A very important article from INC. Magazine’s Jeff Haden on common mistakes made on LinkedIn. While we’ve taken a sample of the highlights below here, we urge you to check the full article out online here:
http://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/9-mistakes-youre-making-on-linkedin.html
To really harness the power of LinkedIn, don’t make these mistakes:
1. You give only because you expect to receive: Connect with people on LinkedIn and you can write a recommendation that gets displayed on their profiles. That’s awesome, unless you’re only giving recommendations because you want one in return. Then it’s tacky.
2. You don’t give at all: Endorsements are an easy way to give: Go to someone’s profile, click a few boxes, maybe click a few plus signs–done. Endorse another person’s skills and you not only give them a virtual pat on the back, you may also help them show up in search results.
3. You wait until you have a need: If you put off making solid connections until the day you need something–customers, employees, a job, or just a better network–then you’ve waited too long.
4. You forget where you are: Most people use LinkedIn as a professional social media platform. So when you want to leave comments, share material, etc., consider letting your freak flag fly somewhere else.
5. You ignore the signs: In less than two years LinkedIn Today has become an extremely powerful news aggregator. LinkedIn Today now provides original content from “thought leaders” and allows you to follow those individuals, comment directly on their posts, share their content with your network, etc.
6. You don’t share: The easiest way to frequently update and “customize” your profile is to share. The articles, blog posts, videos, etc. you share appear in your Activity stream, giving other people a great look at what you’re doing.
7. You don’t care: Share, and then watch your Activity feed. See what people “like.” Read the comments. The only way to better know people is to listen to what they have to say.
8. You ignore your team’s network: The people you work with have great networks. (If they don’t, encourage them to start building.) When you’re looking for an “in,” see if someone on your team already has the right connection.
9. You go generic: ”I’d like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn.” Delete the generic message and take a few seconds to say how you know the person.
