5 Secrets to Growing Your LinkedIn Network Organically
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LinkedIn is a great tool for networking, but growing your network can be time-consuming. Some people are tempted to take the easy route and buy connections, but this is frowned upon by both LinkedIn and networking professionals. To get high-quality connections that will be valuable to you and your business for years to come, you have to put in the work and grow your network organically.
Network growth is very important, and some organizations need this to happen quickly to maintain progress. You can speed up this process by following our 5 secrets to growing your LinkedIn network organically.
Secret #1: Set Monthly Goals
You can’t measure your success if you don’t have goals. This is why it’s important to set monthly growth goals. These goals need to be specific and achievable to ensure that you can measure them accurately. If you are starting with 500 connections, a potential goal that you might set for yourself is to reach 750 connections by the end of the month. To some, this might seem like a lofty goal, but it just depends on how much time and effort you can put into growing your network. If growing by 250 is not achievable for you, set your goal for whatever you think you can reach within the month.
Check on your progress each week so you know how you are doing with reaching your goal. If you notice that you aren’t adding as many connections as you planned for one week, then you know you will have to put in a little more effort the following week to make up for it.
Having goals helps you to have a clear vision of what you want to achieve and helps push you to get there.
Secret #2: Post Often and Make Your Posts Visually Appealing
The more you post, the more opportunity you are giving your connections to engage with your content. As your connections like or comment on your posts, their connections will see their activity. If your content is engaging and relevant, it opens the door for these second-degree connections to engage with your content and potentially send you a connection request.
One surefire way to make your content more engaging is to make it visually appealing. You can achieve this by adding relevant photos or videos. People are more likely to stop and read your post copy if they see an image or a video that piques their interest.
The number of times you post per week is entirely up to you and what you can commit to, but we suggest posting anywhere from three to five times per week. This keeps you relevant and in the news feeds of your connections, and it will hopefully encourage them to engage with your posts.
Secret #3: Engagement, Engagement, Engagement
If you want your connections to engage with your posts, you need to engage with theirs. Networking is all about adding value to relationships, and one of the easiest ways you can do that on LinkedIn is by adding comments to your connections’ posts. These comments need to be thoughtful and relevant to the topic.
Commenting on your connections’ posts allows their connections to see you and engage with your comment. You can also take this opportunity to engage with other comments on the post so that you can start building connections with people you aren’t connected to. If you find that you connect with someone whose comment you’ve commented on, you can take that opportunity to send them a connection request.
Regular engagement with your current connections allows you to form secondhand relationships with their connections and boosts the likelihood that they will want to connect with you because they see that you add value to the conversations that you participate in.
Secret #4: Use Keywords in Your Profile
When you’re setting up your LinkedIn profile, you want to be thoughtful about the keywords that you use. If you are interested in forming connections with people in a specific industry, you will want to use keywords specific to that industry in your “About Me” section. You should never use keyword stuffing; however, adding keywords that are relevant to you and the people that you wish to connect with is encouraged.
These keywords will help people outside your network find you when they are looking for new connections. For example, if someone is looking to connect with fellow small business owners, they will search for the keyword “small business owners.” This will generate a search result of more than 680,000 LinkedIn users. If you have a well-written “About Me” that contains the keywords they searched for, you will rank closer to the top of the search results.
Secret #5: Don’t Be Afraid to Promote Yourself
If LinkedIn isn’t the only social media channel you use, then don’t hesitate to promote yourself on other channels. Encourage your connections on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Clubhouse, or other platforms to also follow you on LinkedIn. If you are sharing valuable content on these social platforms, then they will be more likely to connect with you because they can assume you will be sharing relevant content they will enjoy on LinkedIn, as well. Don’t over-promote yourself, but one or two posts per month encouraging your followers to join you on LinkedIn is acceptable.
Also, if you have a website, you will want to ensure there is a link to your LinkedIn page there, with the rest of your social media page links. This will be valuable to help drive traffic from your website to LinkedIn.
Organic growth doesn’t happen overnight, but if you follow these five secrets, you will see your network start to expand. You have to be willing to put in the time and energy, but it will be worth it in the end.
For help getting started with growing your network visit our website and download a free copy of 5 Secrets to Double Your LinkedIn Connections in 30 Days.