I’m crazy about LinkedIn, but I have one major complaint. (I have small complaints, also: LinkedIn’s Industry listing is horrendous and incomplete, there are bugs in the site, and lately it’s gotten harder and harder to customize your invitations before you send them.) Here’s my number one gripe for LinkedIn: the site has huge numbers of wonderful features, and it does a godawful job of telling users how to use them. I mean, it’s really pathetic. People ask me elementary LinkedIn ‘how-to’ questions all day long, and I wonder “Why isn’t LinkedIn answering these questions on its own dang site, especially since the number-one complaint I hear from users is that LinkedIn isn’t as intuitive to use as it might be?”
If you misuse LinkedIn, like almost any tool, it can hurt you. Here are five of the gnarliest things I’ve seen people do on LinkedIn, with an explanation for why each of these gaffes was an unfortunate move on the would-be networker’s part.
The “I Don’t Know You, But You Should Help Me Anyway” Appeal
Some people use LinkedIn like their own private rolodex. They spot a LinkedIn user’s profile and decide to call that person on the phone and say “So, could you spend a few minutes talking with me about your company?” or “Hey, would it be okay if I sent you my resume?” Look, a guy drives to my house in a truck once a year and drops off a phone book (I don’t need it, but I still get it). When I get the new phone book dropped on my porch, I don’t pick it up and start looking for people to call, just because they’re listed in the book. I could call a stranger and say “Hi, you don’t know me, but I found your number in the phone book and I thought I’d ask if you might be able to lend me twenty dollars.” That would be rude. It’s no different on LinkedIn. If people don’t know you and you don’t have something appealing and them-focused to offer, don’t call them. Don’t write to them.
What to do instead: When you’d like to reach out to someone on LinkedIn you don’t already know, ask “What’s in it for them?” If you don’t have an answer, think some more. If you’re job-hunting and looking for ‘ins,’ you may not come up with a great answer. That’s a huge clue from the universe that there are better ways to network in a job search than to hit unsuspecting LinkedIn users with unexpected and generally unwelcome “help me!” overtures.
The Spam Marketing Blast
I have a lot of LinkedIn contacts, because I write about LinkedIn and business networking. About once a week I get a pure marketing blast in my LinkedIn inbox. There’s no pretense at anything other than pushing a product or service in these messages. They say “The Can’t-Miss Business-Building Webinar of the Year!!!” or something similar. Here’s how I respond to these things: I disconnect myself from the sender. I prune the rosebush of my first-degree connections, you might say. It only takes a few clicks to get a LinkedIn spammer out of your life.
What to do instead: if you’re promoting a product or service, create a Facebook page. Buy a LinkedIn ad. Use your friends as referral sources. Read a book on marketing. There are eight million ways to build your business without spamming your LinkedIn contacts. That’s not what they wanted or expected when they signed up to join your network.
The Group Domination Play
LinkedIn Groups are fun. There are over half a million Groups on LinkedIn, and new ones are forming all the time. When you join a group, it’s fun to check out the member discussion and to chime in. Group members don’t take as kindly to folks who join a LinkedIn group and take over the conversation. That’s no more appropriate on LinkedIn than it would be if you went to a cocktail party (if people still hosted cocktail parties) and dominated the conversation there. Give and take is a big part of networking. Everyone has information they’d like other people to have. We have to wait for our openings to convey a bit of that information, only as much as appropriate for the setting. LinkedIn is a website that relies on its users’ good training as children. If you haven’t learned as much as you’d like about interpersonal communications, tread lightly on LinkedIn. If you behave like a bull in a LinkedIn china shop, you’ll hurt your credibility and your relationships.
What to do instead: When you join a new LinkedIn group (or Facebook group, or Yahoo!group), be patient. Watch the conversation. See how people interact with one another in the group. When it feels right, introduce yourself to the group, and don’t make your intro a sales pitch.
The Cheesy-Sales-y Profile
One of the coolest parts of using LinkedIn is the flexibility the site gives you in branding yourself there. You’ve got lots of latitude as you compose your LinkedIn profile, from the headline at the top of it to the longer Summary that tells your story. You’re a person, so brand yourself as a person on Linkedin — not as a snake-oil salesman. A headline like “Greatest marketer in Cleveland” makes you look unprofessional and grovelly. Hiring managers, headhunters and prospective clients trolling LinkedIn are interested in what you can do for them — not what you think of yourself. Keep your profile simple and human. There are no extra points awarded for being the biggest self-promoter on the site, or the planet.
What to do instead: Tell your story in your LinkedIn profile. What kind of marketer are you — how did you get into marketing, and why do you love it? That’s harder work than coming up with a cheesy promotional tagline, but it speaks to your depth as a person. Try it!
The Random Endorsement Request
I like to endorse people on LinkedIn. I have fun late at night if I can’t sleep, zooming around LinkedIn endorsing old colleagues of mine. They’re not expecting the endorsement from me (since it’s been up to 25 years since we worked together) and my endorsement hitting their inbox may be a nice surprise. I don’t mind getting requests to endorse people on LinkedIn, but I expect them to come from people I actually worked with. If you meet someone at a networking event and the two of you agree to connect on LinkedIn, that is not the person who should be recommending you. What is he going to say: “I met this guy at a networking event and we talked about the Yankees for awhile, and then he asked me to endorse him.?” You have colleagues and classmates and people who know you well. Get those people to endorse you.
Have fun on LinkedIn, and don’t forget that not all reputations are good reputations. Maybe all PR is good PR in the newspapers, but if people perceive you as a badly-brought-up and me-first-y networker, don’t expect your job hunt or your business to thrive. It’s easy enough to become a thoughtful networker who focuses on other people’s needs. It just takes a little reflection and the always-important pause before hitting the SEND key.