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Would you like to grow your personal brand, revenue and network? If so, making the right connections to LinkedIn is one of the clearest ways to achieve your goals.
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Fortunately, LinkedIn allows you to identify and even contact these highly sought after connections.
Unfortunately, people who can help you more often are bombarded with a bunch of other people asking for something.
So how do you cut your noise and make your voice heard? Do what others won’t do – focus on making a meaningful connection instead of sending a connection request.
Here are five steps to get (almost) anyone on the platform to connect with you.
Step 1: Make a good first impression
When you submit a login request, the recipient will most likely review your profile to answer the question “Why do I want to connect with this person?”
Answer this question with a title that indicates what you are doing and the associated impact.
Below is an example of Brtittany Barnhart, a brand and business development expert and founder of Powerhouse Brand Studio.
How you describe yourself will vary depending on who you are and what you do, but just be sure to add more than just a job title.
Then your About section. One of the biggest mistakes I’ve noticed is that people only talk about themselves in this section instead of how they can add value to a specific audience. I’m not saying you have to be too humble, but you want to express your background in the context of how you help people or organizations.
Once again, Brittany does a great job of getting it by providing mini-case studies and testimonials.
If you can check these first two boxes, a good title and the Envelope section, you’ve got off to a great start. However, there is one more thing you need to do; Post content that highlights your personality and experience. Again, you still have to answer the question “Why do I want to connect with this person?”
Quentin Michael Allums, creative director of Quentin Michael Studios, answered this question with a powerful video in which he shared tips that changed the course of his career.
Content is about your past, but you share it to help others build their future.
Action item:
Review and update your current title and the About section. Below are five publications that add value to your audience while highlighting your experience.
Related: The Future of Networking: Predictions of a Network Application Entrepreneur
Step 2 – Determine who you are connecting to
The purpose of submitting a connection request is to form a meaningful and (hopefully) mutually beneficial relationship. I’m not saying you have to change the lives of others, but it should make some sense to be connected. You might like to explore partnership opportunities, interview them for a LinkedIn article you’re writing, or share valuable information. Again, this will vary depending on who you are and what you do. The main point here is to be intentional about who you are addressing.
Here are some reasons why it might be a good idea to connect with someone.
- I’m looking for press releases and podcasts
- Increase your professional network
- Development of potential partnerships
- Encourage business prospects
- Landing job opportunities
Please note that I did not mention participation with its content as a reason to connect. If you only want to see their posts, you can click the “Follow” button on their profile. This way, you’ll see their content in your feed even when you’re offline. I’m raising this because if you approach me and say “I love your content and look forward to following it!” you have not yet provided a reason to connect. However, we will get to what you it should say when you connect soon.
Action item:
Make a list of at least ten people you’d like to connect with, and start following them on LinkedIn. Don’t log in yet!
Step 3: Interact with your content
I just mentioned how many people say “I love your content and look forward to following it!” But guess what? Some of them never commit to the other person’s content; it’s just a generic message they send to everyone they come in contact with. You will take a completely different approach to constantly interacting with your content. Not only will you start building a relationship with the person you want to connect with, but your network will also see your feedback and learn more about you.
I suggest marking a link to your post by visiting your profile and selecting it
Show all activity → Publications
You can then bookmark this URL and / or add it to a Google Spreadsheet
I suggest you check the profiles of the ten people you’ve identified once a day to see if they’ve posted. It should only take about five minutes, and this will help ensure that you are commenting on their posts in a timely manner.
If you want, you can click on their profile bell to receive a notification each time they post.
When you see that they have posted new content, it’s time to participate. But don’t say something basic like “a great message!” or “facts!” Leave a comment acknowledging your posts while sharing your perspective. To increase your chances of getting an answer, also ask a question.
As you might have guessed, this shouldn’t be something you can do on Google.
Some tips to ask:
- Additional details about the post
- Books or resources recommended by the author
- Advice on specific use cases
Of course, the question should be contextually relevant to the post, but these suggestions should point you in the right direction. The more thoughtful your comment, the more likely you are to start a link with the author of the post. Doing so consistently will give you more information about your personality and how you can add value to the discussion.
And now I’m going to stop to address something that may be on your mind right now. Why does this have to be so time consuming? As I said at the beginning, you will do what others will not do, so you will grow a more powerful network. I’m a little taken aback by the great NFL Jerry Rice, who once said, “Today I’m going to do what others can’t do, so tomorrow I can do what others can’t do.” He ended up winning three super bowls and has several NFL records, so he did well.
That’s also why you want to be selective about the highly sought after people you want to connect with. Jerry Rice is on LinkedIn, but I’m not sure how relevant a connection would be beyond the fact that our names rhyme.
Since you’re working so hard, make sure it’s worth it in the end.
Action item:
Review your list of people you want to connect with. Add the URL of your shared post to your bookmarks, and add thoughtful comments to all of your posts.
Related: How to use the “law of reciprocity” to build better business relationships
Step 4: Send a personalized message with your connection request
You put time and effort into it, now is the time to make the connection. Because they’re more likely to be flooded with lots of requests, you’ll want to highlight them by customizing them. This goes beyond mentioning your name or something you might have learned by quickly scanning your profile. The more personalized the message, the more likely you are to get a response.
Here are two simple ways to make it possible:
- Ask a genuine question
- Make a genuine compliment
For example, Nicole Kyle is a gender equality advocate, researcher and web educator3. She recently shared this post about taking a break from her podcast to focus on her mental health.
If you’ve been following her for a while, this could be a great opportunity to get in touch.
Ask a genuine question:
“Hi Nicole, I recently saw your post about pausing your podcast. I also have one and I’m starting to feel a little overwhelmed. I wonder if you have any reservations about taking a break and any impact it may have. Your audience? I appreciate any ideas you can share! “
Make a genuine compliment:
“Hi Nicole! I’ve been following your podcast for a long time (Krystal Pino’s episode is my favorite) and I wanted to congratulate you on taking the time to focus on your mental health. Have you ever thought about do a LinkedIn Live, so fans like me can interact with you? “
Technically, both answers included one question, but the second focused more on compliance. This is important because asking questions gives people a reason to answer. I have to keep in mind that asking them if they want to join you for a virtual coffee is NOT a good question. Your goal here is to start a conversation that leads to one or more business relationships, but you don’t have to rush it.
Other ways to start a conversation include:
- Mentioning something they wrote in their newsletter
- Sharing your favorite part of a recent podcast they hosted
- Provide additional praise or information about one of your publications
Again, the goal is to make it clear that you are specifically contacting them and not just connecting with random people.
Action item:
Please commit to sending a connection request to everyone on your list during the next month.
Related: Why Authenticity is a Key Ingredient to Business Success and How to Make Sure You Have It
Step 5: Track your request
So what if you do all this and they still don’t respond? First of all, don’t take it personally, they may have hundreds of pending applications and haven’t had time to review them all. After waiting a few days, I suggest mentioning the request you submitted as a comment in one of their posts.
See an example below.
“Hi, Nicole, thanks for sharing this. By the way, I’m sure you’re filled with connection requests, but I sent you one the other day. I hope to hear from you soon!”
Of course, there’s no guarantee that you’ll get an answer yet, but if you’ve created a meaningful list, you’ve probably learned a lot from them during the process, added value to your audience by commenting, and perhaps formed relationships with some of the his other followers.
Either way, you have made more productive use of your time and can repeat the process in the future.
Can I get a response from you?
I’m currently working on some exciting new projects to support current and emerging entrepreneurs (stay tuned), and it would mean that the world listens directly to your thoughts.
If you have four minutes left, I have created this very short questionnaire and your answers will help shape the vision of my work.
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