So you’ve clicked the “Connect” button on a LinkedIn profile. Now, what? This is where most people’s LinkedIn activity stops.
LinkedIn isn’t just meant for your resumé. It is a place where you can connect and network with other professionals, virtually.
So, before we discuss what to do after you connect with people over LinkedIn, we must ask an important question – why should you connect with people in LinkedIn? If you’ve ever been to a networking event, such as mixers at your local chamber of commerce, the first thing that you’ll notice is that EVERYBODY is there to introduce themselves to others. If you pay close attention, you’ll also notice that everyone loves talking about themselves! And they definitely should.
Sounds pretty obvious, right? If you don’t talk about yourself and your practice, then how do you expect people to know about you and your service? It seems only logical that you spend as much time as you can in finding potential prospects, and hope that those prospects turn into your clients one day.
Well, I hate to break this to you, but… no one cares! Think about it. If a stranger came up to you and just started babbling on and on about his or her services, would you really care? I’m not much of a gambler, but I’d bet my Rolex that the only thing you’d be thinking about is how to get out of there!
It’s not networking when you only talk about yourself and your services; and doing the same on LinkedIn should not be considered “connecting”.
I can’t tell you how many people make this mistake on LinkedIn. It’s no wonder why LinkedIn users don’t see the results that they should be seeing. The trick to making great connections on LinkedIn is that you’re “elevator pitch” has to be conveyed in a super-suave way.
Making great connections in LinkedIn is a simple, yet effective, process; and we’re going to make sure that you walk away fully understanding this process. Follow the next few steps to dramatically improve how you connect with people on LinkedIn.
Charm Others Over LinkedIn
Connecting and networking with people is all about charm. It is the art of charming people. But what is charm, and how do you do it? What makes someone charming?
Some might answer this by saying that charming someone is the quality of giving delight to someone else. I answer this by saying that it is the act of making people feel good about themselves.
It is human nature to think highly of those who show genuine interest in what you do. When someone wants to know more about you or asks about a certain aspect of your life, you’re more likely to be fond of this person. The reason is that when someone shows genuine interest in you, your mind associates this with the feeling of being valued or appreciated.
When you are connecting with people in LinkedIn, spend some time reading through their profile and find a few things that you think are interesting. Perhaps, you can dig a little deeper by reading about them on their website or in other articles.
Maybe you’ll find a few interesting points, such as the person’s journey to success or the charity organization that he or she is a part of. These are the tools that you’ll use to charm people.
Use the information that you’ve gathered to ask them more detailed questions. For example, if your connection owns a business, ask them how they got into it and what they love most about it. Find out what really excites them about their line of work. The key is to show genuine interest.
Upon doing this, you’ll notice that you will get positive feedback, because people love talking about themselves. Essentially, you are feeding their ego, or in other words, you are charming them.
Call to Action
This step is very simple, but many people forget to include it in their conversations. The point of connecting with people in LinkedIn is to get them to take some sort of action. So this step is simple, have a call to action in your conversation.
If your plan is to meet with the person, or schedule a phone call, then let it be known!
Phone Call
Master networkers understanding that they should schedule a second conversation, in order to solidify the connection. The best way to have a conversation with someone is to have it in person, but that’s not always possible. Many of us are too busy during the day, and cannot find the time to meet in person. So your next best option is to schedule a phone call.
Rule #1 is to determine the purpose of the call.
To have a successful phone conversation, you have to determine exactly what you want out of it. Is it to sell your services, get them to attend your event, or do you want to get to know the professional over a game of gulf?
You should never wing a phone call, because you will not have control over it and the conversation might end up somewhere that you don’t want to be.
Rule #2 is to start the conversation by continuing to show your interest. Show that you are fascinated with what they’re doing, and that you’re eager to learn more. Simply put, continue charming them. Try not to be too intense, because it might come off as creepy. As I previously mentioned, the key is to show genuine interest.
At the end of it all, they would have done the vast majority of the talking, but they will feel that they’ve just had the most amazing conversation with you.
Rule #3 is to control the call. Don’t let the conversation drag out into uncharted territories. Keep it on track. If your contact starts talking to you about the price of sugar in China, that’s a pretty good indicator that the conversation ended up on Mars. Unless if the conversation was about the price of sugar in China; in which case, you’re in the clear.
Use the tips in this article as a guideline, and you will drastically improve the quality of your connections.