Playing LinkedIn successfully

I took to linked 16 months ago -

My coach Yukti Mehendiritta told me to be active on Linkedin & as a part of branding strategy, to gradually build connects, followers, posting quality content & engage

My mentors Ravneet Chawla & Neeraj Shah also guided me appropriately.

But most importantly, I felt I owed it to the medium –

My closest friend's son had completed his Graduation in US & was searching for a job. The new rules meant that if he did not get a job within 3 months of the month end of his convocation, then his student visa expires & he has to come back to India.

With practically no contacts in US, whoever friends & relatives he had there, were giving empty wisdom & painting a gloomy picture, he was a bit stressed. The best he could do was be hopeful & have faith, be patient but time was also not on his side.

The only platform for him was posting actively for a job was on Linked-In.

Luckily, he connected with a person who had just quit his job & there was a vacancy in his organization. This person not only informed my friend's son of the vacancy but also helped him with the right ways to apply & post the application –

My friend's son got the interview call & had multiple rounds of interview – This Angel guided him through each rounds of interview, telling him what to expect, how & what to answer. In fact, he stood behind him right till the offer letter was issued.

The usefulness & relevance of this platform dawned on me & I felt I definitely owed it to LinkedIn to be there to connect, engage & similarly be of help, guide, mentor students and young professionals in whatever capacity, I could be of use.

Whenever I play somewhere, I play full out with detailed analysis –

I have data - information on all my posts – Timing, Date, Views, Likes, Comments, Re-shares, Whether trending in which hashtag -

I have studied posts of all Linked In superstars & celebrities as well as of all my connects to understand what works & what does not.

I have enough insights developed on hindsight of what has worked or not –

I have statistics for all my posts – How I have moved from 1000+ connects & followers to 10300+ connects & 12150+ followers in 16 months –

I have had 61 trending posts till date. 24 from my first 190 posts & 37 from my last 94. Cumulatively my posts have over 15600 likes, 4450 comments & 8,42650+ views for an average view of 2960, 55 likes & 15 comments per post.

This graph is on a sharp upward trend in the last 3 months & in the lock down the views are 6100+, comments 55+ & likes 110+.

I have posted 3-4 times a week consistently over the past 16 months 

CHEAT is the formula or the acronym

a)    Consistency of Content – quality of the post, trending topic, content not to give information as that is available multi-fold in the Net. It’s all about your target audience in mind – What is in it for them – It should address their daily problem or challenge. Linked In is a different platform & what succeeds on a Face Book or Instagram may not work here – While personal pics do really appeal, beyond a point of time, people just don’t want to see your achievements bragged about – it’s all subtle & meaningful #wisdom stated first & the picture being the garnishing.       

1)    Have small paragraphs as they are user friendly & pleasing to read

2)    Do not just post a quote of a person – dissect it & give its meaning or your 2 words of wisdom. They have to be your insights.

3)    Definitely give credits but at the end – Credits at the start would create a perception of someone else’s content being used & that would not create interest to read –

4)    Have a great catchy interesting start – Be mindful of the language used. Don’t use cuss words or derogatory language

5)    Start with a problem – Add some research statistics for credibility – State what you have done in this field – Give proof - Cap it with a short story & a final call to action -

6)    Do not post videos over 3 minutes

7)    Do not overdo. Post alternate day or twice a week - at least once a week.

8)    Just don’t post a video – use text to draw attention to it – create curiosity to watch the video. Remember patience & time is a scarcity.

9)    Don’t post because others have done it. Don’t post to meet your targets of 2-3 posts a week. Post only quality. Create a subject matter niche & post on it consistently.

10)                       Experiment – You need to know what is working for you or not.

11)                       Analyse what went in the posts with good engagements & what didn’t – Follow what worked & eliminate what did not.   

b)   Hashtag appropriateness – People either use too many hashtags or too little or none – Again they use words of their own without checking the followers on that hashtag, Hashtags help identify * while one should have a unique proprietary hashtag for self, he should use 2-3 hashtags throughout & 2-3 based on the post – This could be added by use of 4-5 hashtags in the post for drawing attention or highlighting. The post should not be cluttered with hashtags & tags -

1)    Please ensure that the hashtags do not exceed the content itself

2)    Create a proprietary hashtag & build follower around it.

3)    Do not tag people without their permission or who do not revert to your post despite being tagged.

4)    if you are tagging, then tag people with followers over 5000.

5)    Possibly tag people in the comment & not in the main post unless really needed.

6)    Don’t tag celebrities if you don’t know them personally 

7)    Use hashtags with each having at least 1000+ followers. Ensure combined followers of hashtags is 1 Lakh +

8) Some key hashtags that could be followed are #marketing #socialmedia #innovation #creativity #management #leadership #money #health #economy

Appropriate hashtags will help increase views - Quality of post the comments & a great personal picture the views -

c)    Engage – Post has to be written to evoke response from the target audience. It is What is in it for them. They should give a feedback. Ask questions & be a bit open ended - At times even leave the knowledge a bit pending so that viewers could contribute. Just do not shove information on the viewers throat. It is not about what you say but about what your target audience wants to hear.

You can use LION (LinkedIn Open Net worker) that states that you are open to accept connection requests asked to you. Connect with a LION to expand your network.

Connect emotionally – Show #empathy

Revert on comments on your post within a reasonable period of time.

Do not hesitate to connect with like minded people. Send a request. At worst they will not connect. Remove the connection request if not accepted after 10 days.

A premium account will help you know who have viewed your profile.

Find who are the 2nd connects who liked or commented on your post. Engage with them.

d)   Acknowledging – Appreciating posts of others –

Always revert to posts of others – This is a great way to connect to a wider audience – People will also appreciate your posts if you appreciate theirs – Tit for Tat – Have an organic mutual admiration society – We can all appreciate posts by our community or Whatsapp members which will give a great start to all our posts to begin with –

Wish people on their birthdays – work anniversaries – promotions

Endorse & recommend people. Get endorsements & recommendations for self. Video testimonials would be great.

If we, within our Tribe / community who are connected to each other, comment, view or like each other’s post we will have great organic engagement to start with The 1st hour traction will propel the post to higher views. Forming a tribe is key.

We could do much more than a Like by showing a Clap – Insight.

e)    Timing of the Post –

Mornings on weekdays around 8.30 AM India Time is the best time to post though for a quality post timing does not matter as it will eventually catch on in popularity – do not post too late as there will be very few viewers checking out Linked in unless you have a Global audience – Posting too late could also mean your post being pushed being by latest posts & viewers would generally check the top 5-6 posts scrolling down –

Add to these a great head shot from a professional photographer, a well curated & crafted profile which gives you a prominent tagline, portrays your key achievements, testimonials via recommendations, endorsements etc & you are destined for success.

Have a background in your profile.

Select relevant top 3 skills & get 99+ endorsements for that as that’s what Linked In will publicly display like it does as 500+ connects.

Give your contact details at least a e-mail. 

Play all out – review what is going well or not – draw your insights from your own posts – over a period of time you will automatically get refined & polishes & be a much better version of what you currently are

 Periodically track your progress & monitoring –

1)    Views, Likes, Comments (VCL) & Re-shares of your posts

2)    VCL in the first hour

3)    How many of your 2nd connects have liked or commented?

4)    VCL as a % of your total followers or connects

5)    Growth in your connects / Followers

6)    % of your connection requests sent have not accepted. As your followers increase, the connects will increase. A premium account helps.

You will get a lot of insights on what works & what does not. Learn from what worked & ignore what didn’t.

Set Targets of VCL & try to achieve it.

Linked in Social Selling Index (SSI) score –

This score on a rank of 100 finds how effectively you portray your professional brand, build relationships, find the right people & engage with insights –

Ranking is on 4 parameters of 25 – Branding, Networking, Engaging, Nurturing

1)    Establish a professional brand, complete your profile with the customer in mind, become a thought leader by publishing meaningful posts

2)    Finding the right people 

3)    Engage with insights

4)    Build relationships -  

My SSI score is 76 – ranked in the top 1% in industry & network

People in my industry have an average rank – 25. People in my network have an average rank – 43

Finally have patience, persevere relentlessly with energy & enthusiasm & the Linkedin Social Selling Index (SSI) score as well as your engagement will improve.

Rome was also not built in a day.

The platform really works.

Best wishes