Top 11 Rules For Effective Networking on LinkedIn.
October 3rd, 2022
Last Updated on October 3rd, 2022
This text was fully written by humans.
SUMMARY / KEY TAKEAWAYS
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LinkedIn has become the to-go-to social platform for professional development.
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Despite the open access to LinkedIn, simply talking to and connecting with others can be a challenge for many. Building that comfort over time is part of how to build self-confidence professionally. There is more nuance to networking via LinkedIn than just making a fancy profile and waiting.
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In this article, we are going to share 11 golden rules that will help you effectively network on LinkedIn and observe the outcomes of your online efforts in “real life.”
Table of Contents
- Why Effective Networking on LinkedIn Is Essential For Your Career.
- The Long-Term Value of Consistent LinkedIn Engagement
- Connect with People Whom You Know.
- Connect With People in Your Industry (and In the Industry That You Aspire To Join).
- Create a Well-Thought out and Complete Profile.
- Indicate Your Primary Intentions.
- Engage With Your Network Often.
- Turning Engagement Into Visible Career Momentum
- Personalize Your Interactions and Move To Real Life if Possible.
- Sample Message Templates for LinkedIn Outreach
- Watch Your Spelling!
- Choose LinkedIn Over Email If You Can.
- If You Need Professional Advice, Ask Openly on Your Wall!
- LinkedIn Is a Good Means of Communication With People With Following.
- If You Still Need More Networking Options, Subscribe for LinkedIn Premium.
- Conclusions: Is Effective Networking on LinkedIn Hard?
Why Effective Networking on LinkedIn Is Essential For Your Career.
When you are starting out as a professional, LinkedIn may have come across your radar. Likewise, if you’ve been a professional for a short while, the platform is hard to avoid noticing. It is the quintessential social media platform built for professionals of all fields.
With the platform being so widely used, it has become a great way of connecting with other professionals in your industry. In addition, it lets you reach out to new fields and make strategic connections in other industries.
Networking is the key part of building any career today. Your social capital is the only asset that consistently grows over a lifetime. As a result, the benefits from your network grow like compound interest.
What many people overlook, however, is that networking is not just about collecting contacts—it is about circulating value. People stay in your network not because you clicked the “Connect” button, but because interacting with you is useful, inspiring, or simply pleasant.
The Long-Term Value of Consistent LinkedIn Engagement
Over time, the professionals who consistently share insights, make introductions, solve problems, or offer encouragement become natural hubs in their communities. And these hubs rarely struggle with opportunities. In the long run, the quality of value you exchange with your network matters far more than the sheer size of your contact list. This distinction is at the core of effective business development networking strategies.
For more reasons why networking is essential in your professional life, please check our articles “10 Good Reasons To Build Efficient Networking Strategies and Treat Networking as a Mindset” and “How To Live a Good Life? A Note On Confucianism and What Can It Teach Us When It Comes To Building Professional Networking Strategies.”
The potential for professional growth using LinkedIn is almost unlimited but requires networking. While you can still go to a party and shake hands in person, LinkedIn networking offers a modern alternative. Specifically, it can be done from the comfort of your home, and from anywhere in the world.
Despite that ease of access, simply talking to and connecting with others can be a challenge for many. There is more nuance to networking via LinkedIn than just making a fancy profile and waiting. Therefore, in this article, we are going to share some tips with you that will help you effectively network on LinkedIn. Building this kind of network consistently is one of the more overlooked career development strategies for working professionals.
Rule #1 For Effective Networking on LinkedIn: Connect with People Whom You Know.
A large part of networking on LinkedIn is simply being visible and active. So, in order to do just that you will want to “connect” and “follow” people. Actively connecting is pretty much the LinkedIn version of inviting people to friends on Facebook.
According to Pew Research Center, 13% of social media users say their social media presence has directly helped them land a job — a reminder that an active, well-maintained LinkedIn presence can translate into real opportunities, not just visibility.
If you are just starting out on LinkedIn, you should consider first adding the people you know in real life such as current and former colleagues or family and friends.
Thankfully, LinkedIn also has a feature called “people you may know”. It’s a very helpful feature for networking as it suggests people you share the most common connections.
Mind that the more people in your LinkedIn network, the higher number of people you can connect with. It pays off to be an active networker and invite any person you know to contact you on LinkedIn. Treating your network this way is one of the practical self-navigation tools for career planning. This means that when you are just starting out with networking, it can start very slow. But as you progress, you will grow exponentially!
Rule #2 For Effective Networking on LinkedIn: Connect With People in Your Industry (and In the Industry That You Aspire To Join).
After adding all the people whom you actually know, you should move on to people within your sector of the market. Alternatively, consider the sector you would like to join next. For example, if you want to become an actor, you might consider following Jennifer Lopez.
Perhaps even more important than following people is following reputable companies and organizations on LinkedIn. Using the acting example again, you might want to connect with a school that teaches your craft like Acting Out. This is a great idea to follow people and companies from your industry to make better connections and stay up to date with new developments.
How to find people and organizations to connect with? It can be done by just finding active profiles, groups, companies, and people on LinkedIn by using the search bar.
Of course, LinkedIn is not only about networking. Moreover, it is about learning new aspects of your field that you didn’t know before, and it broadens your horizons. These big names in your business will be active and share content on their pages. You can engage in conversations in the comments section and gain even more contacts there.
Beware of the number of comments though, as you don’t want to be seen as a spammer. As a rule of thumb, try to keep less than 10 comments per thread a day. In addition, don’t message people every hour of every day either. That’s just creepy and turns them away from you. Never forget common sense.
Last but not the least, remember that following professionals on LinkedIn doesn’t guarantee that you will receive all their updates. As default you will only be presented their top posts. If you are willing to see all their feed, you need to access their profile and click the bell icon.
Rule #3 For Effective Networking on LinkedIn: Create a Well-Thought out and Complete Profile.
Success on LinkedIn takes more than making a nice profile. However, your profile is extremely important. When you aren’t around, you want visitors to still see a page representing you. Specifically, it should intrigue them and give them something to interact with.
That’s where your profile comes in. It tells people all about your business, your recent activity, but more importantly your skills, your style, your personality, motivations, and whatever else a fellow professional might be looking for when selecting a freelance expert, a business partner, or an employee.
Another side of keeping your profile looking good is regular updates. You should be posting regularly about whatever is new for you professionally. For example, company events, thoughts on a business topic, or professional insights all work well.
Keep it professional and non-controversial if possible. If you are interested in creating an amazing LinkedIn profile that stands out, please check out our article “10 Steps to Create an Effective LinkedIn Profile.”
Rule #4 For Effective Networking on LinkedIn: Indicate Your Primary Intentions.
People who visit your profile should have no problem with reading your primary intentions. Are you looking for a job? Are you looking for freelance gigs? Or perhaps, you are looking for employees at the moment? This should be clear after just one gaze at your profile.
Therefore, consider using badges, such as the green “Open To Work” badge or the purple “Open To Business” badge. A few years back, LinkedIn users were unwilling to use badges as they believed they looked needy and desperate. Now it became so common that it is no shame at all.
Using badges will help you especially once you take part in discussions on LinkedIn. When people share your views and find your points on a given subject matter insightful, they take notice of you. Meanwhile, if they also see your “Open to Work” status, they might naturally start thinking about vacancies at their workplace. As a result, they get motivated to help you. Or, they might even have a vacancy for you at hand!
Lastly, make sure that you encourage people to contact you in your profile. You can use the phrase: “I can help you with XXX” or “Please contact me if you have any issues or questions related to YYY and I will be happy to help.” Most people have reservations about contacting strangers and need a little bit of encouragement.
Rule #5 For Effective Networking on LinkedIn: Engage With Your Network Often.
Keeping up to date is an important part of any endeavor. Specifically, it helps make sure you understand all the latest developments in your industry. But to be honest, networking on LinkedIn can be overwhelming: all the connections and networks and activities, events, groups, et cetera! LinkedIn is a social network after all.
You need to know that LinkedIn doesn’t promote ghost membership in their groups. Therefore, if you are inactive, they can remove you from any group after a period of time.
So, make sure to log in often, keep your posts updated and relevant, and respond to people’s messages and comments. Additionally, create your own messages and comments for others. Focus on your crowd, so to speak. In summary, it all boils down to connecting with them in any way possible.
At the end of the day, as bitter as it sounds, everyone is interested the most in themselves. Therefore, being friendly and offering information is the biggest secret to attracting people in general. LinkedIn is no exception. So, engage often and engage well. This is a muscle and you will want to train it as often as possible for the health of your network.
Furthermore, contribute actively by creating your own content! You can write short LinkedIn posts containing no more than 700 characters, or write full-fledged articles of arbitrary length. Remember about pinning some of your representative creations in your LinkedIn profile, in the “Featured” section.
Writing posts on LinkedIn will have higher impact on your recognition in your professional environment. It will also help you build your online following faster with a footer at the bottom of the text. In this footer, explain what kinds of problems you can solve for readers. Also, note why it is worth following you.
Turning Engagement Into Visible Career Momentum
For instance, you might add the following text:
“My name is Natalia and I help individuals & teams self-navigate in the market, build value, and subvert all expectations in the times of AI. I also track innovation and help innovators innovate from behind the scenes.
Regardless if working with employers or employees, investors or founders, I always aim to stay independent, facts & science-oriented, objective, impartial, and kind.
Whether in academia or tech industry, follow me for general career development guidance and some useful life hacks: Natalia Bielczyk, PhD + Follow + Bell”
And what to do if you have a bad day at the office and no inspiration to come up with new content? When you are dizzy and feel no inspiration for creating new content?
Well, in that case, let AI help you! In fact, you can utilize new, AI-powered solutions that will allow you to keep in touch with the developments in your field and find Easter eggs worth mentioning. Namely, tools such as Deeep can provide you a new web-based news feed in your discipline of interest curated using AI.
Finally, be positive! For instance, if you like another user’s post or insight, put a “Like” on it! Or, write a favorable comment underneath. You might make someone’s day this way. If you have critical comments, share it in a private message, not on the wall.
Also, remember not to say ANYTHING negative about your current or previous workplace! Indeed, you can be sure that your management will find out about it… and they won’t be happy.
To learn more about how to keep high standards in your behavior in a professional environment, especially while changing jobs, please check our tutorial “Savoir-vivre in the Job Application Process. How to Change a Job Without Ruffling Any Feathers.”
Of course, staying active on social media takes a lot of time and can be addictive. Therefore, schedule your activity appropriately. For more advice on how to manage your daily social media activity, please check our article “5 Rules for How To Make Social Media Benefit Your Career.”
Rule #6 For Effective Networking on LinkedIn: Personalize Your Interactions and Move To Real Life if Possible.
Now that we have many surface-level, superficial “connections,” we should now be working on deepening them. Your connections won’t mean much if you don’t talk to people.
Therefore, once you add someone, especially someone you could potentially work with, view their profile and try to assess their personality. If they use a friendly and casual tone, it works best to use the same tone while contacting them.
So, personalize your interactions by using their own tone and way of speaking, and being willing to be the first to reach out and say hello. It can be uncomfortable at first but this too is a muscle and soon you will be talking to people easier and easier. Pushing through that initial discomfort is part of how to overcome self-doubt professionally.
Sample Message Templates for LinkedIn Outreach
So, how to reach out to new potential contacts on LinkedIn? What to write on this occasion? Messaging comes easy especially when you have any common contact with the person whom you are contacting. In that case, you can address them, for instance, in the following way:
“Dear AAA,
I was advised to connect with you by my mentor and friend BBB who speaks very highly of you. My name is CCC and I help DDD with EEE. Could we possibly connect?
With kind wishes,
CCC”
If you don’t have a personal connection, just come up with any positive statement that you might give about the other person, and use it as an argument to connect. Compliments always work for people!
Furthermore, you might have a flow with someone on LinkedIn and often exchange valuable information. If so, try to move the relation with them to “real life.” For instance, make an appointment for a coffee if you happen to pass by the same city.
Offering your time and presence will deepen your connection and make it more likely that these valuable professionals will stay in your personal network for decades.
Rule #7 For Effective Networking on LinkedIn: Watch Your Spelling!
Furthermore, show your diligence and attention to detail by viewing and editing your LinkedIn messages. This matters especially if they are important for your professional development, for instance when you are writing straight to a recruiter.
Remember that you only have 60 minutes for editing before your message is locked! You won’t be able to change your content after that. Of course, for the same reason, make sure that you never show negative emotions or rant in private messages on LinkedIn. It will leave traces of your unprofessional attitude or behavior, and you certainly don’t want that!
Rule #8 For Effective Networking on LinkedIn: Choose LinkedIn Over Email If You Can.
When on LinkedIn, you not only transmit your messages but also show yourself as a person. Also, we live in a strange world where people often spend more time on social media than on their email accounts. Therefore, if you have a choice, contact people via LinkedIn rather than via email.
Many LinkedIn users think that the only solution they can count on is the InMail feature that comes with the LinkedIn Pro account. However, it is not true! You can write personal messages (up to 300 characters) every time you invite a new person to your contacts on LinkedIn.
What is also beautiful about writing personal messages next to invitations on LinkedIn is that, you do not need permission to contact anyone this way. These days, using someone’s personal email address might break the strict GDPR rules, especially if you get this address from a third party. But, you can go on LinkedIn and message any user freely and without constraints.
Invitations via LinkedIn might be even more successful than traditional emails as your potential contact can check your whole professional curriculum before taking the decision to accept your invitation.
Rule #9 For Effective Networking on LinkedIn: If You Need Professional Advice, Ask Openly on Your Wall!
It is not a disgrace to openly ask for help or information on your LinkedIn wall! You will be surprised how many people will start helping out and dropping their solutions onto your profile. What will help you is also a cognitive bias: we tend to like people whom we helped before MORE, as we subconsciously expect returning the favor.
Rule #10 For Effective Networking on LinkedIn: LinkedIn Is a Good Means of Communication With People With Following.
LinkedIn is often a nice blindspot when it comes to contacting “respected people” or “celebrities.” An authority in your discipline who is bombed with messages via Twitter or Instagram might notice and accept your invitation to contacts if you find them on LinkedIn — just because it is NOT their primary destination for networking and they get few messages there.
Of course, before contacting any authority, you need to make sure that your LinkedIn profile is complete, you write an engaging personalized message next to your invitation, and you mentally prepare for rejection (authorities are typically selective with people after all).
Rule #11 For Effective Networking on LinkedIn: If You Still Need More Networking Options, Subscribe for LinkedIn Premium.
Many professionals wonder: if I pay for the LinkedIn subscription, do I get more benefits? Will it help me in networking? Well, yes and no. Yes, LinkedIn Pro offers a number of benefits. However, you will still need to do the heavy lifting for yourself as you actively network to bring your career to the next level. Investing time in this consistently reflects how to future-proof your career.
So, what does LinkedIn Pro have to offer? Well, there are four different options:
1. Premium Career for individuals.
For instance, the most often chosen option can be recognized by the golden LinkedIn symbol at a user’s profile. It offers 5 InMail credits, as well as the opportunity to browse other users’ profiles incognito, get applicant insights while posting jobs, message any other user directly, and full information about who viewed your profile.
Additionally, it offers unlimited access to LinkedIn Learning, an e-learning platform developed by LinkedIn that helps learn all the skills necessary to land jobs and develop skills and get professional certifications such as Lean Six-Sigma, Scrum master and such.
2. Premium Business.
This is an option for businesses. It offers all that Premium Career offers, plus, additionally, business insights and unlimited people browsing. It helps businesses get detailed business insights and further expand your business.
3. Recruiter Lite.
Moreover, this solution for recruiters offers all that Premium Business offers, plus advanced search options, automatic candidate tracking, recruiting-specific design, integrated hiring, and smart suggestions. It helps recruiters find and hire talent.
4. Sales Navigator.
This solution for businesses helps generate leads and build the base of clients. Among all the paid plans, this one offers the most options. It offers all that Premium Business has to offer, plus, additionally, a standalone sales interface, custom lead and account lists, lead recommendations and saved leads, and real-time updates and alerts.
Conclusions: Is Effective Networking on LinkedIn Hard?
Can LinkedIn make you thrive in your career? What to do if your LinkedIn networking seems to fail?
Well, remember that there are many different ways of networking. LinkedIn is good for creating horizontal, shallow connections but you will need to work in real life to convert them into deep, meaningful connections.
Please read more about networking in width versus networking in depth in our article “Make Strategic Networking a Part of Your Career Development Plan: The Depth vs The Width of Your Network.”
Also, remember that exposing yourself and networking via LinkedIn and other social media is only one of many ways of searching for jobs, next to networking in person and active job applications. Therefore, to maximize your career chances, it is ideal to diversify your job search and career building strategies.
However, remember that there are, in fact, multiple tiers to networking; to be successful in the long run, you need to cover all of them as they are equally important for creating and maintaining a functional network.
In fact, most people undervalue the importance of mesoscale networking. They regularly attend social media to build the macroscale network, and meet in person with selected individuals to network in macroscale.
However, what is truly crucial is to also be a part of local and online communities and self-help groups who share similar interests and exchange information in a curated way.
What to Do When LinkedIn Networking Feels Slow
However, at the same time, remember that networking via LinkedIn and applying to jobs posted via LinkedIn are not strategies that will give you the highest turnover rate when it comes to looking for your next job.
Despite networking via LinkedIn is a much lower effort activity as compared to networking in person, it will never replace networking in person in your professional life. Therefore, remember that it should not be your only strategy to look for jobs.
Lastly, don’t be shy and invite interesting people and people whom your admire to your contacts on social media (especially LinkedIn). Indeed, if you hesitate, why not try? You have little to lose. And the joke is, following has a snow ball effect: your contacts automatically become your followers and the more followers you have, the more likely next people are to accept your invite.
These are the best tips for networking on LinkedIn. Overall, just keep in mind a few basic rules: connect with people you know, connect with people in your industry, make a good profile, engage often, and personalize interactions. If you keep them in mind, you will be able to network like a pro with nearly anyone. Your network will be blooming in no time.
If you need more advice on networking on social media, please find more information in our article “5 Rules for How To Make Social Media Benefit Your Career.”
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