Around 2005 when social networking and social media took off, I was on the sidelines watching everybody flock to the tools that today are now commonplace in how we connect and communicate with one another. LinkedIn was one of those early social media platforms that people jumped on board with. I was hesitant at first to put all my personal information out there, but once I saw how LinkedIn was more of a resource than just an online resume, a whole new paradigm was formed in my mind that has now made this social networking application an indispensible tool in my career as a consultant.
The Growth of LinkedIn
From the early days of LinkedIn to today, the platform has seen tremendous growth in membership and changes in its functionality. Here are just some of those changes to functionality in recent years that I see consultants using to market and promote their brand.
Company Pages
Similar to Facebook pages, LinkedIn has made it possible for companies to have a presence on the platform through its Companies section. You can follow other companies who have a presence on LinkedIn or you can create your own company page. Just make sure you have a valid e-mail address using the company's domain name to build the page.
Company pages are a great way to gather information about a potential client or to follow a current client. One of the big benefits I like about the company pages on LinkedIn is that after you create the page for your business and populate it with content, you can link to it from your personal profile within your work history. It's added enhancement to your personal profile on LinkedIn and exposure for your consulting business!
Groups
Groups by far have the potential to create more exposure for consultants by engaging others in discussion around topics you have expertise in. One drawback is that you can't necessarily create a Group in LinkedIn centered around your business. Groups are generally geared toward an organization with a dedicated purpose or topic in general. They are not meant for self-promotion. Personally, found a way around that by creating a group centered on a core topic for my consulting business and area of expertise (Training and Development) and labeled it Training and Development by PinPoint Performance Solutions. You can do the same when creating your own group by naming it something along the lines of "(topic) by (your company name)".
In doing so, it is my consulting business advocating for a particular topic. In the Group, I share information about training and development, but I don't promote my company. This way, I'm able to demonstrate my knowledge and expertise on the topic under the banner of my consulting company's name. I'm sharing content found around the web and from my website. From there, if people choose to engage further I've then simply generated a lead for myself that I can then move through my sales process.
LinkedIn Today
LinkedIn Today is a news feature in the platform that you can customize to deliver content you are most interested in. Much of it is driven by the people who make up the membership in LinkedIn as they share items on the web they find interesting to the platform. There's not much in the way of promotion that you can do here, but it's a feature of LinkedIn that is interesting nevertheless.
Make Use of Answers to Demonstrate Thoughtleadership
Answers on LinkedIn are the precursor to Quora, a social media platform we'll explore more in-depth in a later post. Answers allows you to post questions or answer questions to topics in specific categories as it helps create an engaging dialogue with other LinkedIn users.
Here, in this section, is an opportunity for you to demonstrate your knowledge and expertise within your field of interest. The objective of this feature is to exchange information and to help you reach out within a community, but it is not to be used as a means to advertise your business. The ideal way to take advantage of this feature is to periodically watch for questions within your area of expertise. If you are able to answer the question another LinkedIn user posts in a thoughtful manner, you can do so to be of genuine assistance while at the same time establishing your expertise and thoughtleadership in areas that are truly within your area of knowledge and experience.
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Many people are still guarded in their use of LinkedIn and use it as an online Rolodex to store their business contacts, but it is much more than that and can be valuable network builder if you are willing to tear down certain barriers that are keeping you from connecting with others.
I changed my view of LinkedIn within the last few years. I've always found it to be very useful, but I'm now more open to accepting invites from people I don't know personally or have not had prior one on one contact with provided they have a background and skillset compatible to mine in a business networking context. In fact, I've switched my criteria for connecting to people on social networking platforms. Whereas at one time I was more open to accepting friend requests from people on Facebook that I didn't necessarily know, I'm more guarded on that platform now than I am on LinkedIn. On LinkedIn, I'm open to accepting invitations because the context of that connection is different than that of a connection on Facebook. LinkedIn has more of a business environment as opposed to Facebook that is more "free form".
So, what is your take on LinkedIn as a social networking platform to market and your consulting business? Are you using it and what success have you had? Share your experiences in the comments below.