10 biggest mistakes business owners make on linkedin

10 Big mistakes not to make on Linkedin…………..

Is your Social Media leaving you red-faced? Confused? Irritated by very little return on your time investment? 10 points to consider before giving up……………………………

1. It’s all about you? ……

I am sure that both you and your business are great, and of course you want to shout about that. The bad news is that frankly for most people outside of the self-cleaning plastic widgets industry … its just boring (well you probably don’t make widgets but you get my drift).

The biggest mistake people make in Social Media is talking about themselves and their business … like lots. ‘Me, me, me’ posts just don’t attract people to your profile. Potential clients need to be engaged first and foremost before they will even read your posts let alone interact with them. Focus on content that intrigues and inspires, and as a rule of thumb keep blatant ‘my business is wonderful’ type posts to a maximum of 30% of your overall output. If in doubt think about the kind of posts that make you stop and read and analyse why they do.

10 Biggest mistakes Business owners make on Linkedin…………..2. Visually appealing ? ……OK so you may not be a model, but no matter what your insecurities may be about your appearance it’s a fact that more people will connect with you, and ultimately buy from you, if you have a decent profile photo. People buy from people right? … not from faceless logos.

You don’t have to spend lots of money to get a good profile photo, most mobile phones are so sophisticated these days that they would take a sufficiently good shot. However a few things to consider;

• Your Linkedin profile is personal to you, so the photo should be just of you. A group shot just confuses the issue.• Make sure the background is fairly plain without too many distractions• Smile! Or at least look reasonably good-natured. This is a professional networking site not a dating site, but there are no rules saying you have to look like you are just off to a funeral (unless of course you are a funeral Director – then that might be a good idea!).• Appropriate dress – again depends on your industry, but err on smart rather than casual as a rule. Business dress has relaxed in recent years, but no one wants to see you in your swimwear or other inappropriate dress. • Make the photo recent, the whole idea of Linkedin is to network and build business relationships, there is a strong chance that some of these ‘virtual connections’ will become face to face business contacts. If you post a 10 yr old photo and turn up for a coffee meeting unrecognisable, you contact will always feel like they have been ‘lied’ to.

10 Biggest mistakes Business owners make on Linkedin…………..

3. Contact details? ……..

It helps to think of Linkedin as a networking meeting, but online - and with a global reach (really powerful reach if harnessed correctly). The aim is to meet with people who will help you extend your Business network in a positive way and hopefully build a mutually beneficial business relationship.

I have lost count of the number of times I have been sourcing (as a buyer) specific services on Linkedin, found 3 potentially suitable contacts and then found 2 of them had no contact details listed (so frustrating). Sale lost at the first hurdle for those 2 businesses!

Not everyone will make the effort to try and connect with you, and not everyone pays for the Premium service. You need to make your contact details as visible as possible, so besides filling it in on the required section I would also suggest it might be worth including your main contact number within your headline. Sure you will get a few sales calls directed at you too - but a small price to pay when weighed up against your potential lost business if people can’t contact you easily.

You wouldn’t dream of turning up at a breakfast network meeting with no business cards , so why turn up at the biggest business networking meeting on the planet empty handed?

2. Visually appealing ? ……Concentrate on your profile picture first ,as that’s what most people see first and foremost, however there are lots more ways to make your profile visually appealing. Linkedin have given us the facility to use visually rich content throughout. If you haven’t yet done so checkout the ‘Professional Gallery’ section of your summary and add some photos relevant to your business. Its also worth bearing in mind that posts with a pictorial element provoke up to 50% more engagement than those with text alone.


4. Connection snob ? ……… I am going to divide the masses on this one no doubt about it … but I will as always speak my mind. My motto is that there is no such thing as a ‘bad’ connection (pretty much).

I connect with everyone regardless of age, industry, religion, location and so on….. Why? For me the power of Linkedin is in the numbers, and in the exponential nature of the network. 2714 connections give me a reach of 17,379,911 professionals. How do you know who your next client will be and what they will look like? It’s worth reconsidering your policies…..

I hear people saying things like, ‘My business isn't of interest to a Barista in New York when I am selling office furniture in Yorkshire’. Possibly not, but what if his old school friend married a ‘Brit’ and wound up in Leeds, and just happens to own an office building? …… well hopefully you can see my point.

There is a whole world of possibility out there, and yes of course you won’t do business with every connection, but actually you will never ever know what you are missing out on if you don’t open up and let a few people in. Worst case scenario you might just meet someone interesting, or even learn something.


5. Diarise and plan ……….

For all other component parts of your business I am guessing you will have a plan, an organisational structure, and 9 times out of 10 you stick to it because you know it works. You plan your workload, you diarise important activities in advance, and you not only record results but you analyse them too - to further enhance your process.

So why when it comes to Social Media, and particularly Linkedin do some Business owners not have a plan or a strategy at all? They flit from one thing to another, spend hours on Linkedin one day then nothing for 2 weeks, don’t follow up any of the contacts they have made, and omit to assess their ROI. Sound familiar?

Consistency is key in building any relationship, and any salesPipeline. If you want to build a relationship you need to nurturethat new connection, and stay in regular contact (preferably without stalking or a restraining order). This takes forward planning and use of your diary as a reminder, or you will get ‘busy’ and that contact will lapse.

The most frequent reason I hear from business contacts for why they give up on Linkedin is lack of time. Truth is it doesn’t take much time to send a 3 line message, its just the planning and direction that they lack. Sitting there for an hour a day mindlessly flicking through profile after profile with no clue what to say or do is not going to bear fruit, and frankly yes is a waste of time.


6. In the right place? ………..

Often gaining new customers is about being in the right place at the right time for someone to buy your products/services. Your presence on Linkedin, lots of engagement, and good use of ‘key words’ within your profile will help with this. But you can do more.

Groups. You can join up to 50 Groups at once, and it’s a great wayto find like-minded people to connect and engage with. The Groups you choose will vary very much depending on your reasons for using Linkedin and should tie I with your overall strategy. • If you are interested in learning from Linkedin joingroups that will tie in with your interests and feed your Knowledge.• For branding and building new potential clients Consider which groups they may be hanging out in. Don’t make the mistake of joining all the groups where your peers (and competition ) are. • Take active part in group discussions where you can. Build relevant conversations with Group members

and know when its time to take the chat ’offline’ to private message.


7. Sell, sell, sell?........

Nobody, and I really mean nobody likes to feel like they are being ‘sold to’. Hammering your new connections inbox with messages about your product and services straight away is not going to win you any friends … or customers for that matter.

Introduce yourself by all means, strike up a conversation about something of mutual interest or about their business. Build some rapport and you never know you may find some common ground.

Equally don’t just sit here and wait for people ro approach you …. they won’t! Say hello and see what happens.


8. The clue is in the title ……..

SOCIALSocial media is meant to be exactly that … social. Ok so Linkedin is very much a professional andBusiness based forum but the underlying principle remains. Its fundamentally about people connecting with people.

Which ever way you look at it…. and yes it’s a cliché …. ‘people buy from people’. So find a way to ‘connect’, be human, let a little of that personality show, and if people get to like your online persona they just might be inclined to work with you.

Professional does not have to equal boring!


9. Death by summary …..To me this is the place where you get your best shot at relating to others, after your profile photo and headline, this is the next place most people will go. DON’T make it too long, and DO make it personal in some way. The rest of your profile will read like a CV, this is your chance to talk about the why of your career rather than the what.

Before you start writing think about what motivates you, what others say about you, and what makes you stand out from your peers/competitors. That should give you a good starting point.

DO NOT write in the 3rd person, and be genuine. We all have many facets to our life – let some of them show here.

10 Biggest mistakes Business owners make on Linkedin…………..10. Patience is a virtue ………

You will build business relationships on Linkedin if you follow the principles in this post, and you are consistent in your effort , but you need to understand that this is a long term strategy. Nothing will happen overnight.

Be active on your profile, with posts, and new connections every week (if possible daily), and keep a steady contact with messages. The results will come.

Keep a track of what works and what doesn’t, and adapt your approach accordingly. If you give up after a few months you will never know whether the work you have done would have been fruitful.

Nikki Fryer Jan 2014