Habits That Highly Effective LinkedIn Users Practice

LinkedIn. Ever heard of it? If you are a professional in this day and age, I am SURE you have.

LinkedIn is a big deal. LinkedIn is most-used social media platform amongst Fortune 500 companies, with 94% of business to business marketers using LinkedIn as a content distribution channel. There are over 250 million active LinkedIn users, with 87 million of those people being millennials. Imagine how many first- and second-degree connections could happen between 250 MILLION active LinkedIn users. Those are some conversations that you definitely want to be a part of—and some that you may not be able to afford to miss.

Since there is such a large population of LinkedIn users, you may very well be on the site, and if not, you need to be. If you are among the majority that are already taking part in making connections that go to the third degree and beyond, you may be wondering how to get the most out of your profile. There are some habits that highly effective LinkedIn users practice—and you should be practicing as well.

Take LinkedIn seriously

Your LinkedIn profile is essentially a website advertising the most important thing—you. You are selling yourself as a person and as a future connection that could be beneficial to have. Think of what unique trait you bring to the table and base your profile off of it. Your profile should have your strengths highlighted and should be riddled with previous work you have done that highlight those strengths.

Taking your LinkedIn seriously is crucial, as it truly is a representation of you and your brand. LinkedIn has many features for you to take advantage. Two that are extremely important are the recommendations and the endorsements. These are two sections that give your connections the unique opportunity to speak to your skills. A recommendation is a written statement that is posted by one of your connections, recalling a time you worked together or just giving praise to one of your skills. A lot of the time, if you write a recommendation for one of your connections, they will write one for you in return! The rule of reciprocity really holds true here.

Another place your profile could shine is through the endorsement feature. When first setting up your LinkedIn profile, there will be a 'skills' category, in which you can browse through and select skills that you have. Next to your choices, you will see a little plus symbol on your public profile. Your connections can click the plus symbol to endorse that skill, meaning they can attest to your proficiency. Here's a tip: go through your connections and give some people some endorsements! The rule of reciprocity is at work again!

Don't talk about yourself in the third person

Many times, you will see novice LinkedIn users refer to themselves in the third person, as if they did not write their own 'about me' section. While the jury is still out on this, it always appears more organic and approachable if you refer to yourself in the first person. Your connections will appreciate your personal flare, and you never know what could come of it!

Engage with connections

What's the point of having connections if you are not using them to your full advantage? Take some time out of your day and do some interacting. LinkedIn is all about community engagement. Share posts that you think your followers will find interesting. LinkedIn also sends notifications when your connections has a work anniversary and even birthday, so take advantage of this and reach out to your connections. This will prompt them to engage with your content. It is a win-win for all!

Update your LinkedIn profile twice a year

Like anything worth having in your life, your LinkedIn profile requires all around upkeep! It will be in your best interest to go through your profile at least twice a year. During your spring (and fall!) cleaning, there are quite a few things you will want to update.

You will want to update your resume, your documents and make any tweaks to pertinent information, like your location, your current job, etc. One thing you may not think of that NEEDS updating, is your profile picture! Your picture is a reflection of you, obviously. If your looks have changed, your profile definitely needs to reflect that, so you are promoting an accurate representation of yourself. This is also a great time to add the skills you have gained in the last six months. Give your LinkedIn some much needed TLC and you will be sure to make the most out of your profile!

Join groups and actively participate

Much like other social media networks, like Facebook, LinkedIn has a group feature. This is a place you can find a netword of other people interested in some of the same things or topics you are interested in. People join groups on LinkedIn focused on a variety of topics, some examples of these groups are Startup Specialists, Entrepreneur's Network, Future Trends, and The Recruiter Network! These groups are a great way for you to network, collaborate and connect with people who share similar goals with you. Get to groupin'!

Run DuxSoup

We here at Hyperchat love DuxSoup. For those who do not know, there is a magical Chrome-extension called DuxSoup that you can download. DuxSoup is an automated messaging system that will take the results from a LinkedIn search and send a customized connection request message. By customizing these messages, you will be able to connect with so many people all at once. With a larger web of connections, you increase the value of your profile.

Take advantage of at least one premium ad-on

While everyone is taking advantage of-or trying to at least—their standard LinkedIn profile, the true LinkedIn professionals have expanded their horizons and splurged for one or more of LinkedIn's premium ad-ons. Whether you are a recruiter, looking to hire new talent, looking for a job, or even just growing your professional network, there is a LinkedIn feature for you. At Hyperchat Social, we love to use Sales Navigator to help out clients find the kind of leads they are looking for. By having this added-on feature, we are able to narrow our searches using much more specific parameters. This way, we get the most out of our search for our clients! If you would like more information on the work that Hyperchat Social does with lead generation in LinkedIn, you can click here.

Post regularly

As with ALL other forms of social media, POSTING is the key! Why would you even bother having a LinkedIn account if you are not posting great content? The content you are posting can either help or hurt your brand. We have a great blog post about building a brand from the ground up, you can read it here. With content, keeping it consistent is key. The more you post interesting and relevant, the higher your engagement is! This increases your profile's value even more.

Keeping up with your own social calendar will be quite a task. Hyperchat Social can actually be your one stop shop when it comes to all of your content needs. Click here to schedule a consultation and figure out how to Turn Social Into Sales.