Today is the last day that we’ll focus on LinkedIn for now. We’ve already talked about your profile, connections and recommendations and now it’s time to start networking and meeting people outside your immediate circle. The groups on LinkedIn are a great way to find people with shared interests and to connect with potential clients.
As with everything else professional, you want to have a strategy in mind before you begin joining groups. There are thousands of groups on LinkedIn and so you want to decide what will cause you to join a group. What are your goals in meeting people? If you are looking for like-minded professionals, try searching for your industry keywords. Once you have found a list of groups based on keywords of interest, I suggest evaluating them by:
- The people in the group. Are they a mix of people that you know and don’t know? If so, it will help you integrate into the community more quickly.
- How many people in the group. This is not a "more is better" approach, but it’s something to pay attention to and will be based on your goals. Sometimes a small group of 30 is the perfect intimate setting for good relationship building. For others, they will be looking for a larger group that will expose them to a wide range of diverse people.
- How active the group is. You will find that many groups were started, but never maintained. You want to make sure you join a group that is active enough to keep you busy and involved.
Once you choose groups that you want to be a part of, you must try to integrate yourself. Rather than asking everyone in the group to connect with you, take a few days or weeks to read what is being said on the discussion boards and on the news feeds. Sit back and take it all in. Then, begin by commenting on other posts before you jump in and start posting unique content. Remember that social media is all about relationships so your goal is to find professionals that you can jive with and THEN add them to your network.
Should you create a group?
I strongly suggest that you should NOT create a group on LinkedIn unless you have searched high and low and not found anything that relates to your interests. This is highly unusual, but if you do find yourself in this situation, I think it’s fine to start a group. If you do, I would suggest thinking about the following things:
- You must develop content. Before you ask people to join your group, you should probably post some articles and start discussion topics so that new people to the group can jump right in.
- You must maintain the group. It will be your responsibility to welcome the new members, facilitate discussions and keep the content fresh.
- You must market the group. If no one knows about the group, they are not likely to use it so share it with colleagues and connections on other social networks. Of course, direct people back to your home base and use that as a platform for spreading the word.
Groups are one of the most dynamic features of LinkedIn and are a great opportunity for you if you work hard to maintain and stay engaged.
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Tags: 30 Days of Branding, LinkedIn, Personal Branding, Social Media/Technology
