Inefficient versus efficient approaches on LinkedIn

I get many first messages on LinkedIn with “can you help me get a job?” or different services or investment “opportunities” from people. I am sure you get them too.

Sometimes I take the time to answer, but sometimes I prefer to ignore them because I value my time.

There is a big chance that your message will get lost in all the messages one receives.  Let’s face it, LinkedIn isn’t doing a great job with their messenger.

Don’t take it personally.

 But in most cases, if someone doesn’t answer your message, it’s because of your approach. Try changing it.

There can be many reasons for not getting an answer to your messages, but as everything in life, you have to get better and not giving up on your final objective. No matter what your objective is, you have to test different approaches, to learn, to adapt and to be consistent.

Let’s take as an example a person who is looking to get hired.

Don’t you think that sending a bulk message to every recruiter, manager or business owner with “please, I need a job” doesn’t hit the target? It’s like a marketing campaign without a target optimization, a wrong approach and an unclear message. You will waste your time and energy.

Here is an example that I would like to receive from a job seeker:

“Hello, Iustina,

Thank you for accepting my connection request. I noticed your content and your profile and I think we can have a good synergy working together.

I would love to be part of building a successful digital product and I am sure that I have a lot to learn from you and your team.

I don’t have too much experience in the digital field, but I am a fast learner.

One of my passions is to create online content and I would appreciate if I will have the opportunity to improve my writing skills in a role where I can grow and be helpful.

If you think that I’m a good match with your team and product, you can give me a test to challenge my skills and ambition.

Thank you for your time,

X “

Don’t you think this is simple?

First of all, this message demonstrates that the sender has read my profile. He knows my mentality and my experience. He also appreciates the time I took for reading his message.

Keep it short and to the point and you’ll have my attention.

Get noticed on LinkedIn.

I don’t like to read CVs and maybe there are other entrepreneurs out there who think just like me.

CVs are boring and for me, the psychological profile comes before skills and this isn’t something you can read from a CV.

So why don’t you start using a free tool where you can get noticed for your character, experience, and skills?

Anyone should have an active LinkedIn account. No matter if you are a janitor or a CEO. Start with telling yourself that you have something to offer: people need to hear your story, your aspirations, bring value to this platform through your life lessons, put emotion in everything that you share and you will be a hit here.

I know how hard it is for some people to keep up with technology. Social media can be overwhelming but let me tell you some “secrets”:

-      Use technology wisely. Unfortunately, social media is addictive. We lose a lot of time consuming un-useful content and we forget that we must value our time and energy.

-      Baby steps are the key to moving forward. You don’t have to be active and to know the insides of every platform out there, but LinkedIn started to be a must for everyone. Start following the content creators who speak about algorithms, how to share value, how to be trusted and noticed around here and more.

-      Many people are afraid to show the world who they are. We are used to look happy in every picture that we take, to speak only about our success stories and to feed our egos with likes and followers. First of all, you are lying to yourself and that is sad. Chances are that people will eventually figure out who you really are and that can be devastating for a person with a low self-esteem. Because, only a person with a low self-esteem will play a different role in online versus offline.

-      Consistency is the key for harnessing the algorithms. Try to post and engage daily, bring value through your comments and connect with people from your niche or with the same interests as you.

-      Stay away from negativity or sensitive subjects. Again, don’t forget your objective here.

-      Don’t be shy. There are many people who think that they don’t have anything interesting to share, or are too afraid of not being validated. Personally, I am interested to read content from anyone who respects the things that I’ve just pointed. You don’t have to be validated by someone, the only person who needs to validate you is yourself.

I hope this article will be useful.

Yours,

Iustina