5 Ways to Grow Your USANA Network Through LinkedIn

USANA LinkedIn Featured

Welcome to the latest social media tip from What’s Up, USANA? This time we’ll focus on LinkedIn; not merely on the social media network itself, but more on how to bolster your personal and professional network and better leverage the platform for success in your daily USANA business-building activities.

If you’re not familiar with LinkedIn, take a few moments to get acquainted with the basics in this informative What’s Up, USANA? post – The Power of LinkedIn.

USANA LinkedIn 03.11.13

5 ways to maximize your LinkedIn efforts.

With so many social media platforms (like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn, for example) it’s not always easy to find the time or even the desire to keep them all up to date. However, with LinkedIn, your audience is generally more mature, authentic and participates with a greater focus and intent. By its nature, LinkedIn brings together professionals seeking opportunity for advancement. What better platform could you ask for when networking and sharing a fantastic business opportunity?

With that in mind, it’s important to focus on the right kinds of activities that will yield the best results. Here are five strategies and activities you can focus on to build and grow your network through LinkedIn.

1. Frequent and Consistent Updates

Unlike Facebook and Twitter where users are constantly updating their networks on even the most mundane aspects of their day-to-day activities, LinkedIn users tend to update their profiles less frequently and rarely share updates not related to profile changes.

If you log into LinkedIn, you’ll probably notice who shows up in your feed — it’s most likely the same small group of people who share updates frequently. Active LinkedIn users will show up more frequently in your home feed. These individuals are getting more visibility because they are more active.

You have the same opportunity to become more visible through a commitment to frequent and consistent activity. This is a good opportunity for you to share links, quotes, information, thoughts and other newsworthy items with your network and build your reputation as a thought leader and influential entrepreneur.

Sure, it takes a little bit of time, organization and dedication, but the payoff from staying present can be significant in developing new introductions, relationships and business opportunities. Below is a sample of how updates display in a user’s home newsfeed.

LinkedIn

Here are some suggestions to boost your activity on LinkedIn:

  • Update your status every day — up to three times per day.
  • Share updates from other users. You can share company updates from the USANA Health Sciences LinkedIn profile, your connections or even secondary connections.
  • Comment on other users’ updates to increase visibility
  • Participate in discussions in LinkedIn Groups and become a thought leader by answering questions on “LinkedIn Answers” two or three times a week.

2. Consistently Create New Connections

Always be on the lookout for new connections and opportunities. This will come naturally through your participation in consistent updates (mentioned above) but there are other tools and features LinkedIn offers to help things along.

LinkedIn offers a “People You May Know” feature that gives you potential connections in your targeted areas. Take a few minutes every week to review LinkedIn’s suggestions and don’t be afraid to reach out to potential new connections who might be looking for an opportunity to engage with an entrepreneur like you.

You can also find connections to old classmates through the “Alumni” search feature.

3. Actively Participate in Groups

There’s a LinkedIn group out there for just about any area of interest. But simply joining a group isn’t enough; you need to join a group and actively participate in the latest conversations and add value as a thought leader on the discussed topic.

Groups are fantastic for getting advice, information and generating interesting discussions on a variety of topics. Participating actively in these conversations is another opportunity for you to shine and attract new connections that could very well end up as prospects as you build your business.

One not of caution: Be sure not to commit to too many groups on LinkedIn. Pick a handful of groups (four of five) that interest you and make sense for you to be involved in. Any more than that and you’ll find yourself struggling to keep up with all the latest conversations.

This is a sample (below) of a “groups you may like” recommendation page for my user account. LinkedIn uses my connections, interests and previous positions to determine potential fits for my interests (click for larger image). You can also click here for a list of USANA-related groups already established.

LinkedIn 2

4. Consistent Activity at Consistent Times

Your LinkedIn activities and participation should center on the time of day that LinkedIn sees the most traffic. Studies show that LinkedIn members are usually more active during the afternoon. Users also use the mobile site more often during the evening. Plan accordingly.

However, these times aren’t necessarily the standard you should follow. I recommend mixing up your strategy by posting updates, sharing links and quotes and participating in discussions at different times of day and recording your results over the course of several weeks. After some time, you’ll be able to get a feel for what works at what time and continue your activities with that information in mind.

Your connections will come to rely on your updates and new information as it becomes a consistent part of their daily feed.

5. Share What’s Important to You

More than anything else, what you share on LinkedIn will define others’ perception of you. Share content that is relevant to both yourself and your connections and you’ll attract the right audience.

The content you create and share on LinkedIn can become a resource to your connections and can open up new channels of communication with potential prospects and others looking for a good opportunity.

There is a lot of great USANA content out there that you can share through LinkedIn — from the latest posts on What’s Up, USANA? to company updates and openings on our LinkedIn network, there is plenty out there that you can share to establish the credibility of the USANA business opportunity while entertaining your audience.

Get Started Today!

Update your LinkedIn profile (or create one if you haven’t already done so) and get to creating new and exciting connections, participate in informative conversations and establish yourself as a thought leader. If you have any other items to add to the suggestions above, feel free to leave comments below.

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2 replies
  1. Tim Haran
    Tim Haran says:

    Excellent tips, Boyd. I’ve been using LinkedIn more lately and I really like many of the features it offers. In particular, I’ve learned quite a bit and made some valuable connections by participating in various groups.

    Reply

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