I love LinkedIn! It has been bringing us more matching candidates and business connections than everything else combined out there. For my own recruiting business LinkedIn accounts for 100% placed candidates in the last twelve months and a large chunk of sourcing information that I submit to others when sourcing.
Yet taking the full advantage of LinkedIn is not straightforward! There are numerous obstacles and misleading marketing messages, blogs, and tutorials. Some LinkedIn members feel frustrated with its usage and some others pay big bucks for the top accounts, while not getting the true value.
Here is a brief list of some road blocks preventing our success, that could be overcome by learning what’s true and what’s a myth, how to overcome limitations, and how get the interaction going with your business prospects.
- LinkedIn changes in subtle and often unannounced ways, making its users confused; it helps to keep on top of changes
- Many use LinkedIn’s people search dialog in a straightforward fashion; however, LinkedIn can be searched in multiple creative ways and provide useful Business Intelligence data
- LinkedIn sets limits, both on free/ low-paid accounts and on LinkedIn Recruiter, in messaging and data visibility; there are ways to overcome the limits
- LinkedIn Recruiter seems to create a job board in place of LinkedIn; but it’s a myth and it limits your power, unless you use it properly
- LinkedIn has deficiencies that are worth knowing about, so that you can navigate all of its functionality
- LinkedIn makes us mouse and keyboard a lot; there are ways to increase productivity with shortcuts
- LinkedIn is usually not enough as a sole source of data; it should be used for cross-referencing, to prequalify business connections, and only call the right people
- LinkedIn is Google-able but, due to changing algorithms, this can be confusing and often showing false positives and no desired results; it would help to get up-to-date on X-Raying LinkedIn
- LinkedIn’s InMails seem to not get replies for many; there are proven ways to phrase your messages to get a high response rate
- LinkedIn doesn’t have contact info handy, but it can be used for finding and verifying ways to reach prospects
Would you have anything else to add to this list? What were the latest changes you have noticed? Please leave a comment. I am glad to connect as well.
Interested in straightening out your LinkedIn experience and figuring out ways to take the full advantage of it, with the feeling that you know all of its ins and outs? Sign up for my webinar on August 2nd People Sourcing Essentials for LinkedIn (seating is limited).