Michael Cohn
You have worked long and hard at this point to make sure that you are getting the most out of your LinkedIn groups. Let’s say that you are a member of 50 groups (the maximum allowed number of groups on LinkedIn) and you are interacting once in a while. You know that you need to do more to really leverage your LinkedIn groups.
How do you start to make a more significant contribution?
The main reason that you are a member of all of those LinkedIn groups is because you want (and need) to focus on the members of your target audience with whom you can share the most productive and mutually beneficial relationship. It may surprise you to learn how many people underestimate the power of LinkedIn. Many, many people have joined a small number of LinkedIn groups and that is the end of it. Another scenario is that a person (perhaps you) have joined a large number of groups but you do absolutely nothing with those connections. You are really hurting yourself and your business by not doing anything. Those groups will prove to be extremely valuable to your business if you get the most out of those connections as you can. There are actually many different benefits that you can derive from LinkedIn groups, including establishing yourself as a subject matter expert (SME), proving your credibility to the other people, and making your online connections understand that you are someone whom they should trust. Those are absolutely critical qualities when it comes to business success.
One of the more recent improvements of LinkedIn Groups is a feature called “Top Contributors,” which can pinpoint the members of your groups that have made the biggest “splash” in the groups. If you are a top contributor, that means that you have suggested topics that excite the other group members and those discussions really go a long way when it comes to building credibility, especially with people with whom you have had very little interaction up to that point. Being a top contributor will also do a great deal for your online exposure and LinkedIn will put you at the top of the page that is sent to the other members to share discussions. There are specific steps to follow in order for you to become a top contributor.
- The first thing that you will need to do is join 50 groups (as mentioned previously): You will want to choose not only groups that are relevant to your niche but also groups that have a large number of members in them. It is important to take advantage of as many groups as possible. You will want to search using relevant keywords and key phrases. However, it is important that you don’t choose keywords or key phrases that are too complicated. You want them to be simple yet just descriptive enough. It is probably best to choose as many local groups as possible. If you put in too much detail, it will be harder for other people to find you. Another important thing to remember is that many groups will have to approve you before you are actually a member of that particular group. The approval can take anywhere from one day to two weeks. If it takes any more than that, you may want to reconsider whether you really want to become a member of that group.
- Identifying top-quality groups: You will probably not have a difficult time identifying the right groups for your business. The easiest ways to determine this are by the quality of the discussions in that particular group, the appropriateness of the group members, the consistent frequency of the comment postings, and the amount of spam that you see.
- Begin to get involved with the discussions: Once you have been accepted to the appropriate groups, you need to start getting involved with the members. It is advisable that you jump on the discussions that are already going on as opposed to starting your own discussions right off the bat. That can come later.
- Choose really exciting content to address: It makes perfect sense to identify the most interesting content and start to engage people. With a little luck and your great mind, the discussion will prove very interesting indeed!
- Create amazing content that really demonstrates what you stand for: Although you will be a member of 50 different groups. you need to focus your thinking on one group and create content that will put you in the position of sharing content that will really get people excited about what you are saying. The other groups will follow after that and you will start to work all of your groups effectively.
- Ask a thought-provoking question: A wonderful way to get a discussion moving is to ask an interesting, thought-provoking question that compels people to want to get involved. It is also important to remember not to ask a question that can be answered with either “yes” or “no.” You want to discussion to continue for quite a while and “yes” or “no” will not allow that to happen.
Conclusion
Being a top contributor in your LinkedIn groups is critical to your continued professional success. The effective approach has been outlined here and if you follow those steps in that order, you will be a top contributor before you know it. Just remember that LinkedIn groups is an extremely powerful tool so take full advantage of it. After you have mastered the ability to become a top contributor in your LinkedIn groups, the next thing that will happen will be that you will become an influencer.
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