The Marketing Mentress: LinkedIn Tip #17 - How Do You Avoid Being IDK'd?

What is the key to being a center of influence on LinkedIn?

When people or possible customers see that we are well connected, they become attracted to us and our business.

So what does this mean?

Imagine this: You walk into a conventional business where you see high activity in the retail space. Customers are busy trying and buying products. The atmosphere is attractive to you as a possible customer, and the likelihood of you becoming a customer is high.

The same principle applies to LinkedIn. When we see that your profile is connected to 500+ people, our subconscious mind tells us that you are a 'center of influence'. It is inviting to other LinkedIn members.

Where LinkedIn is concerned, all it will show to the public is that someone has 500+ connections. It will also show the exact number of connections we have up to the 500+ number. Once you are at 500+, people cannot tell if you have 501 or 30,000 connections.

The challenge is 'How' do we get from 1 to 500+ connections without being IDK'd?"

Back when I first started using LinkedIn, I was faced with this dilemma of getting over 500 connections. I had invited everyone in my contact lists and shoeboxes of business cards, and found myself still short of my goal.

Then I noticed that LinkedIn was suggesting that I 'might know' a whole bunch of people! Woo-hoo! So I thought that I was supposed to connect with all these people. I sat there for hours clicking the 'connect' button for each person.

I managed to get way beyond the 500+ connections, but I also got sent to "LinkedIn Jail"!

LinkedIn Jail happens in this instance when we have 5+ people say they 'do not know' us.

Hence being IDK'd.

Yup! I got IDK'd!

UGH!

I had to print out the entire LinkedIn Terms of Use, sign them and send them back to LinkedIn. I also had to send them a copy of my driver's license. It took almost two weeks to gain access to my LinkedIn account.

Never, Never, Never invite people to connect with you unless you know them!

Here is the caveat to avoiding being IDK'd:

Never invite people you don't know to connect with you, unless they are LIONs. LION means LinkedIn Open Networker. You can find these LIONs in groups of LIONs. To find them, just search for LION groups. LIONs will never IDK anyone.

In summary the first thing we need to accomplish after we complete our killer profile is to get our connections up to 500+. To do that, start with inviting the people we know. Then we can join groups of LIONs to invite some of them to connect with us.

We need to remember that we are in control of our LinkedIn profile. In order to maintain that control we need to educate ourselves.

For more information and answers to your LinkedIn questions contact The LinkedIn Marketing Mentress.

If you are looking for help with how to connect without being connected on LinkedIn, Join us on Tuesday, February 9th from 7:00pm to 9:00pm MST at https://linkedinptbutter.eventbrite.ca

Fired at Fifty: Stop Looking For Work and Discover What You Were Meant to Do.

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Got a LinkedIn question? Feel free to email me and I will answer it in my next blog.

Christine Till