Get the conversation started on LinkedIn

If you’re a regular reader of my column, you know I’m big on building relationships with clients and prospects, being authentic and strategically mapping out a plan to meet new people and build your business.
A handful of great LinkedIn features let you do those things. In an effort to bring out the “social” in social media, LinkedIn offers many ways to help you start a conversation with members of your network.
Update your settings to ensure you are receiving daily digest emails. This will give you a quick look at who has changed jobs, who is having a birthday and who is celebrating a work anniversary.
I review my digest each day and send a quick note on LinkedIn to everyone on the list. Then, based on my relationship with the person, I decide whether to make a phone call or send a handwritten note or congratulatory gift.
Reviewing your daily digest email, or visiting the “Keep in Touch” or “Start a Conversation” sections of LinkedIn, will help you start a dialogue. Let’s begin with birthdays.
(More: Reaching out through LinkedIn)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Just as on Facebook, LinkedIn lets you know when one of your connections is having a birthday. It will take you less than five minutes to send a quick “Happy birthday!” message to each of the connections on your list for the day.
If you want to take it a step further and truly engage your connections, Ted Jenkin, co-CEO at oXYGen Financial, recommends sending more than a simple “Happy birthday!” message.
Mr. Jenkin sends a personalized message via LinkedIn (he stresses that the message should be written in your own authentic voice). In addition, he attaches content from “Smart financial moves to make on your birthday,” one of his ebooks.
His compliance-approved communication sets itself apart from others the birthday celebrant may receive and engages his connections. Many of them send a quick reply, thus starting a dialogue.
In addition, LinkedIn lets you know when one of your connections is having a work anniversary.
Though each alert warrants a quick congratulatory message —again, less than five minutes total per day — some may present further opportunities to engage.
For instance, is a connection celebrating a milestone anniversary? Has the person been with the company for 10, 20, 30 years? As part of a client loyalty and engagement plan, we encourage our coaching clients to stop, acknowledge and celebrate the accomplishments of their clients and connections.
Go beyond the congratulatory post for these milestone anniversaries by sending your connection a handwritten note or, depending on your relationship, an anniversary gift.
LinkedIn also highlights job changes. These present another chance to reach out to your connections via a congratulatory post, an email or a quick phone call, and also reveal a potential business opportunity. Where else can you go to identify potential rollover opportunities that exist in your network?
Congratulate connections on new ventures and be genuinely inquisitive. Work to continue the dialogue and to determine how you can be a resource in their new endeavors.

REVIEW YOUR HOME PAGE

A five- to 10-minute review of your LinkedIn home page is likely to display a number of other openings for engagement. Take time to read your connections’ posts (or at the very least, give them a quick glance) and contribute a comment.
As someone who uses the posting feature regularly, I love it when someone takes the time to leave a comment, and I always try to reply. In just a short time, this has led to my being involved in conversations with current connections — as well as with those I’ve yet to meet.
These ideas present a way to put back the “social” in social media. Don’t let the fact that LinkedIn is a business platform keep you from engaging with your network. It isn’t enough just to be on LinkedIn or to use it for prospecting research. While you definitely should be doing both of those tasks, you are realizing only a portion of the benefit if you aren’t taking the extra steps to truly engage your network.
Kristin Andree is president of Andree Media & Consulting.