How to STAND OUT in the Crowd on LinkedIn

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Recent statistics show LinkedIn approaching 300 million users. Being the top professional social media site, it is more important than ever to get your message out there. Everything you say and do on LinkedIn gets shared with your community. Unless, of course you choose otherwise.

So, do your connections really know you? Don’t you want them to know you better?

Your LinkedIn profile is only the tip of the iceberg! In my personal experience, I believe the percentages to be 40% great profile and 60% hard work on your end.

Whether you are business owner looking for potential clients or a job seeker looking to connect with recruiters and hiring managers, you need to get their attention first.

They can gather your information from your profile and get a glimpse of your personality from your photo. However, if you really want to connect- you have to let them get to know you.

As a job seeker, how do you get their attention? They are looking to potential candidates to solve their company problems and increase their bottom line. So tell them how you will do that!

Here a few ways you can make that happen:

Learn everything you can about the company including their values, their goals who are their employees and most of all- who’s in their HR department. Follow their company, it shows in the activity feed that you are now following them- you never know who might see it.

Connect with as many people in that organization as possible.

Prove to them that your past accomplishments can be an asset to their company. Share articles pertaining to the problems they face and how others solved them. Be sure to add your own personal comments on these articles.

Find groups where their HR personnel and employees hang out. Maybe they have their own group. Chances are you won’t find CEOs or Presidents chatting in groups but you WILL find key people to get to know and who will get to know you.

I know of a few cases where job seekers have befriended employees to the point that the employee referred them for the position. It simply doesn’t get any better than that! Of course, this doesn’t happen overnight. And yes, it will take an enormous amount of time, but isn’t everything in life worth the time you put into it.

If you are business owner, people on LinkedIn are looking for someone to solve their problems. Whether you have a B2B or B2C company, you are offering the solutions to their needs.

Here are a few ideas:

Understand who your target audience is and play in their playground, so to speak! Join the groups where your potential clients may be engaging.

Deliver the messages of how you help others. Whatever you do, don’t sell. It’s a turnoff. If you are compelling and passionate about what you do, they WILL contact you.

Share, share and share so more. With everyone now having access to LinkedIn’s publishing platform, your LinkedIn community is able to see and essentially hear your branding messages.

Position yourself as the “Go To” person in your industry. Let them know what value you can add to their company or for them personally.

I am entirely convinced that when you have a desire to work with others, you are bound to do just that. We all have individual skills and talents to share. You would be selfish to deny them access to your talents which might make a change in their lives or in the future of their companies.

Please share the ways that you have found to STAND OUT in the crowd.

About the Author

Sherry Sexton is an internationally recognized LinkedIn consultant and a life-long entrepreneur. If you are a job seeker looking for that dream job or a business owner looking for more potential clients, LinkedIn is the place to be. Specializing in LinkedIn profile optimization, Sherry knows how to create a stellar profile that will get you FOUND on LinkedIn, that will say WOW to employers or potential clients and that will make you STAND OUT in the crowd!