Founded in 2003, LinkedIn is a professional social network and career development platform. There are more than 800 million members on LinkedIn in 200 countries. That means that there are endless networking opportunities on the platform.

Through networking, you can expand your social connections and develop them, whether for knowledge exchange, inspiration, or for support in achieving professional goals.

We’ll cover here the followings:

• Why network on LinkedIn?
• How to find potential contacts for networking.
• How to make LinkedIn work for you.
• The next steps you should apply.

Why network on LinkedIn?

Let’s look at some of LinkedIn’s advantages when talking about networking:

Build your personal or company brand

In this digital age, we are searching for info about others on Google before or during interacting with them (well, not only professionally but even before a date). Through showcasing our skills and experience, we are building our authority. As a result, LinkedIn can position us as qualified professionals and a worthy source of knowledge or service providers.

The same applies for companies: A LinkedIn page and employees act as ambassadors on the platform by sharing their work and highlighting their company’s service or product. This can help establish a company’s brand.

Find a job

Many companies are looking for talents through LinkedIn, primarily by LinkedIn’s Job search feature. Recruiters also reach out directly to potential candidates, after viewing their profile on the LinkedIn search engine.

Job seekers can use the site to research companies, interviewers, recruiters, and hiring managers, which is helpful before submitting applications or showing up to interviews.

Market your services and find customers

Marketing specialists use LinkedIn to generate leads, establish business relations, raise brand awareness, and boost traffic to their company’s website or other social media channels.

Through LinkedIn Sales Navigator you can find better leads and target audience. Freelancers and self-employed can use the dedicated LinkedIn services’ landing page to showcase their services and businesses and grow their potential reach.

By the way, the average LinkedIn user spends 7:25 minuteson the platform. That’s exposure to a lot of different people, and enough time to attract attention from relevant audiences.

Follow industry leaders

Bill Gates, Simon Sinek, and Liz Ryan, are some of the top LinkedIn influencers. Through the platform you can engage in real time with CEO’s of the world’s top companies and follow decision-makers from your own industry.

Learn from interesting content

In a world where traditional news isn't the only way to find out what’s going on, LinkedIn exposes you to diverse content. You can engage with helpful insights through your contacts’ posts and LinkedIn groups.

Create collaborations

Whether you use LinkedIn for your job, business, or for personal branding, you can create various collaborations. Some examples: Finding partners, reaching out to keynote speakers, promoting your product, and creating content with influencers such as posts and videos.

Get expertise

LinkedIn Learning courses allow you to sharpen your business, creative, and technology skills and even receive certifications.

Some ways to find potential contacts for networking

1. Contact people you already knowsuch as co-workers, ex-employees, customers, college peers, and others.
2. LinkedIn offers you “people you may know”every time you connect with someone. You can also find it under the “My Network” tab. LinkedIn will offer you to connect based on your industry, profession, university, interests, and other keywords in your profile.
3. Use the search box. You can filter your search by location, company, hierarchy of the connection, and more.
4. Be active on LinkedIn groups. Find groups according to your interests and engage with their members.
5. Explore LinkedIn events. Similar to the “people you may know” section, LinkedIn will suggest events. In the online era it’s easier than ever to connect with professionals from your industry, whenever they are located. (Here you can learn more about how to be a more active participant in virtual meetings).

If someone comments on your post, don’t forget to thank them | Photo: Icons8 Team

Tips to make LinkedIn work for you

Start a conversation

Not only press the connect button, but start a conversation and get to know the person. Keep it short and focused, and explain why you want to connect; give a context.

If the conversation goes well, schedule a call, zoom, or face-to-face coffee to learn what you can do together.

Come prepared to the conversation — take a look at their profile, website, and company’s page to learn more and lead the conversation. People don’t like it when others waste their time.

Share

Well, sharing content is a whole other article itself, but it’s always good to start with something.

First, share what you’re doing and what you're up to. Started a new job? Launched a new product? Share the process, what your experience was, what you learned, or how your skills helped.

Additionally, people are related to success as well as lessons learned from challenges and failures. Inspire your audience with examples for how you managed to overcome them or what the actions were that led you to your achievements. Don’t be afraid to get personal and be vulnerable (watch the great TED talk of Brené Brownto learn more).

Lastly, if someone comments on your post or article, don’t forget to thank them. You can also invite them to share their own experience, ask them to provide further tips, and more.

Engage with others’ content

Instead of rolling down and reacting with “like”, contribute to the discussions. Share what your takeaways are from the post, ask questions on the topic, give your opinion. The LinkedIn algorithm appreciates longer comments than just “thank you” (but please don’t write a comment just for the sake of writing one).

Support others

One of my mottos is giving more than taking, and I recommend that to you as well. Keep in mind how you can help others. Tag relevant connections from your network, share insights, relevant articles, help others find a job or make an intro for their prospect client.

Ask for help

You’ve built your network, contacted numerous professionals, and regularly share content. Don’t forget that your network can be valuable when you’re looking for help. You might ask for advice, specific connections, or companies. People are happy to give back; as they say, “what goes around, comes around.”

Keep in mind

As with any social media tool, it might become easy to lose focus while using LinkedIn, resulting in a waste of your time. Set up your goals, follow your priorities, and track them.

The most important tip

For me, networking is not a thing that I do and forget. I don’t just log into LinkedIn, post, then close it. I try to build conversations and offer my help with knowledge or connections.

Be authentic and keep it real. People don’t like when someone over-sells them, or doesn't reveal the full details. When you reach out to someone, be clear about why you’re doing so.

"The successful networkers I know, the ones receiving tons of referrals and feeling truly happy about themselves, continually put the other person's needs ahead of their own." Bob Burg

Next steps

Networking takes time and effort, but it is worth it, and LinkedIn can definitely help you.

1. Ask yourself: Why do you want to network on LinkedIn?
2. According to the answer, understand which LinkedIn features you should use or maximize for your benefit.
3. Set measurable goals for your networking and action items.
4. Dedicate time in your calendar to the tasks. Start with completing and adjusting your LinkedIn profile according to the goals.
5. Network!