If you’re an active member of the business community or chamber of commerce, chances are you have attended a social outing. The idea of these events is to allow business professionals to meet and network, creating business connections that can be beneficial to all parties involved.
As technology has grown and social media platforms such as Facebook have taken hold, business professionals have looked for a platform to interact on a professional, business level. A level where personal life is left to the side so that others can focus on what your qualifications are, where your expertise is, and what you specialize in. LinkedIn has become the go to platform to accomplish these things, matching business professionals up with each other to create connections that might otherwise have gone overlooked.
I cannot begin to stress to entrepreneurs and business professionals enough how important it is to keep your social media clean. Clean meaning, free of thought or stances that could lead others to look at you in an unfavorable manner. LinkedIn has helped to remove that personal aspect of social media as seen on a personal Facebook page and focuses on you, the professional. There are a few things you can do to help make your LinkedIn account more effective.
- Have a professional profile picture that depicts you in a professional setting.
- Keep your profile up to date with all of your current and past employment relevant to your career path.
- Respond quickly to messages and inquiries.
- Don’t be afraid to use the platform for networking, after all that’s what it’s there for.
- Be thorough in expanding your profile to include organizations you belong to, volunteer positions, projects and certifications obtained.
Keep up to date and include details about your professional career. This will help to connect you with people through LinkedIn you might have otherwise have overlooked. As you make connections on social media platforms don’t forget the importance of a face-to-face meeting. Too often people hide behind social media and forget personal interaction.
Join LinkedIn groups where your clients are and listen to discussions. It may lead to new product offerings. By participating in groups where your fields of discipline are, you may learn new things or seek advice from other professionals across the country.
Following up with new connections and being able to expand your connections beyond social media will help you to grow your professional network. Utilizing a systematic process to add the face-to-face meeting connections to your newsletter will help keep your name and your business name in the forefront of their minds as you release your monthly newsletter.
Don’t be overwhelmed by all the social media channels, know where your audience hangs out. Pick one or two channels to be active and be excellent where you are.
About the author: Autumn Edmiston is the CEO and owner of the Edmiston Group. The Edmiston Group is a multifaceted Pittsburgh based marketing consulting firm providing senior level marketing management services to businesses and non-profit organizations on a short or long term basis. Core areas of service are business development, marketing, strategic planning and public relations. The Edmiston Group has consistently delivered and implemented real-world, proven business marketing ideas and strategies for business growth.