The best approach to expanding your LinkedIn network depends on your priorities. LinkedIn can be an integral part of a job search. It can also help you find new clients or customers or connect with other professionals who can partner with you. To know how best to use the site, think about what you hope to accomplish by connecting with others and then develop a strategy to achieve those goals.
If you’re looking for a new role, it is important to connect with recruiters in your field. Before reaching out, do research to make sure the recruiter specializes in your area of expertise and focus. If you work in operations, it won’t help you to link with someone specializing in investment banking. If you’re an investor, recruiters who focus on compliance and legal cannot help with your search.
When sourcing contacts with recruiters or other members of the site, a mutual connection can help. Citing a relationship or a recommendation will add legitimacy to the request. Similarly, seeing many mutual connections may encourage a recruiter to accept your request. While it’s possible to connect with recruiters whose networks don’t overlap with yours, they are likely to review your outreach with greater scrutiny.
If you’re using LinkedIn to look for business partners, it’s important to use multiple websites to learn as much as you can about an individual’s background and expertise. LinkedIn is a useful tool for finding individuals that match a specific profile. However, unless they have a particularly detailed user page, it will be difficult to know whether exploring the potential of working together could make sense. LinkedIn would be only the first of a long line of research tools to use.
Similarly, if you’re using LinkedIn to find clients, it can be a great way to make a first contact, but don’t stop there. Some people check LinkedIn infrequently (or almost never). Send a follow up email, even if you don’t receive a timely response to your initial outreach. Explain who you are, and why you want to connect with them. A personal connection can help but never fabricate or exaggerate.
Regardless of your goals, commenting substantively on relevant posts may result in an expansion of your network. Use posts and comments to generate a conversation that you can potentially take offline. It’s also possible to use other posts to generate content for your own page or draw attention to your profile. When engaging with others, your comments should be brief but add to the discourse. The same is true for any messages you send on the site. Use direct formal communication across all platforms.
Expanding your LinkedIn network can be useful for finding a new role, new clients, and new partners. Regardless of your goals, respect other people’s time to get the most out of the site. Do your research, be mindful in your approach, and your efforts will have a higher likelihood of paying off.
