LinkedIn Response, When Someone Tells You What You Should and Should Not Post…
First of all… curious who made you the arbiter of what does and does not belong on LinkedIn?
Second… LinkedIn is a “social” network, and a place for conversation that the person posting wishes to foster. I am the person, and this is the conversation I wish to foster.
Third… this is incredibly relevant to business relationships. I want people I do business with to know how I feel about a myriad of topics… that sharing, engagement and conversation is what builds relationships and relationships are at the heart of my business, and hopefully yours too.
Fourth… for the most part there is no longer a line between personal and business the way there was in the past. Both are very much intertwined for many reasons. People want to know who you are, what you’re about, how to connect with you in a more personal fashion. Sharing content about your life, as little or as much as works for you, will empower that to happen.
Fifth… I want to reach as many people as possible with this message therefore I post to to every network where I have followers. Point made… it reached you, for better or worse.
Sixth and finally… my blog, TedRubin.com, is called “Straight Talk” because I say what I mean and mean what I say, and speak from my heart. As Dr. Seuss so aptly stated (or so we believe), and a quote I have repeated to my daughters over and over again…
“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.”
Also a little advice for people here using LinkedIn to connect, more of a very strong suggestion… stop sending out invites without a personalized note, and best if that note offers a reason you want to connect. And whenever accepting a connection, ALWAYS write a note back, even if the one you received did not have one. Make it all personal… do what you can to initiate engagement.
Just saying people… it’s all about building relationships, not just being connected, and the first step of that relationship is the introduction… especially if we have never met!
And to close here is a DON’T… Don’t tag all the people you would like to pay attention to your post, and “like” it (unless of course they are specifically mentioned for a valid contextual reason)… it smells of desperation for likes and views.
Instead, if you feel the need to request support for the post beyond your basic LinkedIn reach/engagement, I suggest tweeting it and sharing it on other platforms to reach others who follow you there, and you can email a list of friends/colleagues, etc., with a link to the post, and ask them to please support by liking and/or sharing the post. Or even better give them a call… “What, use the talking aspect of a phone, unheard of.”
That way you are upfront with what you are doing, transparent in your goal, and you will keep the post clean and free of all those clearly self-serving tags, to the viewing public.
Relationships are like muscle tissue… the more they are engaged, the stronger and more valuable they become. #RonR… #NoLetUp!