You’re a Thought Leader in your chosen profession who has built a business that has been recognized locally, regionally, and nationally by your peers and other colleagues.  You are hitting your profit margins even in this recession, and you are primed for growth.
But where are you in the social space?

You’re a Thought Leader in your chosen profession who has built a business that has been recognized locally, regionally, and nationally by your peers and other colleagues.  You are hitting your profit margins even in this recession, and you are primed for growth.

But where are you in the social space?

Not where you want and need to be.  You may not even have positioned yourself on LinkedIn, which is considered “the place to be” in Social for Business.  What do you do?  Create a quick profile on the social network?  Read all you can on “why LinkedIn?”  Consult a consultant?

You may need to do all three, but before you do, here are some simple tips for getting started and quickly becoming a player on LinkedIn.

1)  Make sure you are well represented

This means get out your resume, awards won and other commendations and make sure that they are all reflected in your LinkedIn profile.  As you create your profile, make sure it reads like a living and breathing document full of plenty of action words and engaging language.  Also, each time you experience a title change, a new commendation or close a noteworthy deal, go back to your profile to figure out whether or not it makes sense to add the information into your bio.

2)  Look at some of your connections and see who the power executives are

These individuals would be your connections who already have 300 connections or more.  Who they are connecting to?  Are they connecting to people from their pasts?  Are they connecting to business leaders and future deal makers through some of their other connections?  Evaluate your own business goals and follow suit.

 3) Update Often

The status update on LinkedIn is a great way to tell friends and colleagues what you are up to for the day.  Perhaps the status update is simple like: Enjoying a worthwhile discussion with executives about the power of LinkedIn.  Your update may start a conversation with a future client or it may just keep you in the forefront of people’s minds.  No matter the case, it will show that you are willing to be an active participant in social.

4)  Use Your Social Resources

LinkedIn allows you to search colleagues by industry.  It also allows you to explore your connections by industry.  Facebook also has this feature (and if you’re not doing business on Facebook, by the way, you are missing out on countless opportunities because Facebook is still the number one Social Network around).  Figure out who you want to be connected to and ask your friends to make introductions.  It’s the easy alternative to cold-calling or “asking around.”

5)  Make it Easy On Yourself – Connect Via Smartphone

I recently attended a meeting during which a client pulled out his smartphone and connected with me on LinkedIn while I was giving him a social strategy tip.  The power of the tip is not what made him connect right away (although I am sure the tip was useful to him).  Instead, he had grown accustomed to connecting with prospects this way, and naturally has more than 300 connections.  Moral of the story – connect right away – especially when your potential connection is sitting across from you at a conference room table.

5)  Know that You Are Being Socially Profiled and Act Accordingly

We live in a world where to be involved in the social space is to be rational and proactive.  Each time you leave a meeting, ask for a business card and connect with that person in social.  Even better before you meet with them, look them up on LinkedIn to see which connections you have in common.  But know ahead of time that just as you are reviewing your social profile they are also reviewing yours to find out who your connections are and how active you are.  And if you’re not active, you may be out of the game.

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