JoAnne Funch — November 7, 2019 I’m sure you have heard the saying, You get one chance to make a great first impression. That applies to everything you do online and yet I see people who are not making a great impression and the result honestly is they are ignored.
According to a recent article in Entrepreneur, “You may think first impressions don’t matter, but plenty of science proves this belief wrong. A first impression sets the stage for how people view you in the future, and there’s nothing you can do to change that: This is a direct byproduct of the way the human brain stores information.”
This is also part of building your personal brand. If you’re trying to build an influential network that offers more profitable opportunities, then consider the following mistakes and turn these around.
Mistakes that might be causing you to be ignored
- Sending the default connection request in LinkedIn – you’ve lost the opportunity to stand out.
- Sending an email that is vague and/or not value based to someone you don’t know expecting them to reply
(I’ve been receiving many of those lately) - You haven’t established any trust or credibility
- You make a poor impression with your LinkedIn profile. It lacks detail what you do, why you’re credible and the problems you successfully solve
- You have outdated or no recommendations
- You don’t make any effort to engage with the person you’d like to know better. Meaning you don’t follow what they post and try to comment. Engagement can be comments, likes or emails to the person mentioning something they’ve written or said that you found beneficial
- You don’t say or take actions that are memorable or worth engaging with
- You don’t take time to learn about the people you want to get to know or develop a relationship with
- You treat digital relationships differently than those you meet in person. (This can equate to many missed opportunities)
- You don’t demonstrate your expertise through your content or engagement with people and topics where you do in fact have expertise. This elevates your personal brand.
If you are making some of these mistakes, I guarantee that means you’re the best kept secret out there!
According to author Liz Lynch who wrote Smart Networking, “Part of what makes people WANT to work with you is your interest and commitment to building mutually beneficial relationships where you help advance the goals of others in the best way that you can. In the process, you actually end up advancing your own goals as well.”
4 tips that make the difference between gaining attention and being ignored
- Using your LinkedIn profile as a resource to start conversations & build your personal brand
- Showcase your thought leadership with your unique perspective
- Make and strengthen connections through consistent interactions
- Look for opportunities to make introductions for other people
Develop your personal brand
I’ve written previously that every interaction creates an impression of you, in fact everything you do is branding you. Our value is often perceived in how we package our brand within our LinkedIn profile and other social media sites as well as our website.
“Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room.”
– Jeff Bezos, Amazon
Your personal brand is who you are and what you stand for. Making the all important first impression should include what makes you credible, highlights what you are good at and what differentiates you from others. In today’s world people defer to LinkedIn to learn more about you, be sure your LinkedIn profile is a key element in establishing your personal brand. Learn more about updating your LinkedIn profile from us.
To receive LinkedIn updates, download my free guide “7 ways to transform your LinkedIn network from a data base, to gaining valuable business connections.”
This article is originally published on LinkedInforBusiness.net
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