Yes, Use LinkedIn to Reach Out… But Stop Oversharing

When it comes to LinkedIn, many of us have a love/hate relationship. We love it as a way to keep up with colleagues and make new professional connections, but we hate some of its setup and how others choose to use it. It is indispensable as an internet marketing tool and can do wonders for our careers.

Here are some basic dos and don’ts to help use LinkedIn to reach out and to communicate a bit more effectively:

1. Personalize, please
   Sorry person from another country I have never met and with whom I share no connections, I won’t become part of your professional network. I will, however, look at your profile and try to figure out how you stalked found me and why you thought we should be linked. Do we belong to the same LinkedIn group? Are we in the same professional field?

   A better approach would have been to tell me what we may share in common or why you’d like to connect, like someone else did in the brief note I received below:

   “Jeff Hayes, a common acquaintance, and I met working on a project. I’d like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn.”

2. Say cheese…
   While LinkedIn’s anonymous silhouette is a step up from the Twitter “egg,” please post your photo. I would like to put a face with your name. A standard headshot would be nice or at least a decent ‘crop’ from an appropriate group photo that shows your face. Oh, and make sure it’s a current photo, not one from 10 years ago.
3. Share, but don’t overshare
   Like many professionals, I like to look at industry-related articles that others share. But don’t be THAT person…you know…the one who shares ten articles before noon. You’ve not only taken over my feed, you’ve probably annoyed people to the point of “un-linking” from you.

   Keep it to one relevant share a day and you’ll achieve a better reaction from me and many others. Also, remember, you’re not connecting with family and friends, you’re connecting with professional contacts – make your status updates accordingly. Check your settings in any automated posting tools you may be using to ensure you’re not posting to places all over.

4. Enough with the email updates
   If, like me, you don’t want people to contact you all the time or receive all of those pesky notifications from the groups you’ve joined, take the time to set your contact settings under Privacy & Settings > Communications. Just set the email frequency settings as low as you prefer, set who can send you invitations, etc. and enjoy your “peace and quiet.”
5. Keep it safe
   You can lower the chances of someone accessing your professional information by enabling two-step verification on LinkedIn through the Privacy & Setting > Account tab. Click on the Manage Security Settings link and check the box “A secure connection will be used when you are browsing LinkedIn.” Note, however that Some LinkedIn applications will not be available when you select this option.