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985 viewsThe experience on LinkedIn has changed a great deal in the past few years. It used to be the first thing I opened every morning — and it used to be a site where giving (i.e. sales referrals) was the norm.
A number of different factors changed this, unfortunately:
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LinkedIn Self-Publishing Growth
This is great in some ways (think thought leaders). It’s awful in other ways. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve logged in and seen a post that’s a direct sale, advertisement, or promotion with no new or functional knowledge.
People also post multiple times per day, often repurposed from their blog or another site, and mainstream media outlets are doing that too.
Back in October 2015, The New Yorker profiled Reid Hoffman (one of LinkedIn’s founders). He admitted that the site attracts 500,000 new pieces of writing per day. Considering that anything posted by someone like Bill Gates or Jack Welch tends to get included in Pulse, that’s a very narrow window for the rest of us – not to mention all the people overtly selling.
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The Rise Of Ads
I understand this as LinkedIn has to keep its revenue streams up, but the user experience used to feel uncluttered in terms of ads. Now it feels like ads are forced on you and, considering how much professional information people list on there, the ads don’t feel properly targeted at all.
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Groups
Groups used to be a great functional place to exchange information with people who work in your vertical or industry. Now they’re oftentimes mostly spam.
I talked with a mining company CEO a few weeks ago and he wanted to expand his LinkedIn reach. He was aghast when he went into mining-related groups (and a few parallel industries) and found mostly people selling and advertising. He thought the discourse was a 0 on a 1-10 scale for quality.
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Connect Requests
They have come to seem impersonal. Oftentimes, people don’t even list how they know you or what their goal in connecting is. They just send it.
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Memes
Many people are treating LinkedIn like “the professional Facebook” these days, which is a mistake.
There are too many memes and number quizzes and oftentimes unprofessional pictures — and no, I don’t mean bikini shots, because that actually went viral and drove business to that brand.
The Active User Problem
LinkedIn has over 400 million users, and it regularly promotes that stat. There’s a problem, though: only 25 percent of the users actually use the site monthly.In most businesses, a 75 percent drop-off in active user base would be a huge cause for concern — although 25 percent of 400 million is still 100 million, which is a lot of people to potentially reach.
This stat makes sense, by the way: if you love your job, or are very busy in your job, or don’t want to be open to headhunters and/or don’t want to post and be seen as a thought leader in your space, there’s no real reason for you to consistently log on to LinkedIn.
Many people think of it as a place where they need to have a resume and credentials posted, but not a site they need to actively visit every day — so be cautious about the potential reach. 100M is great, but it’s not 400M.
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Many people don’t know how to use it
A site like Facebook is fairly intuitive. You go on and see updates from your friends/family, and then share updates of your own. It’s pretty easy to navigate. LinkedIn is easy to navigate in some respects from a UX standpoint, but many people seem confused by how to use it and what to post there.
Some people use social automation tools, so a picture from their child’s soccer tournament on a Saturday goes to FB, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram. Out of those four networks, it probably doesn’t need to go to LinkedIn – but things like that will often happen. This waters down the ‘professional’ quality of the site.
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The Full-Time Quagmire
It has often felt that LinkedIn is only good for people looking for full-time gigs, not necessarily ‘Gig Economy’ people or aspiring entrepreneurs looking to connect with others. Thankfully, LinkedIn is changing that a little bit as companies like Upwork and Outsource and Fiverr rise up. If LinkedIn makes it easier to do project work with like-minded individuals, it’s a better place for B2B small business entrepreneurs.
OK. So if LinkedIn used to be a great place for networking and B2B connections for growth – but now it isn’t – well, what’s next?
You can still use LinkedIn successfully. You just need to know how to cut through the noise. A few quick tips:
Think differently about your network
Too many people approach LinkedIn in a static way. “Oh, we’re connected there.” (Pause) “I guess that’s the end of that story.”
There are about 250-300 working days in a year – more for some than others. Take out Saturdays and Sundays and commit to connecting with one person a day off of LinkedIn. Going to San Francisco for work? Look up all your SF contacts and propose a happy hour. Since you organized it, you’re now top of mind. It’s a great networking tool.
If you want to understand the science of this idea, it comes from two places. First, there’s a concept of “mindshare,” visually shown here:
Right after a networking event (far left), you take up more of the connection’s mind. Then, it begins to drop. The only way to get it back up is through additional meeting requests, lunch meetings, etc. You need to work – and spend time – on making your network work for you. It’s not a static thing. It has to be dynamic.
The second concept is “Dunbar’s Number,” shown here:
The maximum amount of relationships a person can maintain is around 150; in a way, that’s why having 100K Twitter followers has no major ROI to you as an entrepreneur. You may 100K people that can see some of what you tweet, but those aren’t actually relationships.
You build relationships by leveraging your network online and offline. LinkedIn can’t be the only place you connect with and talk to people. Now, it is possible in the modern age to work with people who you don’t see every day – I work with many people who aren’t in NYC with me, for example – but those relationships still need to be developed via e-mail, Skype, Hangouts, and the phone. It can’t just be LinkedIn.
The bigger point here is, your network is an ecosystem. Ecosystems need to be nurtured for anything positive to happen.
Use LinkedIn Sales Navigator
I love this tool. It’s great for engaging with people more than three degrees away from you in terms of connections, and it functions as a mini-CRM. If you’re trying to hit targets and chase down leads and you don’t open this program once every morning, you’re doing it wrong.
You can also instantly import Salesforce data with one click, which is huge if you use that CRM. Via their SSI Dashboard, you can measure and analyze how your social selling is going.
As LinkedIn has launched new tools and bought other companies in the last few years, Sales Navigator has slid off some people’s radar. It shouldn’t. It’s a great tool.
Be proactive about groups, your own postings, and additions
Basically, don’t take a ‘set it and forget it’ approach with LinkedIn. Look it over once every business day. Think about groups – if they seem spammy, avoid them.
Think about what you’re posting. Is it excessive? Is it basically a sales doc?
Think about who you’re adding. Does it make sense, or is it some auto mechanic in Russia?
It’s all about stopping and thinking – not just rushing headlong into some aspect of the site because it seems like other people are, or others have recommended that.
Be focused and proactive and the results can come.
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