Is LinkedIn Redundant Now We’re Face To Face Networking Again?
Not On Your Nelly!!
For many of us, myself included, face-to-face business networking is a valuable marketing activity. Plus, I like to be part of a community of people that I can meet face to face and really get to know.
But Covid came along and seriously impacted our ability to meet face to face. As a result, a number of online networking events sprung up.
But, so did LinkedIn!
LinkedIn really came into its own as a key networking tool. In fact a lot of companies got in touch with me because they needed to up skill their sales teams to use LinkedIn as they could no longer meet their prospects face to face.
For me LinkedIn and networking have always been worked ‘hand in glove’.
That’s because LinkedIn is the closest thing to face to face networking you can get online and in fact works in very much the same ways as networking does.
I often say if you approach and treat LinkedIn as another networking group and you can’t go far wrong on LinkedIn.
I liken LinkedIn to networking in 3 ways:
- Your profile represents you in a physical network
- Your connections are the people you network with
- What you post and who you engage with on LinkedIn represent the conversations you have at face to face events
How To Use LinkedIn In Conjunction With Your Face-to-face Networking Efforts
🔹 Update your LinkedIn profile
It’s a great source of what I call ‘indirect’ leads. As often I will be contacted by people who say they’ve been recommended to get in touch by someone we both know. So your profile needs to position you as the expert and how you help.
(If you haven’t already check out my LinkedIn Profile ebook here)
🔹 Who are you networking with?
Before an event you often get a list of other attendees. Check them out on LinkedIn to learn more about who you are networking with and perhaps identify people you would particularly like to meet. You could even send a pre-networking message/connection request on LinkedIn introducing yourself and saying that you are looking forward to meeting them.
🔹 Use the LinkedIn QR code feature
During the networking, use the LinkedIn QR code option on the LinkedIn mobile app to quickly find and connect with someone on LinkedIn.
🔹 Follow up!
Everything, they say, is in the follow up. And this is true for both LinkedIn and networking.
The first thing I do is ensure I connect on LinkedIn if I’m not already. And of course, having met someone face to face networking, it’s a great way to personalise your connection request.
If I am already connected, then I send a follow-up message via LinkedIn to say how great it was to meet them or see them again. And if you didn’t do it in the meeting, perhaps ask them for a one-to-one to get to know them better.
🔹 Maximise those one-to-ones
Often, it’s not the people you network with but who they know. If you schedule a one-to-one meeting, ensure you maximise the meeting by first reviewing their LinkedIn connections prior to the meeting to see if they know anyone you would like to be introduced to.
And, reciprocate! Ask them to review your connections before the meeting. Then at the meeting, you can talk through who you both know to see if there is anyone that you could introduce each other to.
Ideally look for about 8 – 10 potential introductions. Just because someone is a connection doesn’t necessarily mean they know the person, so you may find from 8-10 only 1 or 2 introductions can be made but it’s more than you had before the meeting.
To do this means both you and your contact who you are meeting 121 need to have your connections open and not everyone does. I keep my connections open because I see LinkedIn as a valuable online networking tool but also so that I can add value to my network by being able to make introductions. However, you can choose to turn them off and on, so you can open them up for this exercise and then close them down again.
LinkedIn is your best networking friend!
So there you have it, in a nutshell, LinkedIn is your best networking friend!
If LinkedIn isn’t working hard for you or you’re not sure where to start with using LinkedIn, email judy@judithparsons.com or connect with me on LinkedIn to chat about how I can help.
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Want to attract more of the right clients using LinkedIn? Know your ideal clients are on LinkedIn and feel you “𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑏𝑒 𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑡” but have no idea where to start?
𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐤 𝐋𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐞𝐝𝐈𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 – know exactly what to do, what to say and when to attract more of your dream clients to you 💃
Book a virtual brew here and let’s make LinkedIn work for you this year . . . 💙⭐
