Less than a quarter of the 147 million people on LinkedIn are actively engaged with the site.
Why’s that?
A lot of professionals get caught up with the excitement of the opportunity and jump right in without giving it too much thought. They sign up, start posting some content, invite a few clients and friends to connect and then forget about it totally. They’re a little intimidated by the technology and unsure about what to do next.
LinkedWorking by Lewis Howes and Frank Agin is a great reminder that Linkedin isn’t about technology. It’s about people. So, while the book walks the reader through the basic components of the site, it offers strategic advice about how to network with people every step of the way. Figuring out how to post an answer in the questions and answers section isn’t the hard part. Thinking of a strategy to make that exercise help you build your practice is.
True to this spirit of treating the site as an online networking event, the book is chock full of success stories by real people that make it their business to always be helpful, personable and resourceful.
Here’s a short excerpt from a success story by Sheilah Etheridge, an accounting and business management specialist, known as the “Queen of Q&A” on LinkedIn:
Whether you are networking live and in person or on LinkedIn, it all comes down to the same thing. You must be willing to open yourself up to the possibilities…
Many people make the mistake of focusing solely on the business side. However, by allowing others to get to know who you are as a person, and you getting to know who they are, you will often find commonalities that pave the way to doing business together. It is all a part of building trust within your network.
Isn’t that what it was always about?
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