500+ Connections on LinkedIn but are you really connected? Being authentic and connecting in a virtual world.

It’s July of 2020. The year of “who would have thought….” Who would have thought the world would shut down because of a deadly virus? Who would have thought businesses would close their offices and we would spend months working remotely? Yet that’s exactly where we are. And it looks like we’re going to stay here.

After a few months, most of the day-to-day challenges of working remotely have been met.  Zoom has replaced in-person meetings (we all know the feeling of Zoom fatigue) and LinkedIn engagement has surged.

As we work to maintain and nurture our close business relationships, we should give the same attention to our connections on LinkedIn.  In my marketing training and coaching of lawyers, I’m always emphasizing the value of LinkedIn.  Contacts are professionals and colleagues who were significant enough to connect with at some point. Now more than ever, it’s important to engage with them online.   It’s essential to show up, in other words.

So, what can you do?

1.  Be consistently present on LinkedIn.

You need to regularly check your newsfeed.  It includes posts by your connections, your groups and the businesses you follow.  Not only is it a great way to stay informed, but there is some great content out there.

2.  Check your notifications!

LinkedIn will let you know about new posts by your connections, as well as job anniversaries, job changes, birthdays, and much more.  Use the notifications feature to keep up with your connections and reach out to them when they show up in your daily notifications. 

3.  Read and respond.

If you like a post in your newsfeed, don’t just like it -- comment on it. Better yet, if it’s that good, share it with others to increase the post’s reach.  

4.  Engage with your connections.

Even if you consistently review your newsfeed, check notifications and respond to them, and you’re posting and sharing content, odds are you still are not engaging with many of your 500+ connections.  Take a few minutes to review your connections (you can even sort them) and then list the people you want to reach out to.  You can either use LinkedIn’s message feature or email them directly. The important thing is to connect.  What is going on in their world? How has business changed? Just check in and be authentic in your outreach.

Living and working in a virtual world has never been as important as it is today. It will probably continue to be a critical part of your business development and networking for the foreseeable future.  Now is the time to leverage the connections you have created and accumulated on LinkedIn.  If they were just “connections” before, work on building a deeper relationship. Find the right reason to reconnect with them and do it. Reach out – it will pay off.

Oh, and if I’m one of your connections, I can’t wait to hear from you!