Top 5 LinkedIn Lessons from Lewis Howes, author of LinkedWorking
May 20, 2009 :: Steve FisherA few weeks ago I was at SOBCon and one of the people I met was Lewis Howes. He was an arena football player, he is also an inventor and a sports networker. During some down time from recovering from an injury, he created a sports professionals group on LinkedIn and over time became a master of the platform. He, along with co-author Frank Agin, have written a great book on getting the most out of LinkedIn called LinkedWorking.
In it, he and Frank talk about the common sense things we do when we meet people and follow up with them in our human networks (i.e. church, community groups) but we usually fail to do when we get a business card and say “let’s keep in touch”.
LinkedIn by its design is for business professionals to keep in touch and as a side benefit keep our contact information up to date for others to use in their address book or recruiters to reach out with opportunities.
I read the book on the flight back from Chicago to Washington, DC after the conference and it was a clean and easy read with some great tips that every person using LinkedIn should have on their process list.
Here are the top five lessons that I took away from Lewis’ teaching:
1.) After you are done adding their information to your address book, add them immediately to Linkedin
2.) When you reach out to someone, personalize your request so they know who it is and know that you took the time to ask for them to add you to their network
3.) Use “Answers” to build a reputation on LinkedIn and answer at least three questions a week in the area you want to be know as a through leader
4.) Spend at least 30 minutes a day, preferably twice a day, either in the morning, evening or both
5.) Recommend others as part of the “Good Karma” rule. If you give recommendations you will be surprised how many people reciprocate
If you haven’t had time to dive into LinkedIn or are an old pro, this book is fantastic and you will take at least one thing from it. (I did-see #2)
You can find Lewis and Frank on LinkedIn and tell them that you read this review and want to connect with them. I am sure they will be happy to meet new fans.
Comments are moderated and will appear shortly. See terms.
