In the words of writer and thought leader Dave Frankland, today’s customers are entitled. And since we are all consumers, we are all entitled – which is not necessarily a bad thing.

Frankland’s book The Entitled Customer tells the story of the modern-day consumer. With technology at our fingertips, we are more informed than ever before. And we crave information – hard data, genuine reviews, and so on.

What’s more, our exposure to information is, for the most part, curated. We use ad blockers and spam filters to tune out the noise from the never-ending stream of ads. We choose who we follow – and unfollow.

The Entitled Customer got me thinking: how can we, as business owners, marketers, executives, and employees, meet today’s consumers’ expectations without assaulting their senses? And how can we leverage the social listening power of LinkedIn to achieve just that?

Is less really more?

A few months ago, LinkedIn launched a feature that let you see how often your connections publish posts. It was likely designed to use the time-tested power of peer-to-peer competition to get us to post more often. And besides, who doesn’t love a good snooping tool?

Out of curiosity, I had a look (you can too, here). To my surprise, I discovered that some people were creating 80 pieces of content a week!

While it must be noted that this calculation includes Stories as well as other forms of content, to me, this seems excessive. Publishing content on LinkedIn is about providing value to your network in a way that positions you as an industry authority. Surely, no person has 80-plus interesting, informative, original thoughts to share each week. Certainly, no person has the time to carefully consider and compose high-quality copy that speaks to their target audience’s pain points.

Less is more – and that’s not just a hunch. According to Frankland’s book, during GDPR in the UK, many companies put their marketing on hold and slimmed their mailing lists to comply with the new privacy act. As a result, sales went up.

Here’s how you can put this mantra into practice on LinkedIn:

Quality over quantity – always

Posting content on LinkedIn is key to unlocking the platform’s full potential, but like most things in life, quality trumps quantity every time. As a general rule, aim for three posts per week. If you can only manage one or two, that’s fine, too.

Add value

Your posts should contribute something of value – your take on an industry trend, your top three tips, or a how-to, as examples. Don’t just post for the sake of posting; instead, be generous with your expertise. No one ever loses out by being helpful.

Don’t spam people’s inboxes

Think of LinkedIn as a town square. If you’re going to wave billboards in people’s faces, they will not respond positively. But if you build relationships and engage in meaningful conversation, your time, effort, and kindness will repay dividends. Only message people privately with a podcast link, article or insight you genuinely believe they will find interesting. Unless solicited, don’t go in for the hard sell.

Creating bespoke experiences

If less is more, how can we make what remains impactful enough to nurture relationships, drive new sales, and hold onto loyal customers? The answer could lie in creating bespoke experiences.

Here are three stats to get you thinking:

• Eight in 10 consumers are more likely to purchase from brands that create personalised experiences.
• Seven in 10 consumers say they exclusively engage with personalised messaging.
• Brands that create personalised experiences see revenue increase by 6 to 10%.

How can you create bespoke experiences for your customers here on LinkedIn? How can you win them back day in and day out?

Here’s my advice:

Write for your target audience

In case you weren’t already aware, you are not your customer. What you might find interesting or helpful may not align with what your customers want to read. Imagine you’re face-to-face with a client. What questions do they have? What are they worried about? How do you make them feel heard and understood? Mirror this in your posts, and the authenticity will shine through. Guaranteed.

Reply to comments on your own posts

I recently saw someone on LinkedIn draw a parallel between not responding to comments on your own posts and not working the room at your own party. Engage with the people who take time out of their day to add their two cents – remember, relationships are built one sentence at a time.

Flatten the path to purchase

Bespoke experiences answer customer questions before they can even ask. Consider what you can do to flatten the path to purchase. A big one: include your contact information in the (tricky to find) Contact Info section and your About section. Don’t make it difficult for a profile visitor to reach out – make it so easy it’s almost irresistible.

Relationships matter – a lot

Ever met someone for the second or third time only to be greeted with a blank look? They don’t remember who you are, because the two, three, four conversations you’ve had failed to add value to them.

That’s one extreme. The other is catching up with an old friend. I live in Sydney, but my childhood friends are scattered across the country and world. When we talk, it’s like no time has passed. They know me, and they understand the context of what I’m saying. They can fill in the blanks with ease.

You don’t want to be the me, me, me person on LinkedIn. Greed isn’t good, and you should not be looking to spam or one-up every person you interact with. You want to listen actively and grasp the bigger picture of your target audience’s wants, needs, and challenges. It takes time and effort to truly listen, and shortcuts don’t work.

You can’t and shouldn’t automate relationships on LinkedIn. Not only is it against their user terms, but it’s also a sure-fire way to be ignored. Instead, create meaningful touchpoints that feel personal:

• Comment on people’s posts
• Personalise your invitations to connect
• Share podcast episodes, relevant posts and articles with your contacts
• Use voice messages

Little actions build big reactions. In an era of hybrid events and less face-to-face interaction, authentic digital connection has never mattered more.

Let’s get personal for a minute

My dad died in late 2019. It put things in perspective. People are everything, and relationships are not to be undervalued. In 2020, I vowed to do better, be better for my clients, to keep in touch and personalise my service. But I was in the lucky group that benefited from the shift to online in the wake of the pandemic. Busier than ever, I couldn’t fit one more thing into my schedule.

As we pass the mid-point of 2021, I’m reviewing my new years resolutions and realising that my resolution has slipped a bit. I am back to actively split-testing what I do, managing my time so that I can focus on quality, not quantity.

Because for me, less is more.

The post Why Less On LinkedIn Is So Much More appeared first on Head Of Sales.

Our newly hybrid world and the massive adoption of LinkedIn presents a greater opportunity to cast your net wider and network online. Why? Because that’s where we are all spending the majority of our time.

Without peers sitting behind us, less rushing from here to there for meetings and reduced travel, decision-makers are more accessible and more open to communication. Periods of social isolation has been tough and we are all yearning for connection and collaboration.

How can you improve your online presence to bolster your networking efforts? By giving your LinkedIn profile an overhaul!

Before we start though, click on the edit pencil in whatever section you are working on, scroll to the bottom and ensure that the slide bar is set to ‘Off’.

Check this setting every time you save changes, noting that notifications are very good announcements if you have changed roles, been promoted, recently completed an MBA or some other significant studies.

(1) Headline

Aside from your name and picture, your Professional Headline is the only part of your profile that is instantly visible in LinkedIn search results. It also follows you everywhere on LinkedIn, when people find you in searches, when you comment, in companies and on the top of your posts. This is why you have to use these 220 characters to grab people’s interest, so they’ll want to click on your profile.

Your headline should sum up who you are and the problems you solve, but there’s no need for it to be bland. Most users (approximately 70%) simply have their name and company here, as this is what LinkedIn defaults to. However, you’ll stand out from the crowd by being a bit more creative with your headline.

Firstly, it’s important to think about keywords. Just like Google, LinkedIn uses keywords to determine how highly your profile will rank in search results, so you need to be thinking about the keywords that are most relevant to what you do. Try to put yourself in the mindset of your ideal client or prospective employer – what search terms would they use if they were searching for someone to solve their pain?

Once you’ve established the most relevant keywords to use, you can start thinking of more creative ways to put them together, such as giving yourself a catchy slogan. Think of yourself as a brand and consider how do you want to sell yourself?

As LinkedIn is highly visual with almost everyone having a background banner these days, you should consider making your profile more graphically appealing and memorable by separating your keywords with emojis rather than just writing them as a list.

Pipes are okay – but having been abandoned by LinkedIn and other sites a few years ago, they may look old school…

(2) Background banner

Your background banner has a lot of prominence on your profile so if you have not yet replaced the LinkedIn default blue background, you’re not going to stand out and you will not get noticed.

The image you choose should depend on what you want your LinkedIn profile to achieve. If you want your employees to increase the company’s brand reach, offer each employee the option to upload an image that has a company logo – as all the best companies do.

If your employer has not yet provided a background banner, the image you use should reflect your value proposition. If you’re promoting services or products, it’s a good idea to reduce barriers by including contact details in the image – if this doesn’t make it too cluttered. Tag lines or a description of what the company does is also helpful in converting your audience to buying customers.

Do not have a beach scene or something that infers you wish to be on holiday! LinkedIn is a professional platform and accordingly, your banner needs to further your professional goals.

(3) About section

Your About section really needs to start as strong as possible, as only the first 270 characters are visible on desktop before the person viewing your profile has to click on “See More”. Of course people only click when they are interested, so you must ensure your first 270 characters form a hook, and make a real impact. A great way to do this is to start with a question, or an intriguing statement.

If your initial sentence or two are interesting enough, you should be expecting users to click on “See More”. This is why it’s important to have something extra to offer those who do. You should then explain not just what you do, but why you do it.

With a total of 2600 characters (approx 360 words), it’s vital that your About section contains information about the value you can offer clients or prospective employers, that your competition can’t. State clearly how you can make their lives easier, for example, by explaining how you solve problems using your particular skills and experience.

Employers are always looking to recruit new employees whose values align with those of their business, and similarly clients want to know that you are genuinely committed to solving their problems. It’s important to let readers know your why, what makes you tick, and what made you choose your particular field – because we all connect more easily with people who care about the same things as us.

Crucially, be authentic and reflect who you are in a realistic way, rather than simply aiming to please the people you’re hoping to attract. By being yourself and highlighting your skills and interests to your best advantage – you will attract people you truly want to work with.

Never use third-person perspective (referring to yourself by name), and instead use I and You to give readers the sensation that you are speaking to them directly. It will appear aloof and distant to talk about yourself as if you are not yourself. If you are not convinced that you should use I and you then check out this 1.22 minute video on how our language needs to match current trends in leadership style…

(4) Skills endorsements and recommendations

Your Skills section is all about proving that you have the know-how to do the work you do. It also appears to feed the ranking when someone searches for your skills, so as much as it pains me to say this, more is currently better… Just be careful you don’t dilute your number of endorsements by mentioning similar skills twice (Eg Management and Leadership).

Keeping in mind that only three of your skills are immediately visible on your profile, it’s important to make sure those skills are the ones that best align with your goals and describe strengths that are most relevant to the job/client/industry you are pursing. You can reorder your skills by unpinning, clicking and dragging on the four lines on the right of each skill as pictured and shown in the video here and pictured below.

You must have your skills endorsed by others if you want people to feel they can trust you. Try pushing yourself out of your comfort zone and casually ask for endorsements every time somebody praises your work. You don’t have to be pushy, as people are often grateful to have a way to help – if you approach them in a friendly and low-pressure way.

Similarly, don’t be shy. If you are looking for a new role, and you know your peers are too, consider asking (gently) if you can write each other a recommendation, being specific in what you would like mentioned.

Personally, I find that giving recommendations feels good. If you are a leader in an organisation, consider normalising both recommendations and endorsements by monthly reflecting on the performance of individual team members and endorsing their skills, writing recommendations for specific projects and accomplishments. Why should you do this? Because these days, few people care about acknowledgements unless the whole world sees it… Take comfort that you can always delete recommendations at a later date if the employee does something terrible.

Concerned that your employees will leave if you endorse them? That is like the cartoon below…

Recommendations and skills endorsements demonstrate trust and foster employee loyalty and commitment in a way that few reward and recognition programs can achieve. All at no cost. Plus, a higher number of endorsements and recommendations will lift clients perception of the quality and talents of your team members – growing sales conversions.

(5) Experience section

Don’t ever cut and paste your resume to your LinkedIn profile, instead stop and consider again your LinkedIn objective. If your goal is to attract more clients, it will look weird for your profile to read as a resume – and certainly few clients will want to hear about your successes in sales. Instead clients want to hear that you are skilled in solving their problems.

If you are sprucing up your LinkedIn profile to attract a new employer, or influence how your peers perceive you, cutting and pasting your resume into your LinkedIn profile gives the reader no reason to contact you with questions. Instead keep your statements short, strongly action-orientated and focussed on the difference you deliver.

Keep in mind that you can use symbols instead of bullets in your all-important experience section of your profile, as demonstrated in my friend Robert’s, who in having permitted me to use him as an example years ago of how a profile could be arranged, was subsequently approached about a new role because of his profile on LinkedIn. Robert was not, and most certainly is NOT looking for a job – but he kindly permits me to still use him as an example.

(6) Adding media

A frequently underutilised area of LinkedIn is Media, and Featured. A great profile is far more sophisticated than a résumé on steroids — it is your digital reputation, validating who you are and the expertise you hold.

However we often connect with people who simply don’t know all that we have accomplished, causing the undervaluing of our skills, talents and services.

You can build on how others think of you without constant bragging and hero statements by adding media. Sitting in the Experience section of your profile and relevant to each job, these are evidence of previous successes, awards and presentations in the form of external news articles, photos, website links, videos and SlideShare presentations. 

To ensure these show to those that are just skimming your profile (and who do not scroll down to the experience section), it is crucial that you use the Featured tool to highlight key messages and achievements.

As you can see pictured here you can highlight articles, landing pages or company websites in the Featured section. 

These additions are powerful evidence that you are a specialist and a subject matter expert!

Noting that only a little over two are immediately visible on desktop and only a little over one on mobile, just ensure that you change the order so the most relevant is first.

(7) Customising your URL

Lastly, if you want to make an impact – you will need to be memorable and easy to find. A custom URL makes you look like you take care of the online image you’re presenting – something that is even more critical in this Covid-impacted time.

If it seems like too much effort don’t be fooled – the more memorable you are, the more job offers, clients and opportunities you can expect to get!

Remember, everyone under 30 has grown up digitally literate and millennials don’t even have to think about presenting themselves as tech-savvy – they do it automatically. No matter what age or level, you need to keep up to look relevant.

Don’t worry if someone else on LinkedIn has the same name as you – you can use your URL as an opportunity to stand out even further in your field, by adding your job title or industry sector after your name, for example Joe-Bloggs-Accountant or Joe-Bloggs-Supply-Chain.

While this modification will look especially great on your resume, if you use business cards don’t forget to have your URL printed underneath your phone and email address because we all need to remember that LinkedIn is where your customers are increasingly searching for the services and technical expertise they need!

To point out the obvious: While LinkedIn is a personal branding tool where you control what is said about you, in this new world where we are unable to meet face to face, it is crucially one of the few places where you can generate job and business leads, represent your company, or find and reach out to old contacts to explore new opportunities.

As LinkedIn is a social selling and recruitment tool that works on the basis of relationships, when you craft your LinkedIn profile, it is important to think about who you are and how you want to be perceived.

Be authentic and let your character show through because we need to see who you really are to connect, communicate and collaborate…

The post LinkedIn Hacks – 7 Practical Steps To Overhaul Your Profile appeared first on Head Of Sales.

As someone who believes there is definitely such a thing as too much social media, I want to discuss why you need to ration and structure your time on LinkedIn and how to prioritise quality over quantity to get the most out of the experience.

Why too much LinkedIn is not a good thing

I’m an independent LinkedIn trainer. I know exactly how important this platform is for individuals and businesses wanting to grow their online presence and achieve greater successes. But because LinkedIn is aimed at business professionals, it can be easy to forget that it is still a social media platform.

We’re hearing more and more about how too much social media is dangerous for us, and I agree. This year in particular, when we have been confined to our homes for long periods of time, there has been a huge temptation to spend large portions of every day connecting and conversing online.

However, this is exactly what social media is designed to do – clever algorithms, driven by artificial intelligence, are continuously refining and improving our experience online to meet three core objectives.

These are objectives all social media platforms have:

1. Engagement goal, keep us plugged in for longer
2. Growth goal – gain more subscribers (for LinkedIn the goal here is to transition free subscribers to paid accounts such as LinkedIn Premium or Sales Navigator)
3. Sell us advertising (largely Facebooks goal, however we have seen elements of this appearing on LinkedIn in recent years with sponsored posts)

Many people also don’t realise that the user experience design of social media platforms is actually based on ideas that originally came from the gambling industry. Scrolling through the newsfeed triggers similar responses to slot machines, and “likes” give us a rush far more addictive than a “win” could ever be, making us feel validated and successful, all while tapping into that caveman desire for belonging, acceptance and social connection.

So it isn’t surprising that social media addiction has become a growing concern. These sites are actually designed to create addiction and compulsion. It is in their interests that we never sign out.

And, just like in the movie, if we don’t realise we’re plugged into The Matrix, how are we supposed to wake up?

This is why I always outline a number of steps people can take to make sure they don’t spend too much time on LinkedIn and that the time they do spend here is productive.

How to make your time on LinkedIn productive

Because LinkedIn is a business networking platform, just spending time on the site each day can make us feel productive. But you’re only productive if you’re actually achieving something. Scrolling mindlessly through the feed for an hour is not doing anything to further your business goals.

It’s essential to keep a number of things in mind when using LinkedIn:

1. What are your objectives?

The whole point of being on LinkedIn is to help you achieve your goals. You need to write these objectives down if you want to make the LinkedIn experience productive and positive. For example, do you want to:

• Attract new clients?
• Bring in investment?
• Find a new employee?
• Secure a better job?

Or you could simply be on LinkedIn to keep yourself memorable to your peers and stakeholders as this is much harder to do in these times when we can’t meet face to face.

Whatever your objectives are, your time on LinkedIn has to be concentrated on helping you achieve them!

2. What is your ROI?

Just like in any business campaign, you need to keep track of your return on investment when you are spending time on LinkedIn. These days, attention is our most important commodity, and we need to be careful where we spend it. Are we actually getting anything out of the time we put into LinkedIn? If not, you need to look at where you are putting your time and change your activities.

LinkedIn should be seen as a tool. Are you using it, or is it using you?

Ways to ration your time on LinkedIn

If you want to get maximum results from your time on LinkedIn, it is important to ration the time you spend on the platform and make every minute count. I always advise setting yourself definite tasks at specific times, so you can actually start to measure the results you’re getting from the time you’re putting in.

Daily:

• Check your notifications
• Scroll through your newsfeed (set an egg timer if you need to)
• Like and comment on anything you find interesting or useful, particularly if it is from someone who you would like to see more of in your newsfeed
• Unfollow those people who produce content you find annoying – you will still stay connected and they will not be alerted that you have unfollowed them

Weekly:

• Check who has looked at your profile and send them invitations to connect
• Check your diary and send connection invitations based on who you have met, or simply spoken to
• Post content

Fortnightly:

• Look up the people you are targeting
• Like and comment on their posts
• Look at whose posts they are commenting on, or the “people also viewed” sectionof their profile and consider if connecting with these people would further your goals

Monthly:

• Craft content for the month
• Download contacts and send direct messages to people you have recently connected with or who you want to stay top of mind with. DO NOT SPAM. Aim instead to give. Forward articles of interest; facilitate helpful introductions. Aim to serve.

Having a regular schedule like this will automatically help you cut down the amount of time you spend on LinkedIn.

How to prioritise quality over quantity

Connections

The number of connections you have on LinkedIn is not important. However, your connections need to be high-quality – you need to think about the people you are trying to reach, or people who might know these people. Every connection should lead to a potential opportunity. The opportunity might not be from the connection themselves – but from the people they know. I always advocate for being selective but open-minded.

2. Posts

LinkedIn now enables you to see how often the people you follow are posting. I discovered that some of my connections are posting 80 times a week! In my opinion, this is ridiculous.

Your posts need to show thought leadership and add value to your communities on LinkedIn. This does not mean endlessly sharing other people’s posts or posting content that is meaningless – the whole point is to start and contribute to conversations so you can demonstrate your knowledge and expertise in your industry.

It can take time to gain traction, and once a week doesn’t seem like very often to post. But if your content is thought-provoking and encourages comments, you will find you’re showing up much more prominently in people’s newsfeeds.

3. Comments

It is important to comment on the posts of the people you want to reach. Not only does this make you memorable and pull attention to your profile, but it also because comments are like smiles, you have to give them to get them back.

Conclusion

LinkedIn can be a tremendous force for good if you make the best use of your time on the platform. 

The post How Much Online Networking Is Too Much? appeared first on Head Of Sales.

The numbers paint a vivid picture: LinkedIn is the place to be for job seekers.

LinkedIn is a smorgasbord of opportunities. I’m sharing the best LinkedIn tips that will help job seekers to squeeze every last bit of value out of LinkedIn.

These are not my tips. I’ve opened the floor to some amazing Australians that live and breathe the careers space.

Here are 10 expert tips on extracting value from LinkedIn:

Angela Farmeary, Mindful Careers

Angela helps her clients navigate the highly competitive job market through individualised career coaching.

1. Create your hit list.

Write down ten companies you’d jump on the opportunity to work at. What do they have in common with you? Do your values align?

2. Follow company pages.

Head to each business’s LinkedIn company page and click follow. Now, you’ll get notified of new hires, promotions, changes at the company, and, crucially, job opportunities.

Rebecca Jarvis, Javrow

A recruiter for the tech industry, Rebecca was awarded LinkedIn Top Voice 2020.

3. Stand out with your About section.

A recruiter looks at five-plus people, all with similar skillsets. How will they decide who to call? I call it “getting your character off a page.” If your character seems interesting, you are more likely to get the call.

Clare Phelan, Persuit Consulting

Clare is a career coach and job search strategist that guides you in becoming the CEO of your career.

4. Utilise LinkedIn messaging with professionalism. 

Being CEO of your career means having the systems in place to enable you to efficiently and effectively promote your value to potential employers. Messaging is part and parcel of communicating effectively throughout the job search process, however, getting this right can be overwhelming!

5. Utilise LinkedIn recommendations. 

Aim for three strong recent recommendations. When asking for recommendations, reach out to those who been privy to your great work. If you are searching for roles with a particular skillset, ask your referee to focus the recommendation on your positive traits relevant to that type of role.

Gillian Kelly, Outplacement Australia

Gillian is a Forbes Council career coach, keynote speaker, and award-winning master resume writer.

6. Analyse your profile through the eyes of a hirer. 

Hirers want people who offer value to their business. What does your target hirer see when they look at your profile? What shared connections do you have? How relevant are your skills to their business? What impression do your headline and photo make on them? How credible are you in your subject area or field? What does the tone of your past posts say about your communication style and values?

7. Don’t confuse visibility with credibility. 

Use LinkedIn well, and your actions can help you stand out to potential hirers. Abuse it, and it can damage your job hunt. Be strategic with what you post and how you communicate. Don’t damage a relationship by asking for favours too early. Respect others’ time, opinions, and rights. Consider how posts or comments may impact your brand. Visibility is not the same as credibility.

Shilpa Kulshrestha, Scintillate Coaching

Shilpa is a career strategist, coach, and best-selling author and speaker that helps people who are stuck create impactful careers.

8. Do not try to be someone that you are not.

It will come back to bite you in the face. Or it will push you towards the restlessness of being an imposter. Your authenticity can be your biggest magnet on this platform.

9. Do not ask for help.

Instead, add value without any expectations. You will create some beautiful relationships. I have got my best employees and 90 per cent of my clients from LinkedIn.

Jo Green, Jo Green Coaching 

Jo is a career change coach helping people work through career transformations without stress.

10. Look for people, not jobs.

Lead with your curiosity by finding people on LinkedIn who work in companies you are interested in or careers you want. Get in touch to organise a quick chat or send them a few questions when you connect. Be honest and authentic about why you are reaching out.

The information they give you will help you understand the job market, the companies you are interested in, and new areas you might want to move into. And your new contacts will know you are looking for a role. They may even let you know if they hear of anything.

Thank you Angela Farmeary, Rebecca Jarvis, Clare Phelan, Gillian Kelly, Shilpa Kulshrestha, and Jo Green for your contributions.

The post 10 Expert Tips To Stand Out On LinkedIn appeared first on Head Of Sales.