What happens when life gets in the way and you don’t have time to manage your online presence?
Easy enough to answer with LinkedIn – the momentum you’ve built keeps things in motion.
Let’s have a look…
Egads – what happened
This post came about when I realized that it’s been nearly a week since I dropped an article in here. The prime reason for that was a very nice holiday, but it got me thinking. I’m pretty sure my readers will be looking for something – and hopefully waiting patiently, but what happens on LinkedIn?
Momentum
One of my firm recommendations is that you establish a personal brand – the thing that sets you apart.
Next, you’re connecting to people you know and trust.
With just these two steps, things will continue if life causes you to back away from LinkedIn for a bit. Maybe it’s a project, maybe it’s a personal situation – no matter – you just don’t have the time to get to it as often as you’d like.
Getting found
Here’s the realization for you – just because you don’t have the time, doesn’t mean that other people are slowing down. In fact, with LinkedIn growing as fast as it is, it’s likely that more people in your network are using LinkedIn today than yesterday.
But that’s ok – with your profile that talks about all the great positions you’ve had, the recommendations you’ve received, and the personal brand you’ve established, people will be finding you. And when they’ve found you, they’re likely to reach out – because you’ve taken the time to review your profile already, right?
Growing your network
Even without being proactive, you’ll get requests to connect – and that’s great.
You’ll accept the requests from the people you know and trust – and drop them a note thanking them for reaching out.
For those that are really looking to make an introduction, you might reply back asking to get together for coffee or something – when your schedule permits.
Searching when you need to
And lastly – even though you’re busy, you know to come back to LinkedIn when you’ve got to gather some intelligence.
Meeting a prospective client? Check them on LinkedIn.
Researching a company? Check them on LinkedIn.
Receive a potentially interesting cold call? Check them on LinkedIn.
(You get the pattern, right? You’re not too busy to use the system to check into people and organizations…)
System is there when you need it
And when your schedule permits, you’ll step right back into a regular pattern on LinkedIn.
And it’ll still be there for you…
To your continued success,
steve
—
Steven Tylock
http://www.linkedinpersonaltrainer.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/stevetylock