I’m on #LinkedIn. Now what?

So you ‘re on LinkedIn; you have 300 or 400 contacts. Every now and then, you take a half-hearted glance at someone’s profile because you opened an email from the LinkedIn team. The big news is that your contact got promoted to assistant senior supervisor.

Hmm. That’s nice for them, but not exactly key information for you. 

Then, last week, you thought about changing jobs (you’re made for so much more) but, despite its reputation as a good place to find exciting new employment openings, LinkedIn didn’t help. Nada.

“If this is social media, I really don’t get it” you think to yourself.

I don’t blame you. That’s not what social media is really about. It’s about influencing change and making stuff happen through what you say and write.

Here are some questions. If you answer “yes” to more than four, read on. If not, I can’t help:

1. Does anyone care what you think?

2, Do you think original thoughts?

3. Can you write 100 words containing your original thoughts?

4. Could you find the motivation to write 100 words once a week?

5. Do you want to “make a difference” even if it’s a small one?

6. Do you have any emotion?

7. Do people seek your opinion?

8. Is there something you know more about than most people?

9. Is there something you care about more than most people?

10. Are you up for a 12 week experiment? 

If you’re still reading, the rest of this will provide the tools you need to achieve one primary goal: to have hundreds of people read your stuff and to think about it. 

To some of those people, your stuff will make a difference.

We’re going to do this using LinkedIn.

This is Week One of twelve.

1. You need more than 500 contacts on LinkedIn. Not immediately, but over the next 12 weeks. At that level you will get a 500+ tally next to your name. That tells everyone you are one of the ninja team. LinkedIn has been going for long enough; there’s really no excuse for not being one of the ninja team. And it’s not very difficult. Invite ten people a day until you hit the ninja number. No excuses.

2. It goes without saying that you must update your LinkedIn profile. When you meet a new contact, there’s a very high chance that they will check you out on LinkedIn. Take the time to make sure it tells them everything they need to know. As far as they are concerned, you are what LinkedIn says you are.

3. You need to belong to 50 LinkedIn groups. Not 30 or 40 or 49. Fifty. This is how you compensate for not yet being a ninja. Groups are insanely powerful. If you have 20,000 people in your groups, they will ALL see your amazing stuff when you group-share it. Now that’s what I’m talking about. 

Many LinkedIn groups are private and you have to apply to join them. Assuming you’re a reasonably respectable and upstanding member of society, it shouldn’t be difficult to get accepted to most groups whose criteria you fit. The group’s moderator decides. Choose three groups across your interests; say, pensions groups, cycling groups and social media groups. As a rule, try to join groups with upwards of 1,000 members. This maximises your distribution power.

4. Write a great blog once a week. It doesn’t need to be more than 500 words. Quality, not quantity, reigns in the Kingdom of Social Media. Don’t hold back on your insightful views. Be a bit provocative (that’s not the same as being offensive); if you never push the status quo you’ll never change anything.

5. Copy Paste the link to your blog into the “Share” box at the top of your Profile Page:

6. When you have shared your link with your contacts (which was merely the amuse bouche) it’s time for the main course. Here goes. Click the “Share” button again. Yes, you just did that, but that was just a shout out to your contacts. Now it’s Group Time. You are moving into the Premier League. 

A new set of options pops up, which allows you to post to your groups: 

7. Click “Post to group(s)”. Three new boxes appear labelled: “Group(s)”, “Subject” and “Detail” respectively.

Now type the letter “a” into the box labelled Group(s)”. All your groups starting with “a” appear in a drop down menu. Click the first one. Type the letter “a” again and click the next relevant group. I say “relevant”, because your cycling groups don’t want to read your pensions blog and will tell you so if you post blogs on actuarial liability smoothing techniques.

Then move to the letter “b” and click the first one:

You get the idea. Keep going until you get to the end of the alphabet. You should have several groups in your Group(s) box. Maybe around 15-20.

8. Click Share. You just showed up in about 10,000 people’s newsfeeds! Ay Caramba!

9. You’re now in the big league. Your stuff is being seen by many, many people. Some will ignore it; some won’t like it. But some will like it and even love it.

At this stage, you are ready to take things up yet another level. Here’s how: You will soon receive comments on your post in one or more of the groups:

Make sure you reply to comments with a thoughtful response. Not only is this polite, and good form, but you continue to show up in the newsfeeds of your groups. Just as you drop off the radar through the passage of time (a day or two), your comment exchange pulls you back into the mix.

10. If you comment enough, you will quickly find that you become the most influential contributor in some of your groups. Make a few salient observations in your group threads and your influence will rapidly rise. Which isn’t to say you’ll become the Dalai Lama, but a few more people will know what you are about.

Operating in this new and revolutionary space is like going to the gym. The more you go, the more you can see the effects and vice versa. So, if you post one blog and share it one time, don’t be surprised if nothing happens. On the other hand, write good stuff and GROUP SHARE it once or twice a week and you’ll be amazed at the impact you will have.

After twelve weeks, drop me a line on here and let me know how it’s working out. If you invite me to connect on LinkedIn, I would be grateful to accept. For LinkedIn connecting, my email address is dawid@mallowstreet.com.

Good luck!