The Power Of Linkedin Status Updates

Linkedin is without doubt the number one online tool for professionals to grow their business. The following Linkedin tips will help you use it more effectively.

Even if you’re not a Linkedin expert, using it is not too difficult – certainly within the capabilities of most professionals. Most professionals are beyond the basics of using Linkedin as just an online CV and have developed a profile that’s more attractive to clients. They can also use Linkedin to make new connections to potential clients and contacts. But there are few areas where most users still under exploit the potential of Linkedin. One such underused feature is the Linkedin status update.

There are two ways you can use Linkedin status updates to help you grow your business.

The first is with your own status updates. Linkedin status updates are a nice way of helping to stay top of mind with contacts. Constantly emailing or calling can seem too pushy – but a Linkedin status update can prove a gentle reminder of what you do. But using a status update is a much less intrusive way of geting your message out.

Depending on their settings, your contacts will get a regular email with a summary of the status updates of their contacts. And they also see the updates when they log in. Most people’s status updates tend to be dull: updates to their profile and who they’ve connected with. So if you can create interesting updates that actually send a useful message: “Ian is relaxing after an intensive selling skills workshop – great feedback” then it will more subtly get across your capabilities and expertise.

You can also usefully use the status updates of your contacts.

You can get many things from this. You can spot when something happens in their lives. it may trivial – they’ve just watched something great on TV – or it may be they’ve switched companies or roles. Anything they flag up must mean something to them – so if you have something useful to say in response then comment on their status or send them a message.

A particular update to look out for is when your contacts make new connections. if those contacts would be great connections for you too then now is the ideal time to ask for an introduction as their conversation will still be live.

So overall, while status updates aren’t going to ever be your primary business development tool – far from it, they can help you establish and grow relationships which could lead to good new business.