How to out-LinkedIn LinkedIn

We’re fans of social networking. We’re fans of saving money. And if you’ve read any of these articles, you’ll know that we’re also fans of counterintuitive tricks to help get your business ahead. 
 
In this article, we’re going to check all three of those boxes.
 
Incidentally, although this article originates on our website, www.CopelCommunications.com, we’re cross-posting it on—you guessed it—on LinkedIn. 
 
Make that “attempting to cross-post it,” LOL! If it gets censored, we’ll take that as a compliment—and validation of our advice. 
 
Life on LinkedIn
 
LinkedIn is certainly a powerful and handy tool. We use it all the time. It’s great for making connections with, say, people you’ve just “met” via email—and for checking background credentials, mutual connections, and so on. 
 
It’s also a system that’s ripe for gaming, unfortunately. We recently interviewed a person for a job opening, and he boasted that he had thousands of important LinkedIn connections. One of the people on our interviewing team called him on this point: “Hey, I looked at your connections and I’m very impressed. I’m friends with that senator, too! How do you know him?” 
 
Crickets. 
 
Turned out that this person had essentially spammed this senator and thus got the LinkedIn connection. But it’s not what we’d call a “real” connection. 
 
We practice what we preach. Check out our LinkedIn page. Our connections number in the hundreds, not the thousands. But we know who those people are. And they know us, too. 
 
Turning spam to your advantage
 
Obviously, you’d like to have to have a rich book of LinkedIn connections. Just as important, you’d like prospects to check out your LinkedIn profile. That’s the first step toward their learning more about you, clicking their way to your website, learning even more about you and your business, and, ideally, reaching out to you. All of that would be great.
 
But it begs the question: How do you get these thousands of untold strangers to check out your profile? 
 
Here’s where we get to the “cheap” and “counterintuitive” part of this article. 
 
Not long ago, we got a LinkedIn InMail request from a total stranger: a woman who, ostensibly, wanted to sell us something. 
 
Now in case you’re not familiar with it, InMail is a "premium" service. You guessed right: You must pay to get it.
 
So connect the dots: This woman was shelling out money each month for the privilege of messaging us… a total stranger. 
 
What would you do if you got her message? 
 
If it’s clearly spam/a pitch to sell you something you don’t really need, you’d tend to ignore it, and delete the notification. But that might be costing you an opportunity. 
 
Make the system work in reverse
 
The best thing to do, in an instance like this, is to accept the invitation. Consider: 

• You needn’t buy anything this person is selling. Nothing is obligating you. In fact, this person just spent money to say “hello” to you. You can be polite and obliging and say “hello” right back, thanking them yet declining the offer.

 

• At the same time, connect to that person on LinkedIn. Why? We can guarantee you that this person has thousands of connections, kind of like the “Senator” person we’d described above. 

 

• Now consider that LinkedIn is a two-way street. Every one of those thousands of new second-level connections will suddenly get you on their radar. As a “close” connection, you’ll pop up under “People you may know” on their screens. 

 
This is a numbers game. The more connections this spammer—er, “person”—has, the more exposure you get for connecting with them. It’s like network broadcasting. Only it’s free. 
 
And it gets better: Depending upon how good a job that that person did in filtering to find you, your new “connections” may well be quite relevant to your business. It’s almost like getting LinkedIn Premium… without the premium. 
 
So keep an open eye, and an open mind. The business you end up boosting may be your own. 
 
Want more help? Contact us. We’d be delighted to discuss your needs. 

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