- In this video, I'm gonna teach you how to network
on LinkedIn, in order to secure a job, find new clients
or just broaden your professional community.
What's up, it's Jamal
and welcome back to the channel.
If you're a business looking to capitalize on LinkedIn
you'll wanna download our free LinkedIn
for business and marketing ebook,
to help you deploy our strategies after this video.
That goes for you freelancers too out there,
I see you hustling hard.
The link is in the description.
Promoting yourself and your business
on all digital platforms requires
an ongoing learning process.
Now, if you spend any time on LinkedIn
you know that the site is a lot more than just job listing.
In fact, what makes LinkedIn stand out
from other career sites is
the professional networking tools that allow you
to make direct connections with individuals,
with whom you can potentially do business.
That's why a survey published by LinkedIn revealed that 25%,
a quarter of participants said
that the site helped them establish
a new business partnership and 61% of participants believe
that regular online interaction
with their network can lead to possible job opportunities.
So how do you begin networking on LinkedIn?
I've divided the networking process
into three steps that I call the three P's.
Let's start with profile.
Before you can network on LinkedIn,
you need make sure your profile is ready.
This mainly refers to your personal profile
because that's the one you'll use for outreach.
But if you're representing your own company
you'll wanna make sure
that the company page is presentable as well.
The first thing you need to do is choose an image
probably have lots of fun or potentially compromising
photos on platforms like Instagram or Facebook,
but for LinkedIn your profile picture should look friendly
and professional.
That means a headshot on a clean background
and choosing clothing like you would wear
to a job interview in your field.
I better not catch you in a crop top, alright?
Even if you look real, real good in it.
Which I know I do, personally
you're not gonna see that on my LinkedIn.
If you're building a company page,
a clean logo is the best bet for your profile pic
and use the banner image to promote the company
either with graphics or images
but more important than the pictures you use
on LinkedIn is literally what you say.
Your personal profile has a headline right below your name.
It also appears on every post and comment you make
as well as in search results.
Most people use this space to list their job title
and company, and that's fine
but savvy users will use this premium real estate
to say something more profound about themselves
as it pertains to their professional role.
Company profiles also have a headline
but these only appear on an actual company page,
both personal and company profile pages also
have a longer section that lets you provide some details.
I genuinely cannot over emphasize how important these are.
Alright, are you looking at me?
Look at me.
Where are you?
There you are, eyes right here.
These are critical, not just for the users to read them
but also for the LinkedIn algorithm that helps you be found.
Finally, take the time to fill out
as many additional fields as you can in your profile.
Individuals should enter all
their work experience, education, and skills.
There's also a place for requesting recommendations
from friends and colleagues who
might wanna say nice things about you.
Companies can create learning pages
for particular products and services.
You can also make a life page, that gives more
of a picture of your company culture.
Much like Rome,
your LinkedIn profile will not be built in a day,
even under an hour.
Take the time to do it right
so that when you do start networking
the impression you make is one
that somebody would want to do business with.
Once your profile is all set,
it's time to move on to the second P, people.
Like other social networks,
LinkedIn gives you the ability to connect with friends,
family, and even strangers who you share interests in.
But while those shared interests
on other sites are usually things
like pets or food or comic books,
your connections on LinkedIn should center
around individuals who are somehow connected to your career.
Often former colleagues or professional peers,
as well as professional and potential clients,
mentors, and more.
Don't just think of your network
as a list of people you know,
it's more like a web made up
of everyone you are connected with
and everyone they're connected with and everyone
that those people are connected with.
The wider the web, the more likely you are
to be able to catch opportunities.
If you're brand new to LinkedIn a great way
to start building a network is by syncing
the contacts you already have in your phone.
LinkedIn will go through the phone's contacts
and match them with the profiles of those users.
Then lets you send a connection request
to all of those individuals.
It will also import contacts
from your email accounts like Gmail and Outlook.
You may be absolutely shocked
by how many people you actually know
once this process is complete.
If you're like most people,
you probably already have several social media accounts
already active and there's definitely some overlap
between your friends and followers on Instagram,
Twitter, TikTok, et cetera
and people you'd like to connect with on LinkedIn.
Unfortunately, and this is quite sad.
None of these platforms will let you import contacts
directly into LinkedIn.
There's nothing stopping you from making a post
asking your followers to find you on LinkedIn
and consider adding your LinkedIn URL to your bio.
No matter where your initial contacts come from,
odds are that many of them
are people who you've lost touch with.
Now's a good time to reconnect.
Remember networking isn't just about meeting new people.
Most opportunities in business
come from people you already know.
So maintaining and occasionally refreshing
those connections is a crucial part of networking.
If you're requesting a LinkedIn connection
with someone you haven't talked to in a while,
take a moment to shoot them a personal note,
remind them of who you are
and where you met to strike up a fresh conversation.
Nonetheless, you'll never know where it will lead.
Of course, at some point you're gonna
wanna use LinkedIn to make new connections with the hope
of forging some sort of professional relationship.
LinkedIn offers a variety
of ways to identify people you don't already have
in your network and invite them to connect.
The first place to look is the My Network tab
at the top of every LinkedIn page.
On this page, you'll find an endless, bottomless list
of people you may wanna connect to,
conveniently divided into categories
like people you may know from school,
people in your industry,
people with your interest and so on.
I've been on LinkedIn for years.
Yet, every time I check the My Network page there
are people I know,
who I know I haven't connected with on the site.
You'll also wanna connect with strangers.
For that, I have one important tip for doing so effectively.
Always include a personal note with your request
and that note should not be about you.
After all you spend all the time, prepping your profile
so the person you're messaging can see that you're cool.
Before they'll do that, you need to convince them
that connecting with you will benefit them.
So phrase your message in a way that focuses
on the recipient and it doesn't have to be a hard sell.
Maybe you're a fan of their post-sale on LinkedIn,
so tell them so or maybe you want to share an article
that you think they'd find interesting
or invite them to a webinar you're hosting
or just come right out
and ask what you want if there's something specific
the person can offer.
The direct approach usually beats slowly lurking
around the person you wanna connect with.
Of course, very few LinkedIn connections will resort
in any sort of immediate benefit right away.
Experts will tell you the key
to networking is a consistent mix of quantity and quality
and while it's virtually impossible
to maintain too many engaging one-on-one conversations,
the LinkedIn timeline lets you converse
with a lot of your connections at the same time.
This is the third and final P, posting.
Most people post on LinkedIn when they have some sort
of professional news to share, which is great
but the best networkers are the ones that use LinkedIn
to initiate conversations
that benefits the readers, not the writer.
Wanna see a great example?
Here's a post made
by a veteran music industry professional linking
to an article about all the various parties that happen
around the Coachella music festival that his network,
i.e., other music industry professionals might wanna attend.
You can also write original long form articles right
on LinkedIn itself using the articles tool.
This is a great place to establish yourself
as a thought leader in your field
and share directly with your professional peers
without asking them to find you on another site
and when you're not striking up your own conversations,
take time to read what others are posting on LinkedIn.
Likes are good, but comments are even better.
Especially if you have something nice
to contribute beyond, great work pal.
If you really wanna get involved
in some deep conversations on LinkedIn, try joining groups
that relate to your professional field.
These are a great place to meet new peers
who could become your new contacts
and that's what networking is really all about.
If you're ready to learn more about all the ways
LinkedIn can help you succeed, now's a good time.
Take HubSpot academy's free online course
LinkedIn for business or get more tips
for optimizing your LinkedIn profile by checking out
our entire video dedicated to the subject.
You can find links to both in the description.
You can also follow HubSpot's
extremely active LinkedIn channel.
And since you've made it to the end of the video,
go ahead and send me a personal connection request as well.
Now if you'll excuse me, alright.
I'm gonna go find the fourth P, I know it's out there.
I think we can do it,
once I find it I'll come back
and I'll share it with you guys.
I pinky promise.
Maybe that's what the fourth P is.
Pinky promises, alright, my work here is done.
I'll see you next time.
Thanks for watching.
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