LinkedIn Etiquette – 7 Tips For Better Connections

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Since launching my business, I’ve been much more active on LinkedIn, which means many more people “seeing” me and a good handful of them sending connection requests. In the beginning, being the nice person I am, I was quick to accept them. Too quick. More often than I’d like to admit, I’d almost instantly find a message trying to pitch me something or even worse, just straight out sell me something. 😞

I’m more reluctant to connect to “strangers” now and often reply with a “why” question before accepting requests from people I don’t know at all. Sorry, not sorry.

The most recent sales pitch made me remember a conversation I had with a fellow business owner at the start of the pandemic. He was looking to make the shift to “selling” on LinkedIn. I told him I wasn’t very experienced when it comes to using LinkedIn as a sales tool, but did share some tips to help him promote himself and his business for better engagement. Here they are:

  1. Make sure to use a really good head shot with a clean background.
  2. Create a custom header and include your tag line if you have one.
  3. The Experience section is like your resume. Fill it up with as much information as possible so people can learn about your background without having to ask.
  4. Use the About section to tell your story, but keep it short and sweet.
  5. Ask customers and vendors to write strong Recommendations and be willing to do the same for others.
  6. Build real connections – with people you look up to, would love to know better, and those you’d eventually love to work with if the opportunity presents itself.
  7. And last, but not least, post relevant and helpful information, share posts that resonate with you, and comment thoughtfully and respectfully on posts where you feel you can provide good feedback and/or additional information on the topic at hand.

In the end, no matter where you “meet” people or how you “communicate,” remember, it’s all about the connection. Be someone others would love to be connected too, and they’ll happily buy from you or refer you to others when the time is right.

What’s Your 100 Word Story?

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My teenage daughter lost her glasses at school a few weeks before the COVID shutdown in March. And if that wasn’t enough, it turns out her prescription was expired, which meant she couldn’t get a new pair without seeing her eye doctor first. We were finally able to get her an appointment when the office re-opened at the end of May, and after a very thorough entry protocol and quick eye exam, we walked out with a new prescription that was slightly stronger than the old one.

 

Now it was time to actually get a new pair of glasses – right in the middle of the pandemic – so she did what all teenagers do best and hopped on the internet. A few hours later she had 5 frames selected from Warby Parker to “try before you buy” and I did my part as “Mom” and entered my credit card number so they would ship them to start the process.

 

Within a few days of their arrival, she selected a final frame and placed the real order for her glasses. The chosen pair arrived in a cute case along with a cleaning cloth like most other glasses, but here’s where their story takes a turn for the better. Instead of simply printing their logo on the cleaning cloth like everyone else, they used it as an opportunity to tell their story… and it wasn’t all that different than my daughters… “Once upon a time a young man left his glasses on a plane…”

 

You can read the full story below, but here’s the million dollar question… can you tell your story in 100 words and in a compelling enough way to connect to your audience? Thanks to the speed of current technology, our attention spans are now shorter than ever. The minute we used to have to capture someone’s attention has been whittled down to mere seconds, but this “100 word story” made me pause and read to the end.

 

What story can you tell that’s authentic and a little bit personal that will capture your ideal customer’s attention for that extra few seconds? Sure, it may feel silly or your story may even be a little bit corny, but the important thing to remember is that it’s the truth, and that’s what connects us. And while we have all come to rely heavily on technology, what we’re really in search of is connection.

 

So instead of leaving you with a tip this time, I’m going to leave you with a challenge instead. Find a quiet place, grab your favorite writing tools and figure out your 100 word story. Even if you never end up sharing it, it will remind you of why you got into the business in the first place and can help you craft bigger and longer messages that will better assist you in connecting with your ideal audience.

 

P.S. – I couldn’t really leave you without a tip. Here’s one I learned years ago about writing content to be shared digitally … remember that, even though you’re typing it up on your computer and your customer is reading it on their laptop or phone, you’re still just one human being sharing with another human being, one to one.