How to Get Juice Out of LinkedIn

There are different social networks — Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, Pinterest, WhatsApp, Twitter, Clubhouse, LinkedIn — and  each one serves different and specific purposes, ranging from entertainment, leisure, communication, socialization and education to business. When it comes to business, which will be our focus, the key social network is definitely LinkedIn. For business and professional purposes, LinkedIn today is above Facebook because it has more projection and its audience is selective and often qualified. It may not always be in the headlines like Instagram or TikTok, but year after year it is gaining more and more strength.  

In 2016, this social network was bought by Microsoft, which gave it a boost that has allowed it to reach 810 million users worldwide and 17 million particularly in Mexico.  Unfortunately, many professionals and businesses have not yet taken advantage of the potential of the network. In today's article, I will provide a number of tips to use LinkedIn to your advantage.

• Use a professional photograph: Remember that you are not on Instagram or TikTok. It is very important to publish a photograph that gives a good impression and helps you build trust. Try to make it professional, but at the same time natural.

• Define your area of expertise.  Forget generic descriptions like lawyer, doctor, or systems engineer.  In your  description, you should talk about what your areas of expertise are; for example, criminal lawyer, civil or real estate. This way it will be much easier to find an opportunity that really is for you.

• Participate in groups and answer questions: Choose a few topics of interest to you and join one of the thousands of groups that already exist. On the one hand, it will help you stay relevant on the topics of your interest and on the other, if they answer questions from the community, you can help other people and above all, gain visibility and show what you are capable of. Participate actively, but without becoming a spammer.

• Generate content: Most LinkedIn users are passive users; that is, they only consume content,  they only observe and read and perhaps give a like, so it can represent a great opportunity for you if you generate content for this social network. Your profile has to be alive and up-to-date, so it is very important that you share articles from your blog, generate presentations on SlideShare or simply share content that you found on the internet and that may be interesting for your followers or for the groups in which you participate. Look for some frequency to share content — daily, two times a week or weekly — but stay consistent in creating and sharing content.

• Ask for recommendations: A profile without recommendations is an incomplete profile. Recommendations are proof that what you say on your profile is true. Ask clients, partners, or associates to generate a recommendation for you about some of the skills you most want to highlight. Contrary to what you might think, a large list of skills is not effective; one cannot be an expert in everything and, rather, you must highlight what your main skills are.

• Follow leaders: Try to follow leaders or influencers in your field and try to interact with them when they publish an article or a post. You do not always have to agree with their opinion or content and that is precisely what you should answer, without reaching for another article or writing multiple paragraphs. Try to be succinct and assertive when responding and be intelligent when doing so.

• Consider premium: Although it is definitely by far the most expensive social network, having the premium package will give you, on the one hand, more visibility and on the other, you will be able to know who is interested in your profile or what you publish, in addition to the fact that there are exclusive features for users who invest in premium.

• Hiring: If you are looking to hire talent, it is a great search engine to find hundreds of people who say they are qualified. You always have to apply an exam and filter interviews, but you will certainly find a magnificent source of prospects of people who qualify in knowledge and experience for what you need.

Unfortunately, not everything is blue sky. There are unethical people who lie on their resumes, putting op profiles that do not comply or who lie about their studies. That is why I mentioned previously the importance of applying filters to guarantee the veracity of what is described in the profile.

LinkedIn is an excellent social network for all those who seek to grow professionally or network for business, so never neglect your profile, constantly update it and respond to the messages sent to you. Today, it is an excellent option for executives. Nowadays, using the LinkedIn app is a good investment of time for productive interactions. It is worth dedicating enough to understand and take advantage of it.