We’ve been talking about social media nightmares this month since Halloween is coming up. We’ve hit on Facebook and Instagram so far and today we will be discussing LinkedIn. Here are some LinkedIn nightmares to avoid.

 

Treating Your Profile Like It’s a Resume

Stop doing this. Your profile is not a resume. You can add your resume to the media section. However, you can’t run your profile as if the whole thing is a resume. It is so much more than that.

 

Making a Sales Pitch as Soon as You Connect with People

 

Your objective should always be what’s in it for them. It’s never about what’s in it for you yourself. That said, as soon as you get connected to someone you don’t want to immediately start selling them something. It’s just tacky. People tend to forget the social part of social media. When you meet someone at a networking event, lunch and learn, or chamber of commerce event you wouldn’t walk up to them, throw 20 business cards in their face and yell buy this from me over and over. When you connect with someone online and you start constantly sending messages about purchasing that’s basically what you’re doing. Please don’t do that. 

 

Connecting with Everyone

You do need to be a little bit discerning versus connecting with no one. You do have to have connections. Ideally, you want at least 250 connections but pay attention to the people who are asking you to connect. If someone is nowhere near your area or someone you’ve never heard of, do your research and make sure they’re not spammy. Check out their profile. If there’s no picture, that is definitely a red flag. If they don’t have any information or experience, that’s also a red flag. If they’re from overseas that doesn’t mean they are automatically spam but it’s definitely worth a second look. There are also some industries and professions that are prone to spamming so you just need to be aware of that. 

 

Not Being Active

 

Not being active includes not posting and not engaging after you post. LinkedIn has around 722 million users and only around 3 million of those users are monthly contributors. Those numbers are tremendous. You have this huge audience and less than a percentage regularly post so you can stand out immediately just by posting. You don’t have to post a ton of stuff. Like other people’s posts and other groups. Join discussions. Ask questions. That’s what I mean by engaging. Use the rule of 3. Connect with 3 people, make 3 comments, and post 3 posts a week. This will keep you active. 

 

Sending Emails Without Consent

This is a huge no-no. There is an area where you download your connections file on LinkedIn and it contains the email they used when they signed up for LinkedIn. This gives you their direct email instead of just their InMail. You should not solicit anyone, add them to your newsletter, or add them to your distribution list without their express consent. Don’t do it. It’s super spammy and unprofessional.

 

Profile Errors

This one has many parts. Some of the worst profile errors include:

1. No headshot
2. Cover art that isn’t working for you
3. Bad headline
4. Bad summary
5. Not listing enough details and experience
6. Not asking for recommendations
7. Not listing volunteer experience

 

Don’t Let These Nightmares Happen To You

 

Don’t make these mistakes. You can prevent these social media nightmares and keep your LinkedIn working for you.