If you aren’t getting the most out of your LinkedIn network, it’s most likely because you’re not strategic in finding the right connections on LinkedIn. Seeking out the right people to connect with to either get you more sales, better job opportunities, or whatever you’re looking for, will be essential for your success.
In this post, I’ll share a few strategies to help you grow your professional network by finding the right connections on LinkedIn.
When you are expanding your network on LinkedIn, you want to be strategic about it. Finding the right connections on LinkedIn is crucial if you’re going to grow your professional network with quality relations. Unless, of course, you just want a bunch of useless people in your professional network that isn’t relevant to what you do or interested in what you’re doing, then you don’t have to read any further…
Let’s jump into it!
Don’t Reach For The Top Gent’s Or Ladies
The number one mistake a lot of people make is trying to connect with the top people in the companies they want to get into or do business with.
If you’re looking into the possibilities of landing a job at a company, then don’t reach out to the CEO, the head of a department, or the hiring manager. Look for people within the department you’re targeting. When finding the right connections on LinkedIn, you can choose just to follow them to find out how active they are on the platform, or you can reach out to them to connect.
Once you connect, you should have a relevant follow-up topic ready. Asking thoughtful questions based on your research about the company or the work your new connection is doing will help build a relationship with your new contact.
Join Relevant Groups
Another great way to find new and relevant connections on LinkedIn is by joining a few of the millions of professional groups that the platform offers.
I suggest you find three to five groups to join. Don’t join too many, because you want to engage in the groups you’re part of and add value to the discussions there. Doing that will help you build your LinkedIn presence and attract people with the same interest in your professional network.
Just go to the search bar on top of the LinkedIn page and type in your industry or interest you have, and then when the search result shows up, you just choose to see the results for the groups.
Write Personal Invitations To Connect
When you connect with new people, you want to make sure to do it professionally. That means taking a minute to write a personal message to go along with your invitation.
I see way too many “professionals” not taking the time to do this. And honestly, it makes them come across as lazy and not very invested in their approach. At least in my opinion.
On the other hand, the great thing about writing a personal invitation to connect is that, for the most part, it makes you stand out to the receiver.
Get the template I use when I connect with other professionals on LinkedIn here.
Take The Relationship “Offline”
The best way to take your new connections and to build them into professional relationships is to take your communication offline. Meeting your newly established connection over a cup of coffee will help develop your relationship.
Now, I know that it isn’t always possible to meet in-person. That’s where the next best option comes into play. Setting up a Skype meeting to get to know one another has proven to be an efficient way for me to build relationships with people that I ‘ve met on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter from all over the world.
I use a calendar app called Calendly. There I invite my connections to schedule a meeting in my calendar at times I’ve allocated for those activities.
To Sum It Up
The best and most efficient way to find the right connections on LinkedIn is to be strategic about how you select and connect. LinkedIn is a professional social platform where you can meet some incredible people. If you’re putting some thought into how you choose to communicate with them, you can build some highly valuable relationships.
Go out there and make it a great day!
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