[En] The Outbound user

To do so, he seizes every opportunity to publish content or articles, he is an active member - even creator - of several groups in which he feeds exchanges, reads a lot and comments very often. His objective: to be the specialist who will be called upon when needed in the field of expertise in question, whether it is to write, administer, expert, manage, lead.

But beware: there are some basic rules to be followed to be efficient in the construction of one’s own image, otherwise you will miss the point altogether.

In 10 years, KiteUp has advised and followed dozens of managers, French and foreign, who decided to opt for an Outbound use of LinkedIn. The following advices come directly from this experience.

1. What is your objective?

Impossible to decide on an efficient strategy without first having defined your personal objectives, it is an evidence too often forgotten. Depending on whether you want to join the Board of Directors of a large company, to take courses at a business school, to join a General Management abroad, to act as an expert in the media your strategy will not be the same, and the means to implement will vary.

2. And now, a strategy!

Then define your strategy, which to be effective must involve the use of all the resources offered by LinkedIn:

• The extension of your network, being careful to add only really useful contacts, that is to say, those who can, through their functions, responsibilities, notoriety, contribute to your goal ;

• The diffusion on LinkedIn of articles initially published outside the platform, as well as the publication of original posts on subjects in which you are an expert. The ideal is to define a priori a publication plan over 18 months… and stick to it ;

• Registering for groups corresponding to your interests, and actively participating in group discussions. If there is no group that suits you, you can create and facilitate one… knowing that it is very time-consuming ;

• Posting comments on third party posts, but always related to your area of expertise (see below)

3. Comment!

The LinkedIn algorithm is such that your visibility on LinkedIn, when you publish, is also a function of your level of interactivity with your network. In other words, the more you comment on other publications, the more your own publications will have an important diffusion, especially if they are also highly commented.

Be careful, these are comments, not likes: they are not taken into account by the algorithm.

4. Consistency!

Creating a specific and strong professional image is a long term job, which requires consistency: don’t expect to reach your goals in a few weeks of unbridled activity.

On the contrary: the too frequent multiplication of small, not very deep posts can weary your followers and give a bad image of you, especially if you have to interrupt yourself after 3 months due to lack of time or lack of subjects to deal with.

It is much better to publish a quality article every month, going to the bottom of a subject, which will make a big impression and will generate a lot of comments in your community.

5. There is not only LinkedIn!

This article is about LinkedIn, so it is obviously the heart of the matter. But LinkedIn, in spite of its importance, cannot be the only media you will need to use to achieve your goal!

Physical participation in professional meetings, personal lobbying of opinion leaders, membership in category associations, publication of books or articles in category media… are all other levers that you will need to activate.