How to Avoid Making These 7 LinkedIn Mistakes
LinkedIn has quickly become a social media giant among professional and business people. The days of it being merely a place to dump your resume are long past, as LinkedIn now drives four times as many visitors to your home page as Facebook and Twitter combined. Not just that, newer initiatives on the site such as the ability to post content and the new ad platform bode well for the future prospects of the platform as it pertains to business.
But all of that matters not a whit if you’re committing of these 7 mistakes. Check it out and see where you can make some improvements and have LinkedIn begin working well for you and your business.
7 Ways you can really blow it with LinkedIn
- Poor or inappropriate picture – Make sure that any photo you use is something that would serve you well in a business setting. Posting that fun picture from the cruise in Puerto Vallarta (that you don’t remember) may send the wrong message.
- Blowing the headline – This is your opportunity to tell the LinkedIn world what you do, in 120 characters or less. Don’t be vanilla and only list “Doctor”. Make your headline attention grabbing, truthful and inviting, all at the same time.
- Not Using the Summary Section – With 2000 characters to work with, this is your chance to tell your story in a way that invites connection. Make this a min-pitch of your services and talents, and make the reader want to know all there is they can find out about you.
- Not completing your profile – This says quite a bit about your business in general, that you wouldn’t take the necessary time to complete your profile. This is easy to rectify, so do it!
- Not including key links – You need to be sure to include links to your websites, social media, IM and any other ways you’d want to be contacted with. Don’t make them have to go anywhere else to find out how to get hold of you quickly and easily.
- Sending spam – LinkedIn is not a place to spam contacts with promotional offers and sales material. Everybody knows what spam looks like. Don’t do it.
- Not coming around – If you update your account once in a blue moon, people will view you as someone not serious about this platform, and consequently, of little interest to them. Don’t be that guy! Update frequently.