Randy Schrum is considered one of the leading authorities on LinkedIn & Twitter and is co-manager of the #1 LinkedIn & Twitter Strategies groups.
He is the author of Twitter Strategies, which teaches businesses and Twitter users how to build on their business and professional goals using twitter.
I “met” him when I read his great article on seven ways to make LinkedIn work for you. Randy is the Executive Vice President of Sales for DemingHill, a Leading Corporate Social Media Consulting & Marketing Firm.
The 7 Habits of Highly Successful LinkedIn Members
Guest Post by Randy Schrum
So what makes a highly successful Linkedin member? Here is what I have discovered as not only habits, but also “secrets” of the treasure chest on Linkedin.
1. They invest their time strategically by putting fresh content on Linkedin when it’s the best time to do so.
Let me explain, for me weekends are times to prepare Linkedin content, but as you will notice most collaboration does not take place on weekends. So hold the great Q/A’s, the awesome discussion topics, or the great status updates until Monday and never late Friday. Think about what your audience is doing and be strategic.
2. They use their status update to post something new every 24 to 48 hours and 80% of those updates include a link that gives a call to action. Such as signing up for your next webinar, promotions to visit your blog, or visiting your corporate website etc…
3. They answer target-specific questions that are related to their particular market. This is great exposure for your business, and Linkedin Pros are doing it everyday!
4. They change their Picture profile every two months. This creates dialogue and interaction with your network. This is another way to keep your brand in front of everyone. Pictures are worth a thousand _ _ _ _ _ (fill in the blank)
5. They answer every Linkedin email/inmail. Maybe not timely, but they never waste an opportunity!
6. They post their company events on the events application provided by Linkedin and use this as a way to measure interest and involvement for such things as conferences, webinars, or seminars.
The events application has only been recently used by Linkedin Elite, but many are beginning to wise up to its amazing potential.
7. These highly successful members have identified their target markets on Linkedin, their goals on Linkedin, and are executing their plan every single work day.
Social Media can be measured, but most people don’t understand how to begin measuring their Social Media efforts because they have never identified their goals for using the Linkedin space. Once you have identified your goals, then you can build a measurable matrix to analyze your efforts.
Here are a few of the 65 comments that followed Randy’s article:
I would add that developing relationships with those on LinkedIn can be a crucial benefit. Your comments are great for a large company but as a one-person business it is the individual relationships that matter most to me. I have connected with others in my field that I might not otherwise have “met.” — Ann Brauer
They make their content easily shareable by people reading it – know- how is the one thing you can give away and still be left with – so as Janet says, “share the love.” — Kirsten Gibbs
As everyone else agreed, this is a great list of what to do ‘right’ on LI. I would add a few other things to your list:
1) Utilizing all of the LI applications to enhance the profile page…content is king.
2) Joining and actively participating in Groups, especially those where your target audience members are most likely to be.
3) Give to get — provide assistance where you can without including a sales plug, it can pay back significantly. — Terri Maurer
Randy, I love your tips so well that I will be one of many who will re-post this article. I do have two comments, though.
First off, my understanding has always been that one should NOT change photographs online because that can destroy credibility. People who only know you online can feel a sense of disconnect when the person they knew has been “replaced” by a stranger.
Secondly, I’d like to add a link to one of my popular articles on How to Increase Your Linked ROI By Tweaking Your Profile: http://sharisax.com/2010/03/14/how-to-improve-your-linked-roi-by-tweaking-your-profile/ — Shari Weiss
Randy’s recently published follow up article: The 7 Habits of Highly Successful Companies on LinkedIn
FURTHER READING:
10 Videos on How To do LinkedIn
8 Tips to get Astounding Results on LinkedIn
I’ve noticed some individuals posting on LinkedIn as if they are texting their every move, what I had for breakfast, family did this, that and the other. I find that irritating and just clogging up the system with useless chatter.
Pat, that’s one of the reasons that automation is NOT the way to go. Each social media platform has its own set of strategies, and LinkedIn is a place where words should have more value than mere chitchat.
Good point with Ping. I was only hoping to cut down time on social media, as I have many other projects going, but it probably does sacrifice connection.
So by posting directly to LinkedIn, do you get more character spaces?
Sherry, yes, you do get more characters than Twitter. In many updates on LinkedIn, you get 200 characters. But, of course, with all the dynamism, i.e. daily changes, the number of characters allowed is always subject to change.
🙂
I’m so glad someone is blogging about LinkedIn! I don’t know much about it. From Randy’s article I learned that LinkedIn has an events area. Good to know!
But I also have some questions … I post with ping, and often my LinkedIn posts are chopped off because of the letter-limit. How can he get a post in there PLUS a “call to action?”
I’m also assuming his “fresh content” must be in notes or in the discussions, since there isn’t much room for comments on the status line.
I’ve just started trying to connect with people in my field on LinkedIn by looking for groups, so hopefully will be soon able to enter discussions of “target-specific” people.
Thanks for tackling LinkedIn!
Sherry, I love LinkedIn and do spend quite a bit of time writing about it. I do not, however PING anything as my feeling is that when we “automate” we do not engage — and, thus, are not being “social.”
Lots of people put “fresh content” into the Discussion Topics of groups — truly a great feature of LinkedIn!
Great comments, Laura interesting on the times you noticed.
Thanks for this. I loved the tips in the post. I’m about to implement one tip right now and switch out my profile picture. As to pictures, is one that is completely professional or one that is more casual, best for LinkedIn?
Interesting question, Margaret.
I’m one of the people that suggests NOT posting different photos. I have found a subconscious “disconnect” when my favorite people change their photos. But, of course, “different strokes for different folks.” My suggestion is to trust what feels right for you, that is, after you have thought about it a bit.
🙂
Perhaps someone reading this blog will answer your question OR you might try posting on the actual original article on the Linked Strategy LinkedIn Group discussion board.
🙂
Great collection of strategies! I found you on Linked In, of course! Although, I question the “Monday morning” advice. My experience is Thursday and Friday afternoons (Eastern time) does better than Monday or Tuesday. (gosh … I wonder why ….) 🙂
Laura, thanks for finding “us” Randy & me
🙂
I have heard from many people that the best time for Re-Tweets is Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday BUT people do like to share on the weekends, so the Common Wisdom is some kind of “test” where you see what works for you.
🙂
I have one friend who publishes religiously on Sunday night and Wednesday day, and he has 11,000 readers a month. I’d love to hear others’ opinions on the Best Days to Post.