by Brand Strategist & guest writer Wendy Pavey
In the first two articles in this series, I advocated publishing on LinkedIn as a powerful way to increase your visibility and influence recruiters, and I provided a three-step process to develop your first article.
Here’s my process for closing the circle from publishing to job offer.
We’ll assume that you have followed the advice in the previous articles and:
- developed a personal brand that’s built around your ability to create value for an employer (and we’ll also assume that your LinkedIn profile supports this branding)
- written an article that is aligned with this brand value
- had your article edited, or at least proofread.
1) Publish your article. You’ll find a detailed How To here.
2) Identify the people you want to connect to on LinkedIn – for example: people who are employed at a company you’d like to work for, or influencers in your profession, industry or local area.
Send them a connection request, mentioning your article. For example: “Dear Fred, I thought you might be interested in my article about [provide a short overview]. I’d welcome your opinion. Regards, Joe Brown”. (Remember connection requests are limited to 300 characters, including spaces.)
If you are already connected to some of these people, send them a message mentioning your article and asking for their feedback.
Your article will create a strong and positive first impression. Even if people don’t read it, they’ll see you as a person with the confidence to communicate your knowledge and insight.
3) Once you’re connected to key people of interest, use the connection with intelligence and respect.
Send them a message thanking them for connecting. Then look to build on the relationship by:
- providing some feedback about the response to your article. For example “My recent article got a number of comments endorsing my suggestions. I’m interested in hearing your opinion, if you have time for a quick telephone call?”
- asking for advice. For example “I’m writing a follow-up article and would like your opinion on the content, if you have time for a quick telephone call?”
- involving them. For example “I’d like to interview you for my next article, if you would like to be involved?”
Of course, you can always go straight to the point, which is to say you’re interested in opportunities at their company and ask them for their advice.
I know many of you will prefer to establish a relationship with someone, before you ask for advice. That’s fine, but do make sure you ask.
From unknown to known
Now, through your articles, you have powerfully presented yourself to your target audience as a confident and insightful leader. Instead of being unknown, you have made yourself known, in a thoroughly professional, appropriate and valuable way.
I have repeatedly seen this type of connection lead directly to interviews, introductions, referrals, consulting roles and job offers.
Being known gives you a huge advantage over your competitors in the job market. Arete Executive Managing Partner Richard Triggs says that the vast majority of executive roles – as many as 90% or more – are filled through networks.
Publishing on LinkedIn lets you expand your network to include the right people for your next career move.
- Promote your post
- a) Ask your friends and warm professional contacts to Like your article, to make a Comment and to Share it with their connections.
This is important because around 50,000 articles are published every day on LinkedIn’s Pulse news feed.
Your article will appear in the news feed on the homepage of all your connections. (Click on the flag symbol in the top right of your homepage and you’ll see a list of articles published by your connections). But with new content pushing yours further down the list every minute, you need to maximise its visibility with Likes, Shares and Comments. Every time your article gets liked, shared or commented on by one of your connections, it will make a fresh appearance in their news feed.
- b) Post a reference to your article to all the relevant Groups you belong to. For example “I’ve just posted this article about [provide some detail] and would welcome feedback from other group members.”
- c) If your article receives a Like, Share or Comment from someone you’re not connected to, make sure you send a connection request, with a message thanking them for their response.
Should you get a negative comment, don’t engage in a slanging match. Ignore it or respond calmly and with good humour.
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Stay tuned for details on my upcoming webinar and workshop for Arete Executive clients on “Publishing on LinkedIn for the Executive Job Seeker”. You can also email [email protected] to register your interest.
* Wendy Pavey is a leading personal brand strategist who works with executives to build them a compelling digital profile to help achieve their career goals. She partners with Arete Executive to co-deliver career coaching for executives seeking a new role.