TIN #024 - How to improve your (networking) diet
The New Year is a great time to put your networking plan in place
Good Morning đ - Greg here.
Happy Saturday morning to everyone whoâs still on track with their New Yearâs resolutions.
One of mine is to keep publishing this newsletter every week.
This week, we crossed the 400 subscriber mark!
Thanks to all of you who continue to show up and support this newsletter.
Today, Iâll be talking about how to improve your networking habits this year.
This issue takes about 3 minutes to read.
Your Networking Diet
As the new year starts, many of us may be thinking about ways to improve ourselves and reach our goals.
One common resolution is to start a healthier lifestyle. This often involves starting a new diet.
Another resolution is to focus on your career development. Networking and growing professional relationships are important parts of reaching this goal.
Did you know dieting and networking have a lot in common?
Today, Iâll talk about the similarities between starting a new diet and networking on LinkedIn.
I got the idea for networking and dieting from David Petherick who calls himself the Scottish LinkedIn Profile Doctor. He has a free download to help you develop your LinkedIn diet.
Davidâs approach to LinkedIn is great, but hereâs my spin on the concept.
Set Your Goals
Just like starting a new diet requires planning and commitment, effectively networking on LinkedIn requires a clear strategy and dedication to consistently building and maintaining relationships.
With a new diet, you set a number of calories you want to eat each day or number of pounds you want to lose each week.
With networking, set specific goals for the number of connections you want to make or the types of people you want to connect with.
I recommend starting small.
Set a goal to connect with one new person each day. If thatâs too overwhelming, connect with one new person each week.
Make your goal small enough so that itâs impossible not to hit it. Make it something you can sustain over time.
Just as you canât expect to lose all the weight at one time on a diet, you canât expect to suddenly connect with hundreds of people all at once.
As you succeed with your networking, youâll feel like you can do more.
Increase the number of connections you are making each day or week.
Diversify Your Diet
Have you ever heard of those diets where you only eat one thing for a period of time.
Theyâre called âMonoâ diets.
The mono diet is an eating plan that involves eating just one food item or food group for several days or weeks.
They rarely work.
The same applies to your LinkedIn Diet.
Connecting with new people is great, but if thatâs all you do, youâre unlikely to develop strong professional relationships.
In addition to connecting each day:
Comment
Recommend
Message
Comment on the posts in your feed.
Make sure you add value in your comment. Give your perspective, respectfully. Ask a question. Extend the conversation.
This is a great way to begin to develop a relationship with the person who wrote the post.
Recommend people you already know on LinkedIn.
Everyone loves to receive a recommendation. If youâve lost touch with someone you enjoyed working with in the past, write them a recommendation on LinkedIn.
Theyâll see it the next time they log in. Theyâll probably send you a message to say thank you.
You can re-connect with them and find out whatâs new with them. This is a great way to activate your dormant ties.
Message people who connect with you.
Connecting is great, but until you start exchanging messages with your new connections, you canât get to know them.
Keep it simple and make it easy for the other person to respond.
Check out TIN #009 and TIN #010 for more tips on how to effectively network on LinkedIn.
Track Your Progress
Both starting a new diet and networking on LinkedIn also require self-discipline and consistency.
It's easy to fall off track with either one if you don't stay motivated and focused.
A great way to stay disciplined is to track your progress.
This can be as simple as creating a list of dates in a notebook or on a spreadsheet and then making a check mark next to each date when you make a connection, leave a comment, or make a recommendation.
You can also use habit tracking apps or other tools to help you keep track.
Iâve started to use this habit tracker from EmilyExcels.
It costs about $10 (I donât get any commission from this, I just found it and it works for me).
In addition to my other daily, weekly, and monthly habits, I shoot for one new connection and comment each day.
I also try to make one recommendation each week.
I usually do more than this on LinkedIn, but tracking it makes sure I donât miss a day and keeps my habits going.
Just like making long lasting change to your diet takes planning and focus, growing your professional network requires the same type of effort.
But it doesnât have to be difficult.
Make your actions small, but meaningful.
Show up and put in the effort on a consistent basis.
Over time, these small steps will add up to huge gains in the size of your professional network.