It seems every week we are speaking with new sales reps working with different service providers or engineers looking for work outside their current employer. With them in mind, we wanted to throw on the table some more tangible advice both parties can leverage to drive more traffic to their LinkedIn profile, get in front of more deals (or job offers) and pick up more connections.
To start, you must realize that there are over 200 million profiles on LinkedIn and yours is just a needle in the haystack. When you are active on LinkedIn however, in very specific ways, a direct link to your profile is published where your connections and potential connections will see it. Over time, your needle in the haystack will eventually grow to a wooden plank 🙂 Here’s how you can become more visible and take advantage of LinkedIn’s monster network:
Profile Updates – Anytime you update your profile page, even if it’s just changing the punctuation. You show up on the activity feed or “wall” of anybody you are directly connected with.
Status Updates – On LinkedIn you have the ability to post status updates to your profile (which show up in your connections activity feed), and to groups you have joined. This is especially powerful because it gets you exposure to hundreds/thousands of people inside the groups you’ve posted within that you may not be directly connected with.
Connections – Connections provide visibility in two ways; First, when you initially connect with a new person, your connections are notified via the activity feed with a link back to your profile. Second, when you are directly connected to a person on LinkedIn, you are then added to their direct connection list which is visible by all of that person’s direct connections.
Recommendations – Think that getting recommendations is the only way to get more visibility? Think again! Anytime you receive a recommendation or give a recommendation it shows up on your connection’s activity feed. Also, when you give a recommendation your name and profile link shows up on that person’s page for the world to see.
Joining Groups – Anytime you join a group your direct connections are notified on the activity feed. You are also seen by all the members of the group any time you post a comment, start a discussion, or “like”, through the email digest as well as on the groups page.
As you do more and more of these things, your name and link to your profile will appear all over the LinkedIn world, providing millions of people with a direct link straight to you. Sales is a numbers game, and even if what your selling is yourself when trying to find a job, these tips will hopefully help expose you to more people and more opportunities of all shapes and sizes.
For more LinkedIn tips, join the Sociable Sales Group on LinkedIn or visit SociableSales.com to learn more.
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