3 Steps to Use LinkedIn to Make Connections and Grow Your Personal Brand

If you’re looking to grow your career, make connections with people in your industry, and build a personal brand, you should be on LinkedIn. To get a little personal, nothing has been more valuable to my career than building a platform on LinkedIn. It’s difficult to get a remote job when there are many people, and it’s even harder when you’re outside the West.

In this article, I will walk through three steps to use LinkedIn to build your personal brand with advice from me and others who have found success using it.

Why LinkedIn is important for personal branding

Whenever you’re trying to grow in your career, whether as an employee, startup founder, or small business owner, you’re faced with one major problem: there are a thousand other people just like you. Standing out among the sea of people competing for the same jobs, clients, and customers is increasingly difficult – and social media platforms often contribute to that difficulty with their ever-changing algorithms.

However, LinkedIn’s focus has always been connecting professionals and the platform has managed to stay the course. Building a personal brand is about building an online persona that people with similar needs or interests can easily identify with you. The marriage of personal branding and LinkedIn means that even a complete newbie can start creating on LinkedIn today and find success on the platform.

Don’t just take it from me either – small business owners Sherell Dorsey, Sheena Russell, and Latesha Byrd all : Groups are a great way to connect with like-minded professionals and expand your network. Engage with the group by participating in discussions and sharing relevant content. I’m part of several remote work and content marketing communities which allows me to stay on top of what my colleagues in those industries are thinking and doing.

Attend LinkedIn events: LinkedIn users often host events using the platform’s audio and video capabilities. These events can be a great way to network with other professionals and make new connections. For example, Jayde Powell, who we interviewed for our newsletter-exclusive content series ‘Creators Unlocked’, runs a bi-weekly LinkedIn Audio Event called #CreatorTeaTalk that connects marketers, brands, and creators.

Engage with your connections: Engage with your connections by liking, commenting, and sharing their posts. This will help strengthen your relationship and increase their chances of engaging with your content in return.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, avoid going straight to asking for something when making a connection request. The more well-known a new connection is, the more likely it is that their inbox is full of messages asking for something. Go the opposite direction and offer something: a fresh perspective on a post they shared or a great new podcast you’ve been enjoying.

Whatever your goals are for LinkedIn, you will benefit a lot from approaching the platform with your authentic voice and curiosity.

💡

For more in-depth advice on growing on LinkedIn, check out this blog post by Nate Shalev, founder of Revel Impact shared some of …read more

Source:: Buffer Blog