The LinkedIn trick nobody tells you

Marketing on LinkedIn

A simple but effective trick

A lot of marketers - out of enthusiasm or because they just don´t care if they spam - make a crucial mistake on LinkedIn. They send marketing messages to people they otherwise do not interact with.

LinkedIn connections are valuable and should be treated as such. LinkedIn is the most difficult and most rewarding platform. The large amount of professionals on LinkedIn makes it the potentially most profitable network.

LinkedIn articles (Pulse posts) also rank very well in google. The integrated "Slideshare" for presentations further supports your SEO strategy.

Several programs like LinkedInfluence, Linked University, 30-day Sale Machine and many, many others attempt to teach you the "super tricks" to create lots of sales via LinkedIn.

Some of the advice is great and helpful - a lot of it will just get you reported, blocked and marked as spam.

The days of the pushy, sleazy sales guy are over. Offline and online. Inviting people to trust you and your recommendations by delivering value and quality content is the way to go.

I might not be a great example because I am very allergic against email spam. Or maybe that makes me a great example. On LinkedIn more than on any other platform I have a zero tolerance for spam.

Common mistakes on LinkedIn

Sending someone who has just accepted you as a new connection "I want to share with you link xy" messages will probably get you nowhere. I delete connections like this with the first spam message.
Not posting regularly.
Posting only marketing content. It´s perfectly fine to post new articles on your blog or an affiliate link here and there - it´s about the ratio.
Spamming in groups. An absolute NO NO. Before posting links to your site or any promotion, you should add value to the group by interacting with posts of others and posting useful content from other sources. If your own articles do not contain any form of product marketing, you can be more relaxed with that.
Exporting contact lists and email them outside of LinkedIn. Either you mention that you are a LinkedIn connection and risk to get blocked - or you do not mention it which makes you nothing more than a spammer.

Keep in mind that every like, every comment in open groups is being shown in your "updates". If people see 20 times per day "I am looking for connections, add me, I accept everyone" and such in their newsfeed, they will probably get tired of you.

Just treat other people like you want to be treated. What would annoy you will probably annoy your connections as well.

LinkedIn is your online business card. You can expect it to be one of the first search results when people are looking for you - probably way before your own site if your site is relatively new.

If your profile settings are set to "inform my network", they will get a notice every time you add something to your profile. Make sure you add all of the courses you take and anything else appropriate to your LinkedIn profile.

Before I tell you the trick someone is using on me some tips:

How to make LinkedIn work for you:

With a LinkIn pro account, you are able to write messages to people you are not connected with. Make it relevant and personal and that is your entrance to connecting with the influencers of your choice.
Post on Pulse (the LinkedIn blogging platform). As far as I am aware, google does not penalize you for posting articles that first were published on your blog. At the point when you have a collection of posts and if you post regularly you can offer your content to be included in "google alerts".
In groups: For 1 link of yours post something from a different source or interact at least 10 times with others.
On your timeline: For 1 link of yours post at least 4 contents of other sources.
Everyone knows everyone over 1 or 2 corners. I am sure you will find a 2nd or 3rd connection to anyone you want to connect with. Write to them and ask them to introduce you to the person.
Use SlideShare, it ranks awesome. Currently, not too many people are using it so that it boosts your rankings. It´s also a great way to repurpose your existing content.
Post regularly.
Consider using LinkedIn ads. In times when google AdWords costs are starting to get silly, LinkedIn ads might be a way to go. They are not cheap but reward you with high-quality leads and great conversion rates.
Pay it forward. Like posts of others, share them, comment them - the people will notice and be much more likely to share your content.
Ideally, stay in touch with your contacts regularly before you email them via the LinkedIn system. At least...
.... if you email your connections include lots and lots of valuable information before a link to an article.