LinkedIn tips.Lessons from reaching 30K followers.

@espirian

What I've learned.Here are some tips I've picked up in my 3+ years on LinkedIn, which have led 30,000 people to follow me.

Ready for some cartoony truths from BitmoJohn?

@espirian

Don't automate everything.We all crave genuine connection with others.

If you're automating your network building and lead generation … stop.

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Rewrite your headline.Make your headline interesting, informative and intriguing.

Put the most important stuff in the first 40 characters.

Don't use all 220 characters just because you can.

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Personalise invitations.Don't put your digital business card in someone's hand and walk away without saying anything. Give people a reason to accept your invitation.

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It's not a numbers game.Don't connect with eleventy billion people each day. Slow and steady wins the race. Get to know your network.

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Stop selling so much.Perhaps 1 in 5 or 1 in 10 of your posts can include a direct mention of a product or service you're promoting.

Don't jump into sales mode when you connect with someone.

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When to post?An ideal posting day or time is probably a myth. You should test to see what works for you.

From analysing 500+ posts over 2+ years, I know that Saturdays and Sundays are the best days FOR ME.

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Say no to engagement pods.Pods are unholy alliances of people who agree to like, comment and share each other's content, to boost its visibility.

LinkedIn is getting wise to this sort of thing. Beware.

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Don't build tag walls.Tagging others in posts and comments is fine but only if the content is highly relevant to them.

Don't tag people simply to boost your own engagement on a post. That's not cool.

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Pass the "so what?" test.No one cares that you're at a tradeshow or that you've just hired Betty in HR. Your content must be valuable.

Give people something that's CHAIR: Challenging, Helpful, Amusing, Interesting or Relevant.

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Encourage comments.Comments are the gold standard on LinkedIn, so encourage them through your content. This helps your posts be seen.

Ask questions, share opinions and leave space in your content for people to add their thoughts.

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Comment on others' posts.If all you do is broadcast your content, you'll fail to stand out.

Comment thoughtfully on other people's stuff. They'll reciprocate. Everyone wins.

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Conversation = business.All the stuff that leads to work seems to happen either via public conversation (in post comments) or in private conversation (in direct messages).

Talk more = earn more.

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Be human."LinkedIn isn't Facebook". I know. It's better. (All social media is going to converge in the future anyway.)

Be who you're going to be while respecting others.

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Don't promote bad content.If you comment on something you hate, all you'll do is amplify the reach of that content.

Your followers who see such referred stuff in their feed might unfollow you instead of the content creator.

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Unfollow people.If someone's content doesn't inspire you, unfollow them. They won't be notified.

And if you're already connected, unfollowing won't break the connection.

See linkedin.com/feed/following/

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Get some recommendations.These matter more than "Skills & Endorsements".

Anyone in your 1st-level network can recommend you, but they probably won't unless you ask.

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Avoid links in posts.External links in posts aren't a great idea, though the algorithm doesn't punish their presence as it used to.

The "Link in the comments" approach isn't smart if that comment gets buried by other comments.

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Caption your videos.80%+ of social video is played with the sound off. Captioning your videos is the smart option.

I recommend Rev. Get $10 free credit: bit.ly/captions10

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Publish articles.Long-form LinkedIn articles are useful for prospective clients doing their due diligence on you. View counts might be low but the potential value of those views is high.

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Company pages.Company pages stink but you should still have one.

You'll get more engagement through posts on your personal profile.

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Don't be a sex fool.Learn some manners. Tinder might be just your thing.

Pro tip: she's probably not that into you anyway.

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Be patient.It takes ages to become known on LinkedIn, perhaps up to 30 months.

Nothing happened for me AT ALL for 9 months when I started creating content on LinkedIn in 2017.

@espirian

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