Avoiding LinkedIn Certain “No Nos”

LinkedIn is an amazing social media tool that can be extremely effective for businesses. However, just like it is for all social  media channels, there are certain rules and guidelines that you have a responsibility to follow. On the flip side, there are some things that you should not do when interacting on LinkedIn.

The things that you shouldn’t do

It is important to understand what is off limits for you just as much as you need to understand what you should be doing with LinkedIn for maximum results for your business. First and foremost, you must keep in mind that LinkedIn should only be used for professional purposes. LinkedIn has been used for professional purposes (exclusively) since the beginning. It will never be anything else. Of course, that is a really good thing. There are so many social media websites that people use for personal communications and interactions. There are very few reputable, credible social media channels for professionals. LinkedIn is the “cream of the crop.” If you are going to make full use of LinkedIn, you will want to take advantage of its networking features. Additionally, you will want to avoid doing certain things that may work against your business.

• Don’t underuse your brand marketing: It is very important that your marketing language (when describing your brand) is everything that it needs to be. It is important to remember that there is a lot that you can do to promote your brand and your offerings. Make sure that you take full advantage of that and do whatever you can to get people (and businesses) to notice what you are doing. That way, you will be successful at forming meaningful, long-lasting relationships.

• Face the issues that your marketing presents head-on: When it comes to marketing your brand and your offerings, whether you happen to be a professional marketer or a business owner who happens to be marketing your brand, it is important to stand up to the challenges and resolve whichever issues come up. You will grow from the experience and you will be closer to your brand. The harder you work at that, the better your results will be.

• Don’t borrow other people’s content automatically: Undoubtedly, other people have a great deal to say when it comes to their areas of expertise. However, if you wish to take advantage of what they are sharing, which is perfectly acceptable, don’t automate that. Pick and choose personally. Doing otherwise is inappropriate. Automating other people’s content also creates a bottleneck in many instances. It is one thing to automate your own content. It is another thing entirely to do it with anyone else’s content.

• Don’t get involved in a spitting war: The truth is that there is a huge amount of content that is available to you online. However, that doesn’t mean that you need to (or are even able) to take advantage of all of it. Of course, not all content holds value for all people. Each person takes what they need for their particular purposes. Of course, along with that is the fact that there is also a great deal of competition among professionals. It is important to remember that everything that you post and everything that you share is visible to other people online. With that in mind, it is critical that you make sure to keep everything appropriate.

• Don’t use an inappropriate photo or no photo at all: When it comes to your social media profiles in general and to your LinkedIn profile in particular, your photo is very important. It provides a bridge to your relationships with other people and if you either display an inappropriate photo (not professional enough, too casual, etc) or no photo at all, you will lose the opportunity for other people to have a desire to interact with you.

Conclusion

There is no doubt that LinkedIn is an excellent, highly effective social media tool that helps a very large number of professionals to bring their businesses to the next level. However, it is also important to remember that there is a way to behave when you are interacting on LinkedIn and a way that you should not behave. Your LinkedIn behavior includes what you write and the images that you provide. There are many more things that you can  do than that you cannot do. If you follow the rules and the guidelines, you will be fine and LinkedIn will be tremendously beneficial to your business and it will make a large contribution to your ever-growing professional success.

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