Are you afraid of LinkedIn?

Why is it that people are much more comfortable spending time on Facebook rather than LinkedIn when they would actually get better results from using LinkedIn?

There are 6 Common Reasons People have a LinkedIn Phobia:

1. They don’t have an impressive LinkedIn profile

LinkedIn more so than Facebook allows people to compare you against your competition. And for many people this is not in their favor.

If you have LinkedIn Profile Envy when you visit a competitor’s profile, then do something about it. Step up your game and update your profile.

2. They don’t know what to post

LinkedIn, just like Facebook offers you an opportunity to post updates. You should be posting at least once per day on LinkedIn. I post 5-6 updates on LinkedIn 7 days a week.

3. They don’t have many LinkedIn endorsements

LinkedIn offers an easy way for people to endorse you based on your skills. This is a bit like a popularity contest. If people visit your LinkedIn profile and see you don’t have many endorsements, they will question your credibility.

4. They don’t have many LinkedIn recommendations

Testimonials are a powerful form of social proof. When someone reads a testimonial about you, it establishes credibility and builds trust and rapport.

LinkedIn offers a way for people to give you testimonials. It is called recommendations. In fact, there is an easy way for you to request recommendations.

5. They don’t know who to contact on LinkedIn

One of the reasons people don’t get results on LinkedIn is that they have no plan to contact people.

LinkedIn, like any social media site, works best when you reach out one-on-one and make contact with people. You need a strategy to contact people and schedule appointments to talk to them.

6. They don’t know what to say

Even if they identify someone to contact, they don’t know what to say.

And if you don’t know what to say, you aren’t going to make contact.

So what’s a person to do?

I would recommend just getting on LinkedIn with a goal of contacting 3 people per day.

Then, work through the list above to make improvements.

Rick Cooper
Online Marketing and Social Media Trainer