One powerful way to create and develop your network is by setting up and managing your Linked In account
Your online business profile will be one way you can publicly sell yourself and your business to a wider community or business professionals
LinkedIn Etiquette
- Only ask to connect to people you have met – regardless of how fleeting it was.
- Be strategic about who you link to.
- Connect to people you respect and you have no reason to think they won’t respect you.
- Bad connections are worse than none at all!
- Always write a personalised message when you ask to connect with someone directly.
- Using the default Linkdin message just says you’re randomly gathering connections.
- If possible, get someone who knows you well to introduce you to new connections you don’t know well or at all.
- They will be the person who opens the door to that connection.
- But don’t worry if they don’t immediately, they may need more time to consider if this is the right link of theirs to link you too now.
- Don’t accept invitations to connect from anyone you don’t know or isn’t obviously linked to your business interests.
- Some people just want to build up their number of links thinking this makes them more valuable in some way (e.g. the 500 connections gang) – it doesn’t!
- You will be judged by who you are connected to, so be strategic about your connections.
Networks are mutually advantageous