Hi ~Contact.FirstName~
In Brisbane, it’s the start of a long weekend of Australia Day celebrations..!
So let’s chat about being a good party guest (and how it relates to the topic I’m talking about a lot right now — LinkedIn!)
First up, there is a huge difference in the traction people are getting on the LinkedIn platform. Today I’m going to explain why, and also show you how to get great results regardless of the size of your network.
Clue: it’s about being a good guest!
Secondly, before we get to the party guest analogy, let me quickly address the widely accepted fact you never actually “own” your social media connections. It is true and it is definitely best to get people across onto the assets you own (eg email list, website, blog etc). I wrote about it extensively in my book.
The reason for this is that the LinkedIns and Facebooks of the world can, and do, change the rules at any time and can leave you stranded and your business in trouble.
So yes, you should build an asset that you own and have a system to nurture your social media contacts across to our own website or email list, eventually.
But….
The difference I want to bring to your attention is the word “eventually”…
You don’t need to be in a rush to drag people back to your website or make them opt-in to something.
It’s way better to be a good ‘party guest’ instead.
Here’s why. Imagine you’re at a party…
You are a guest at a nice, big party, and when you arrive, you immediately start recruiting people to leave now and head to your own party. Whilst this isn’t an ‘illegal move’ per se, it is certainly ‘bad etiquette’ and won’t win you much love with the party host who invited you.
They won’t rush to invite you back or seat you on a good table if you do return. Would you?
Same deal on LinkedIn….
LinkedIn are throwing a massive party with virtually every single business person on the planet, and you are invited for free. Is it any wonder they don’t love it when you link straight off to your own website (and try to drag people away)?
Why not be a good guest instead?
Here’s what I suggest instead of being in a rush to drag people away.
Arrive at the party, start good conversations with people, make new friends, have some fun and create a good experience for other guests. The guests will stay longer and most likely tell their friends.
Do you think the host (LinkedIn) will welcome you back? Of course.
Do you think they’ll give you good seats when you return next time? You bet.
You’ve been a good guest and made the party fun. You made the host (LinkedIn) look good so they will love you.
Then, you’ve also earned the right to follow up with the new friends you’ve met because you’ve gone about everything the polite way.
This is why when I post content (mostly videos) to LinkedIn, I try to be a ‘good guest’.
- I post videos natively on LinkedIn and I don’t link to YouTube. (That’s the same as sending guests to another party).
- I spread the word by emailing my LinkedIn video to email subscribers like you Adam.
- I also start conversations on LinkedIn and try to be generous by sharing useful insight and resources.
- I ask people to leave a comment on Linked rather than link people off to my website to get the resources. *LinkedIn understandably limits the visibility of your posts when you link-away to your site.*
- I interact with people on the LinkedIn platform (in both the comments and the DMs.)
- I also follow up afterwards with people I’ve met.
- This is ‘good etiquette’ in real life and online.
And you know what?
LinkedIn loves it too.
When I’m a good guest at ‘their party’, they reward me, and entice me back.
They give me increased exposure to people outside my immediate network — often in orders of magnitude of 3-10X the number of my 1st degree contacts. This is the equivalent of being introduce to all the other guests at a party.
When LinkedIn introduce me to hundreds or thousands of new people when I go to their party, I am thrilled to return. Especially when the alternative is to go to the other party (ie. Facebook) where I’ve pretty much got to pay to turn up and pay to talk to my own friends and followers. Of course I return to LinkedIn.
Does that analogy make sense?
To show you this in practice, here is my latest LinkedIn video where I share my