I love almost any social network, but one network I have not spent a lot of time engaging on is LinkedIn. I have a presence on it, but my LinkedIn strategy has been relatively non-existent. Yesterday, I had the opportunity to present a session at ReBarcamp NYC with Todd Carpenter on using online to develop relationships in real life. It was a great interactive session, and during the session, I had an “A-HA” moment I had to share. A lightbulb moment!
Recommendations are the key to engaging on LinkedIn.
Often we write recommendations because someone requests them. What if you started writing recommendations for people in your network that were unsolicited? Perhaps someone you used to work with in a previous occupation, a service provider you use, someone you heard speak at a conference. The recommendation has to be genuine and deserved, but imagine the power of an unsolicited recommendation. You might get a recommendation back, but that is not the point or the power. The power is in the feeling that you create with the person you recommend.
I have heard many of my social media “expert” friends say LinkedIn falls into their top three social networks they use, and I never got it. I found LinkedIn a little boring – you can’t engage like you do on twitter or facebook. I like that “feel good” aspect of twitter and facebook.
What can be more “feel good” than telling people how much you admire and respect someone in your network? The feel good power of LinkedIn exists- you just have to create it.
