Louise Brogan, host of LinkedIn With Louise Podcast
Not sure what to say or do on LinkedIn to find right-fit clients? Consider approaching it as though you were going to your favorite industry conference.
That’s the advice of Louise Brogan of Northern Ireland, who has over 10 years’ experience supporting small businesses who want to leverage social media for business.
She is a writer, international speaker, host of the LinkedIn with Louise Podcast, and even met King Charles at Buckingham Palace in recognition of her work supporting small business in the United Kingdom.
In a Zoom interview, I asked Brogan to share her best tips for approaching LinkedIn like an in-person conference:
Prepare. “Before you go, know why you are going,” said Brogan. “Usually, you look forward to conferences to network with like-minded people and get some good connections for business. Same with LinkedIn.”
Dress up. “Put on your best professional attire,” said Brogan. “In LinkedIn terms, this means getting a fully optimized profile. Take time to look your (business) best—you won’t go to the conference wearing your sunglasses or with your other half standing behind you, so don’t have them in your profile pic, and make sure your About section reflects your best professional self.”
Plan your conversations. Brogan said: “Ready for the conference? Walk in the door with your plan for how to engage with the people you see. When you meet someone, start talking. Catch up with some old connections and meet new people. This involves communicating. You aren’t going to hand over your business card and walk away without a word in person, so why would you send a connection request on LinkedIn without saying hello first in the invitation? When you hear someone say something interesting, reply. Read a great post? Respond with a comment.”
Start commenting to connect. “Imagine you’ve met someone in the queue for coffee after listening to the keynote,” said Brogan. “Most likely this will inspire a conversation with your new contact. On LinkedIn, you can find these people by the comments they leave on posts from the people you follow. Note: if you aren’t writing your own posts or, at least, commenting on someone else's posts, then no one is having a conversation with you. Start commenting to start having conversations.”
Don’t pitch. “If you do meet someone in the coffee queue, or the LinkedIn connection, and they start to pitch you immediately, what will you do?” asked Brogan. “Probably make your excuses and leave. Do the same on LinkedIn! We haven’t time to waste being sold to, either at the event or online.”
Start new conversations. Brogan added: “Feeling ambitious? If you want to be the thought leader on LinkedIn, then you need to start sharing your ideas. Just like the speakers on stage at the conference, the people who are writing articles, sharing LinkedIn Lives and starting conversations on LinkedIn, are the ones who we see as the experts. The good news is that you don’t need to pitch the organizers to be able to speak on LinkedIn. Just show up and start contributing.”
Bottom line: The fundamentals apply regardless of the way you meet people. Don’t we all hate it when people are overly aggressive on LinkedIn? My motto is give if you want to get. Be generous with the people you meet on LinkedIn, just like you should do with people you meet in person.
