIn activities

I will prepare for important "networking type" meetings by reviewing the LinkedIn profiles of the participants and doing a filtered search of their networks.

LinkedIn makes is extremely easy to research people's career paths, what they're currently doing, what they're interested in, and who they know. Do some research beforehand, and then you'll spend less time getting to know them and more time learning how you can help them and they can help you (perhaps by introducing you to important people in their networks).
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• Additional Resource: Here is the Best Free LinkedIn Feature that Most People Haven’t Discovered Yet

I will always customize my invitation when asking someone to join my LinkedIn network.

Remember, you're asking to be part of someone's treasured asset—their network—and you should be respectful and take the time to let them know that you'll treat them and their network with the highest level of professionalism—and don't forget to tell them how they'll benefit as well.
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• Additional Resource: Is LinkedIn Actually Hurting Your Chances For New Relationships?

I will consistently review who has viewed my profile and take the appropriate steps to not only connect or message them but perhaps make a follow-up call, send an email, or schedule a meeting.

Based on my most recent LinkedIn user survey, Who's Viewed Your Profile is the top rated Linkedin feature—and for good reason. They took the first step toward you, which makes it really easy for you to take the next step.
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• Additional Resource: Why Is It Important To Know Who's Viewing Your LinkedIn Profile?

I will not simply hit the Accept button on the inbound invitations I receive that meet my acceptance criteria, but I will consider a follow-up call, email, and/or meeting.

Just like the step above, an inbound invitation was initiated by the other party. Therefore, it's your move. Make it one that will have an impact on this new relationship rather than simply adding another body to your network. As far as I know, there's no prize for having the biggest network. What you really want is a robust network that will help you reach your business and career goals.
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• Additional Resource: Is Opportunity Calling You On LinkedIn?

There you have it—the very best LinkedIn new year's resolutions. Whether you do every one of these or pick and choose just a few, I'm confident that LinkedIn will help you achieve great success in 2023.

SPECIAL OFFER

If you'd like me to help you formulate your 2023 LinkedIn plan, sign up for one of the four to six personal sessions I fit into my schedule each week. These consultations are specially priced at $197. Book your time here.

I will share my computer screen with you during the call and send you a marked-up copy of your profile prior to the call.

Whether you’re using LinkedIn to find your next high-impact customer, raise your organization’s profile, or land the job of your dreams, this session is for you.

There are limited spots available, so don't delay. Book your session today by clicking here.