How To Use LinkedIn For Success: Amazing Networking Tips And Things To Avoid 

Wondering how to use LinkedIn to grow your business network? Good news, you’ve come to the right place. 

Starting out your journey on LinkedIn has huge potential for the leverage of your business. This space is a thriving platform, full to the brim with industry professionals seeking connections.

Within this blog we will discuss some of our etiquette tips and tricks to support successful networking on LinkedIn. The content within this blog will aim to inform you what works for the platform, what doesn’t and how to put your best foot forward with some insightful and productive LinkedIn etiquette tips. 

How To Use LinkedIn: Personal Page Vs Business Page… Should I Be Doing The Same Things?

LinkedIn acts as an essential, professional networking platform. It offers two differing types of profiles: personal profiles and business pages. While both serve the purpose of connecting individuals and businesses, they differ in their focus and intended use. 

A personal profile serves as an online representation of an individual’s professional identity and achievements. It’s an ideal tool for career advancement, job hunting, and establishing connections within the industry. 

A Company Page almost acts like your businesses virtual showcasing space. This gives the brand the opportunity to share its ethics, products, services, and values. It’s a powerful tool for promoting brand awareness, generating leads, and fostering relationships with potential clients and partners.

Whilst the two spaces have different objectives, similar approaches can be made when starting out on the platform.

How To Use LinkedIn: Content Creation

Whether you’re navigating a business page or a personal page, crafting engaging and informative posts is crucial for growth on LinkedIn.

Understanding the art of creating valuable content that resonates with your audience will encourage engagement and interaction. Let’s consider some strategies that are transferable across a vast majority of social media platforms.

Some tips for content creation on LinkedIn include: 

1. Prioritise Quality Over Quantity: Focus on creating high-quality, insightful content that genuinely benefits your audience. Quantity is less important than the value you provide with top tier content.
2. Be Consistent: Establish a regular posting schedule. This keeps your audience engaged and coming back for more. A consistent presence reinforces your thought leadership and expertise, showing your audience your commitment to the platform.
3. Embrace Originality: Avoid generic or recycled content. Share your unique perspectives, experiences, and insights to stand out from the crowd and showcase your brand as an industry expert that paves the way.
4. Leverage Social Proof: Encourage engagement by asking questions, inviting comments, and responding to feedback. Social proof demonstrates your active engagement and fosters connections. (This is networking at its finest!)
5. Utilise the Right Tools: Leverage LinkedIn’s advanced features, such as polls, images, videos, and article recommendations. This enhances the visual appeal and diversity of your content.

When considering how to use LinkedIn, implementing this focus and consideration of content is absolutely essential for effective networking.

It shows time investment, consideration and a care of your craft, highlighting you as an expert in your field.

Let’s consider some ideas for the types of content you might share depending on the type of page you’re nurturing. 

Tips for Content: How To Use LinkedIn For Personal Networking

When creating content for a personal page the priority for content is to harness networking with both your current audience and potential audience. Some content tips include:

1. Sharing your professional journey: This gives inspiration and tips to others hoping to navigate your field. This is especially beneficial, as within LinkedIn many people are searching for job opportunities or career changes.
2. Sharing job updates: This fosters the connection between your workplace and your skill and encourages engagement from other colleagues.
3. Connecting with or congratulating colleagues on their successes: Everyone needs a little uplifting, congratulating others on their successes creates a positive space for people to feel proud of their accomplishments.
4. Showcase your skills: Giving insider knowledge or tips can be extremely beneficial for other users. It creates positive connections and shows a willingness for collaboration.  

Tips For Content: How To Use LinkedIn For Business Networking

When creating content for a business page the priority shifts to showcase your businesses skills and abilities, whilst also networking within your field. A business LinkedIn page also nurtures its relationship with existing and potential customers. 

1. Insights and sharing relevant industry news: Giving insights, thoughts or perspectives on relevant and current industry news places you as an expert in your field.
2. Ethics & Values: Showing the reasons behind the ‘why’ of your business is essential on LinkedIn as it encourages connections with other like minded individuals. 
3. Leadership: Sharing inspirational approaches and ideas behind the management and leadership within your organisation encourages people to connect with you and consider working for your business in the future.

Leveraging LinkedIn Groups to Expand Your Network

LinkedIn groups offer a powerful platform to expand your professional network and connect with like-minded individuals in your industry or areas of interest. 

Taking the time to join relevant groups allows you to engage with a wider audience, share your expertise, and learn from others experiences. 

Take the opportunity to actively participate in discussions, share your valuable content, and build meaningful relationships. This can really significantly enhance your visibility and establish you within your field. 

How To Use LinkedIn: Positive Actions And Things To Avoid

Etiquette Dos And Don’ts

When considering how to use LinkedIn, its important to remember that it is a social networking site and therefore, a place to connect professionally with others in your field. 

Like all social networking, there are some considerations in relation to what is acceptable and what is not. Here are some tips and tricks to harness meaningful, valuable connections.

Dos: Positive Actions

Personalise connection requests: When sending connection requests, take the time to personalise your message and explain why you want to connect. Avoid generic messages that could be sent to anyone, these can appear like spam.

Engage with your network: As aforementioned, share thoughtful comments on others’ posts, and participate in group discussions. Building meaningful connections is key to success on LinkedIn and shows your network that you value and respect them. 

Craft high-quality content: Take the time to consistently share relevant industry news, insights, and thought leadership pieces. Providing value to your audience establishes yourself as an expert in your field, whilst building your personal and business presence. 

Use visuals effectively: Enhance your content with images, infographics, and videos to make it more visually appealing and engaging. As the human attention span becomes shorter and shorter, hooking someone in with a thoughtful visual can do some of the work for you and encourage engagement.

Respond promptly to messages: When someone reaches out to you, respond promptly and professionally. This shows that you value their interaction and the time they have taken to connect with you.

Don’ts: Things To Avoid

Send mass connection requests: Avoid sending generic invitations to hundreds of people at once. It appears spammy and disingenuous. It’s more effective to connect with people you know and have something in common with.

Spam your network: We have all received spam messages on LinkedIn. Don’t bombard your connections with irrelevant content or self-promotion. This can quickly turn people off and make them disregard you as an industry professional. 

Post overly promotional content: While it’s important to share your work and accomplishments, don’t overdo it. Too much self-promotion can come across as obnoxious. It’s a fine balance between highlighting your accomplishments and appearing narcissistic.

Engage in negative or disrespectful behaviour: Avoid making negative comments or engaging in arguments. Maintain a professional and respectful tone at all times. 

Share inappropriate content: LinkedIn is a professional platform, so avoid sharing content that is inappropriate, offensive, or irrelevant to your career. Be respectful of others beliefs, backgrounds and views. 

Message people you do not know personally seeking a job: Whilst it is important to be proactive within your search, it is also important to remain respectful. It is extremely important to take time to build a connection before reaching out to someone seeking an opportunity. Follow their page, engage with their content, build rapport and then consider reaching out once a bond is established.

FAQ: How To Use LinkedIn

1. What is LinkedIn etiquette and why is it important?

LinkedIn etiquette refers to the professional standards of behavior and communication that are expected on the platform. Maintaining good etiquette is crucial for building positive relationships, establishing credibility, and achieving success on LinkedIn.

2. How can I maintain a positive online reputation on LinkedIn?

• Demonstrate professionalism in all interactions: Maintain a professional demeanor, avoid making personal attacks, and stick to relevant and respectful discussions.
• Curate high-quality content: Share insightful, valuable, and engaging content that contributes to the professional conversation.
• Actively engage with your network: Respond to comments, participate in discussions, and provide valuable feedback to others.
• Be mindful of your privacy settings: Adjust your privacy settings to control who can view your profile and content.
• Be transparent about your intentions: Clearly state your goals and intentions on LinkedIn, whether it’s networking, job hunting, or seeking opportunities.

3. What are some ways to deal with negative interactions on LinkedIn?

• Address the issue calmly and professionally: If you encounter a negative comment or interaction, address it respectfully and professionally.
• Report inappropriate behavior: If the interaction escalates or becomes inappropriate, report it to LinkedIn’s support team.
• Block or remove abusive users: If someone is consistently harassing or abusing you, block or remove them from your network.
• Retain evidence of negative interactions: Keep screenshots or records of any negative interactions for your records.

How To Use LinkedIn

So whether you are utilising LinkedIn for personal professional growth or building a business page we hope these etiquette tips and tricks have been helpful. Let us know your advice for navigating the platform in the comments below.