Elizabeth Openshaw 
It's good to talk - and it's even better to fully connect
We humans thrive on contact with others and communication is key to this. That can be in the form of direct conversations, group discussions, or Zoom meetings. Transferring ideas, resolving problems collectively, or just keeping in touch via a quick catch up are all so important, in the worlds of both work and play.
A LinkedIn network provides an easy tool to do this with like-minded professionals. They'll be able to inform you about potential job interests and direct clients to you. But it works the other way round as well. People want to check you out and see what you can do for them or vice versa. You can see who's looking at your profile, but how do you make sure these turn into useful and meaningful contacts that can help with your next role or your networking efforts?
The UK alone has roughly 29 million members on LinkedIn. That's a lot of potential. But staggeringly, members across the world total 756 million, with the US topping the list with 171 million. Wow!
Statistics from Finances Online show that 73% of survey participants in a LinkedIn 2020 report said they had been hired in the past due to someone they knew making an introduction or connection. And a LinkedIn Survey from 2021 stated that 85% of job vacancies are filled via networking. So expanding and leveraging your network can have a really big impact on how your career pans out.
Getting started
Take a look at TopCV's Creating a LinkedIn profile on how to set up your page. Once you have that up and running, it's time to connect. Reach out to colleagues, uni mates, school friends and so on. It might take a while to trawl through the ever-expanding lists that pop up, but it will be worth it. You could come across someone you haven't seen for years who has an interesting job that's worth following up on. It's all about being proactive.
Expand your LinkedIn network
If you're relatively new to LinkedIn and want to make the LinkedIn network work for you whilst increasing your LinkedIn views, it is vital to be as active as possible in order to start creating those all important LinkedIn contacts. Replying to updates, searching and connecting with like-minded people, congratulating a LinkedIn contact on a new role, and setting up your own posts for all to see, are all valid ways in which you can extend your LinkedIn contact list.
On your Account settings, there is a Visibility tab where you can choose who you want to view your page – it can be open to all LinkedIn users or on a more private mode. It's up to you. There's also the option to receive a fuller view of those who have viewed your page by becoming a Premium member, as this unlocks certain privileges. If you're not convinced, you can try it out for free for a month and see if it's worth signing up to.
Create meaningful contacts
Getting more connections on LinkedIn that actually mean something will work in your favour, as it should have a further impact on your LinkedIn views. There is no point in connecting with people who have no relevant interests, as your feed will become too unwieldy and out of control. Much better to start with a smaller, more manageable network of contacts which can grow organically.
When one of your contacts expands their network, you can piggyback onto that and get an insight into those connections, to suss out whether any of them are of use. So if you check in a few times a day to see if anything new is in your inbox, you can act swiftly to make changes.
And it's all about the endorphins, isn't it? That little thrill of pleasure you get from seeing that someone has liked your post, commented on it, or, better still, has reached out to connect with you.
Draw them in!
You can see who has viewed your LinkedIn profile from notifications on your feed. So when spotting a potential client or job opportunity from someone viewing your profile, there's no harm in connecting directly with that person and getting some feedback to identify why they looked at your page. Is there anything you can help them with? It pays to offer your services in a professional way if appropriate.
For any connections outside of your network, you can get noticed by engaging with and commenting on their posts. Offering a freebie on your feed is sure to bring in the contacts! We know there's no such thing as a free lunch, but offering up a service that doesn't take up too much of your time will certainly score you brownie points and is well worth considering.
Get into the practice of inviting people to connect with you. Yes, trawl through that list but keep it tight-knit and manageable. The more you connect, the more your LinkedIn network will grow and then the potential is limitless.
Remember – be smart, be courteous, be proactive.
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