Leveraging the Power of Your LinkedIn Network

It’s all about your connections!

On LinkedIn you have at your fingertips a vast network of business associates with whom you can call on for a variety of professional reasons. You can use your network to share your thoughts, to expand awareness of your business or cause, and even to make money! It’s up to you how you use your network but don’t overlook the power of it.

Networking has been the main way people connected with other professionals for centuries. It’s always been about who you know, more than what you know in the business world. Word-of-mouth advertising and marketing is an essential element in all forms of business whether it’s an individual need to make a connection, or a business need to locate more of your target audience. Networking gets the job done faster.

Use LinkedIn to connect to decision makers and thought leaders, often bypassing gatekeepers entirely by upgrading your account. For a minimal monthly investment, you have the ability to use InMail to contact them directly. When you reach out, provide them with a specific reason as to why they should connect with you. Don’t be generic…be creative and different! It’s likely they receive many requests per day, so you want to stand out. Be sure your request is top notch to get noticed. You never know what can happen until you try.

Here’s one key thing: DO NOT SPAM THEM! Connect and pitch very rarely, if ever, actually accomplishes anything besides annoying the person being pitched to. The key is to provide relevant, helpful, and interesting information. Always keep in mind that we work with people we know, like, and trust. Do everything you can to build that with your connections.

It’s OK to compliment them on a recent accomplishment or to mention posts they’ve made on LinkedIn. You might choose to Follow them for a while to get a feel for what they post. In this day of virtual meetings and presentations, reaching out with a request to connect immediately after an event gives you a good reason for connecting. If they were a presenter or speaker, mention something they said. If they were just another attendee, mention something that you heard during the presentation to build rapport.

Final Thoughts

When you realize the power that LinkedIn gives you over your vast network of connections, you’ll realize that you can and should leverage the power of that network to help you reach your goals.

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