TIN #010 - How To Network On LinkedIn - Part 2
Meet interesting people using a lesser known LinkedIn strategy
Good Morning 👋 - Greg here.
Happy Saturday morning to everyone using LinkedIn to network this week.
Last week, I shared how to start networking on LinkedIn through Connecting.
This week, I'm going to show you another way network on LinkedIn through Following.
Let me know in the comments if you have questions about LinkedIn you’d like me to answer.
Today’s issue takes about 6 minutes to read.
Connecting Vs. Following
What's the difference?
Connecting with people on LinkedIn means you send them Connection Requests. They either Accept or Ignore your request. If they accept your request, you see their activity on LinkedIn. You can also send them direct messages.
For most people, Connecting is their default method of meeting people on LinkedIn.
Following allows you to see people's activity in your LinkedIn feed without a Connection Request.
You don't need their permission to see what they post and share. However, you can't message them without using InMail credits.
Why Follow?
Connecting with someone can be intimidating, especially if you view them as more established, accomplished, or in a position of power.
Even if you have the perfect note to add to your Connection Request, you might still feel like you’re bothering them with your request.
Following someone is as easy as going to their profile and clicking the Follow button.
When you Follow, you'll start seeing the person's activity in your LinkedIn feed.
There are a few things you need to know about Following.
If you go to a profile and see a Follow button instead of Connect, the person has set Follow as their default. That means they would rather you Follow them than Connect. People with the Follow button default are usually more active on LinkedIn than people with the Connect default. Follow them.
Following means you will see what the person posts, shares, and comments on other posts. Before you Follow them, be sure they are using LinkedIn frequently. You can do this by looking at the Activity section of their profile.
If they haven't posted anything or it's been months or years since they posted, they aren't on LinkedIn. If you want to contact them, you can try to send a Connection Request. They may have their notification settings set to email them when someone wants to connect. Go to TIN #009 to learn how to Connect with them.
People who have their notification settings turned on will see that you Followed them. Nothing for you to do, but be aware, you can't Follow someone and be completely invisible. If your profile is complete and engaging, they may Follow you back. That’s a hint to get your profile updated and complete.
The pros and cons of Following are:
Pros:
Lower risk
More organic relationships
Access to people with established presence on LinkedIn
Cons
Takes longer
Requires consistent presence on LinkedIn
You may have to follow a lot of people before you establish mutually beneficial relationships
How do you use Following as a networking strategy?
Following combined with Commenting is a great way to start relationships on LinkedIn.
Justin Welsh is one of the masters of the Commenting approach on LinkedIn and Twitter.
You should definitely be following him and commenting on his posts on LinkedIn.
When someone you’re Following posts on LinkedIn, they want other people to engage with the post.
You can Like, Share, or Comment on another person's post.
Liking is OK, but not effective for networking.
Sharing is OK too, but not optimal. People who spend time on LinkedIn have learned the algorithm doesn't prioritize shared posts. No one knows why, but if you share another person's post, most of your connections and followers won't see it.
Commenting is the best option.
Leaving a comment on another person's post signals engagement to the author and to LinkedIn. The more comments a post gets, the more LinkedIn shows it to other people.
LinkedIn looks as comments like a conversation. If it sees lots of comments on a post, it assumes the original post was something that sparked a conversation among the LinkedIn community.
That's why you will see many people, myself included, responding to comments on their own posts. More comments equal more engagement.
Commenting is valuable to you as someone who is trying to connect to the author of the post.
It gives you an opportunity to engage and continue the conversation.
Imagine you went to a conference.
The conference speaker shares an idea in her presentation.
At the end, she asks if there are any questions, and you raise your hand. The speaker calls on you, you ask your question, and it creates a dialogue between you and her.
The session ends and other people approach the speaker to talk to her. You’re one of the people who approaches her. Do you think she's going to have a longer conversation with you or someone who didn't ask the question during the session?
In most cases, the speaker would recognize you and continue the dialogue. You may even talk to her at other times during the conference. Your question or comment during her presentation created a connection that can be turn into a conversation.
The same thing happens when you comment on a post.
The key is, your comment needs to be insightful and valuable to the idea the author is posting. Thinking about the conference example, you wouldn’t just raise your hand at the end and say, “I agree. Thanks.”
When Commenting on LinkedIn:
Make it valuable. Ask a question or provide your insight or do something to move the conversation forward. Never post, "Agree," or "Nice post." If you want to do that, hit Like.
Be respectful. You don't have to agree with everything, but be respectful with your own opinion. You aren't on LinkedIn to pick fights. Save that for Twitter and Reddit.
Be one of the first to comment. When a post is published, if you’re one of the first to comment with something insightful, others reading the post will see your comment and Like it or Comment on it. That will make your comment one of the most relevant and keep it near the top of the comments as other comments are added. If you go to a post that has dozens of comments, you can still leave yours, but it likely won't be seen by the author or anyone else.
What is the end game of Following and Commenting?
The goal is to begin an online conversation with someone you would like to talk to in real life.
To do that, you have to build trust and credibility with them.
This approach can help you do that.
Follow people who are interesting to you and active on LinkedIn.
Ideally, these are people at your Target Companies or are in your industry or area of interest.
I would recommend you cast a wide net for people you want to follow.
Be willing to look at people in broader groups than you would if you were focusing on Connecting.
Commenting using the rules above makes it likely the author will see your name. They might look at your profile. They may comment on your comment or your posts.
These are all signals that the author is active, engaged, and willing to talk to you further on LinkedIn.
As you receive these signals, you can be more confident sending them a Connection Request because your name will be familiar.
You aren't a stranger and they are more likely respond to your messages.
LinkedIn has recently started to include the following in connection requests: "«Member’s name>> follows you and is inviting you to connect"
As someone who posts each day, this is a good sign for me. This means the person Connecting with me is unlikely to be a bot or someone sending automated connection requests from a sales platform.
If the person you’re following doesn't respond or engage, you may want to try a few more times to comment on their posts. Not everyone who posts is on LinkedIn all the time to read the comments.
But, if you have commented on their posts a few times, you can say that in your note to them to make it more likely for them to accept your request.
None of this means you are besties.
Once you Follow, Comment, and Connect with someone, you still need to build trust.
You can do this by giving them value and a reason to talk to you.
This is how you grow a mutually beneficial relationship.
Connecting and Following are two approaches to networking that can work on LinkedIn when you use them correctly. With consistency and a little bit of practice, you’ll master it quickly.
Next week, I'll show you some advanced LinkedIn networking strategies using data you didn't know you had.
You can add comments here, too!