I use LinkedIn to connect with people I know, but that’s not the only way to use it.
How many people are talking about LinkedIn these days? There are books, training courses, blog posts, seminars about the different way to use LinkedIn for what you want – whether that’s finding a job, tracking down colleagues, finding leads, advertising and more too.
I Keep Track of Colleagues
I’ve used LinkedIn for a long time, to keep track of professional colleagues – that used to be only people I’ve worked with, but now it’s changed. I now link with my customers and suppliers (people I’ve done business with) and also with attendees on training courses I run for myself, The Open University or Learning Tree. These are people I know. Once we’ve worked together or covered a course together then we certainly know each other!
I Connect with Networking Contacts
I’ve also started to connect with more of the people I know from networking – and now it’s started to get tricky. You see: I’ve been networking for years; I go to lots of places; I’ve met a lot of people; I remember most faces if I see them again but remembering names is sometimes more challenging.
Requests to Connect
I’ve also started to receive more requests to connect on LinkedIn – fair enough… but sometimes I’m not sure if I know the person and whilst I don’t want to be rude, if I don’t know you then you’re not going to be added to my Linked In network (although you’re welcome to follow me on Twitter, build a relationship with me and then connect on Linked In). So why not help me out, when you want to connect with me. Two things you could do:
- as part of asking to connect, include a message that will jog my memory and remind me who you are
- add a picture to your profile – your face not your logo, so I’ll remember you (there are other reasons to add pictures too)
If I think like this then other people will too. On the other hand there are other ways to use Linked In so other people will be using it in different ways – tricky isn’t it!
Tell me how you use LinkedIn or tell me what you think of how I use it – leave a comment. Read on for why it’s a good idea to leave blog comments.
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I was beginning to think that I was the only one that worked LinkedIn in this way. Even so, my connections on LinkedIn have risen to over 300 and continue to grow.
Seems we have yet to connect on LinkedIn. There’ll be an invite in your LinkedIn inbox shortly!