Why You Should Stop Trying to Build Your LinkedIn Network
Wait a second. Shouldn't you be aiming to grow your LinkedIn network bigger than ever before? Growth is the latest buzzword - more, MORE, **MORE** 🤪
In our dizzying pursuit of growth, we often go about adding to our LinkedIn followings and networks without a focus on the WHO.
Have you ever stopped to think about the actual real-life human beings in your network?
Every avatar represents an individual, a person, someone with dreams, goals and aspirations.
Does that person belong in your network?
Are you wasting your time (and their time!) by luring them to follow you when they are NOT a good fit for your niche or your business? Be honest.
In this episode of Mondays with Mindi, we're going to get into how this concept is completely ƧႧЯAWﻼƆA𐐒 and the one strategy that will help you attract what you actually want... which is not MORE, but those "perfect fit" people where it's a win-win connection.
Our obsession with social growth
It’s all too easy to focus solely on GROWTH… we want MORE leads, a BIGGER business, an INCREASE in revenue. As business leaders, it’s never enough to settle for what we currently have.
All the social media experts are telling you to “get active on every channel” and “grow, grow, grow your following” which will automatically lead to business growth.
The problem happens when we start focusing on the numbers and not the people those numbers represent.
Having a bigger network on LinkedIn will not necessarily help your business grow, and many of the LinkedIn experts don’t want to tell you that because it goes against the industry norm and is quite counterintuitive.
It’s easy to sell a service that says “I will grow your following by X percent in 30 days” but many of us scratch our heads wondering why that sales pitch doesn’t sit well with us.
And, you’re right. It’s easy to grow a following with “anyone and everyone” but are these people going to turn into good buyers for you.
So, what can happen if you focus on building your network in the wrong way?
You could end up with a huge network that doesn’t pay attention to your content or care about what you offer
You could have a lot of people engaging with your content, but you’re wondering why they are not buying from you
Maybe you’ll end up purging your LinkedIn network because you’re pretty sick and tired of all the irrelevant people in your network
Then, you feel like you’re starting from nearly ground zero, so what was the point? Sunk costs?
...but not to worry, we’re going to discuss a few important mindset shifts that are going to have a major impact on how you view your network and what it means to get strategic.
Building your network with the right mindset ensures you show up to LinkedIn ready to do good business with good people - that’s really what it’s all about here.
Adding MORE people at the top of the funnel
One mistake that too many of us make is paying attention to the common advice that all we need to do is just get more people at the top of the funnel and you’ll automatically increase sales.
When applied to a social following, like LinkedIn, we start focusing on that ONE metric and not paying attention to other metrics that matter more when it comes to business growth.
Yes, you do need ENOUGH of the right people to be able to sustain your business, but what’s the point of having people in your network who will never buy from you - no matter how clever your content is, whether you’re gaming the LinkedIn algorithm, or even so gutsy as to leverage a 3rd party app to start viewing profiles to grow your LinkedIn on autopilot. (That’s a very bad idea by the way!)
Let me tell you a story of one of my LinkedIn for Business students who decided “enough was enough” when it came to his LinkedIn network.
He’s a seasoned professional with a very large network of great people, but he realized not all of them wanted to do business with him. He got sick and tired of logging into his LinkedIn newsfeed and seeing all of these irrelevant posts in his feed.
When we talked about the importance of auditing your current LinkedIn connections, he was all in! Once he got started, there was no stopping him until he had removed 1,600+ connections in the span of a few weeks.
And, could you believe it? Right after he finished his purge, he realized that his network was now brimming with people talking about things he was interested in - people whom he thought were no longer around because he hadn’t been seeing their posts in his news feed - now his LinkedIn news feed was all people he actually wanted to do business with.
Just like that, he had a strategic network and could now begin focusing on growing it the right way instead of “just saying yes” to everyone who sent him a connection invitation.
With a clean slate, he could engage in ways that felt natural to him and actually leverage and stay on top of what his network was talking about.
For him, it’s not about being bigger, it’s about having a better network more aligned with his business goals, collaboration, and genuine connection with his network.
LinkedIn is the place where professionals, like you and me, come to network with each other, explore doing good business with other good people, and focus on creating a better workplace and environment for ourselves and others.
This is how I approach LinkedIn - and how I teach and coach my program members to see the platform.
This is LinkedIn. It’s special.
Does network size matter?
So if we’re not trying to BUILD our network as fast as possible, what should be doing instead?
Do numbers not matter? Is there something else that is actually more important to pay attention to?
Numbers do matter. But, it’s about being selective when building your network.
Sometimes, you need to purge it to get a clean slate if you’ve clogged it with people who are no longer relevant.
Sometimes, it’s a strategic focus on adding to your network each and every week with a blend of organic serendipity (you see someone interesting on LinkedIn in a comment stream or someone introduces you) AND a focus on who your target audience is right now… those people you can inspire, help, be a resource to, and connect with professionally.
Building your network the right way
Let’s talk about how I approach LinkedIn and what has worked really well for many of my one-on-one clients and students -- activities that actually lead to business growth, not just a bigger network.
Are you curious?
#1 - Show up every day on LinkedIn ready to connect.
This is a mindset that you’re here to do good business. You’re looking for opportunities to give and share your expertise and experiences.
You always show up, and you’re consistent with your engagement.
This in itself opens dozens of doors each month for you to explore and get connected.
#2 - You’re crystal clear on your target audience.
Your audience is not everyone and anyone. It’s critical to understand who your audience is and who they are not.
Your goal is to attract the people who would be a fit for you, and to repel everybody else.
A small, engaged audience who resonates and finds value in your perspective, your services, and your offerings is better than a bigger, general audience who could care less.
#3 - Your LinkedIn profile is dialed in.
Your LinkedIn profile is like a mini-website for you, and many times people will look you up here first before they even realize you do have a website.
Optimize your profile for business, not just to look pretty or snazzy. Your profile sets the stage for every interaction you’re going to have with professionals and prospects on LinkedIn.
#4 - You understand exactly how to reach out on LinkedIn.
Even if you show up daily, know your target audience, and have your profile dialed in -- you need to understand how to reach out to your people on LinkedIn.
Too many of us just start using a script or template we found from a LinkedIn expert, and we wonder why it’s not working for us.
There’s an art and science behind how to reach out effectively on LinkedIn.
Remember: If you’re new to using LinkedIn or trying to rethink your approach, it all starts with learning the basics, and they don’t take a rocket scientist's brain to learn.
Focus on your mindset first. Show up to LinkedIn each weekday. Pay attention to your feed. Watch people. Observe. You’ll know when you’re ready to take that next step.
To build on what we discussed today, I am going to be launching a program called The LinkedIn Accelerator for those who want to optimize their LinkedIn profile and start building a strategic network!
It’s coming from the place of popular demand because SO many of you have been asking for a simple getting started (or rebooted) plan for LinkedIn! If you want to be the first to know, SAVE YOUR SPOT HERE.
