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August 27, 2023

Is your LinkedIn profile discourteous?

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If you’re on LinkedIn you’ve probably already seen the green ‘Open to Work’ (OTW) caption underneath a profile photo.

If you own your own business and choose to put the OTW caption on your photo, that’s your prerogative. I wouldn’t because to me, it looks a bit clingy and desperate. By marketing on LinkedIn, you imply that you’re open for work, don’t you?

But, I’m not talking about you.

I’m more curious about the motivation and intent of those who are currently employed and have the OTW caption on their photo.

What’s with that?

  • You might not be that smart.
  • Or you might be negligent and haven’t checked your profile since 2020. LinkedIn introduced the “Open to Work” feature amidst the Covid-19 pandemic with the aim of providing assistance to individuals.
  • Or maybe you just don’t realise how disrespectful this is towards your current employer.

You’re Not That Smart

If you employed someone and found out that they had their CV out looking for another job, how’d you feel? By putting OTW on your profile is the same thing. Let’s forget about the OTW. Even if you don’t have OTW, but your profile looks like a CV, and is not punting the company that feeds you, then you’re not that smart either.

If you’re going to look for another job, be a bit more discreet about it. Your employer would probably be upset if they knew you were openly searching for another job, since they are providing for you. They might also think that you’re not very intelligent because you don’t seem to realise the potential consequences. And, then, start wondering why they hired you in the first place.

It’s like having a Tinder profile that’s still active after you’ve found your partner. Staying open to other possibilities is discourteous, and frankly, it’s cheating.

I remember when I was in advertising and a bunch of us had come back to the office from a boozy lunch, my boss called us in. He said something like this, “Next time you go for lunch don’t drink vodka, drink beer. “I’d rather that the client thinks that you’re drunk and not stupid.” Apparently, Vodka leaves the least odour on one’s breath. .

You’re Negligent

This may be an unfair statement because LinkedIn may not be part of your branding or sales acquisition strategy. Or you’re on LinkedIn but not on LinkedIn because you put up a profile right at the beginning, and never went back.

But, if you are using LinkedIn to attract business, at least be courteous enough to the person you’re selling to, by putting up something worthwhile. This means writing a profile that resonates with your potential clients, engaging with insights i.e. posting articles regularly and connecting with the right people.

You’re Totally Unaware

Here I’m going to let you off the hook. Having a shoddy LinkedIn profile might not be your fault. Because when you work for a company, it shouldn’t be up to you. Your marketing department takes the rap for this. It should have identified that there is an opportunity to turn every employee on LinkedIn into a brand ambassador.

In your company’s induction programme (if you have one of those), there should be a section on branding and marketing (and social media etiquette). You are after all a brand ambassador for your company, aren’t you?

The marketing department should give you the company branding and message to put on your banner. It should also give you a profile that pushes the company line. And, it should leave some space for you to show your personality.

This is not what your banner should look like. This is a prime location for marketing purposes. Use it to get your brand and message across.

As part of your KPIs, it might be an idea for you to be encouraged to connect with your company’s ideal client. LinkedIn allows you to connect with 400 people a month (20 a day).

Every time the marketing department writes an article, it should pass it onto you so that you can post it (that speaks to engaging with insights). At the least, there should be four articles or posts a month. One a day is better, but probably a Grail quest. You can, of course, use your initiative and share posts from other sources that are valuable to your target market.

Let’s Do The Maths

Imagine that you have 50 employees that are on LinkedIn.

  • That’s a golden chance to create 50 branding opportunities.
  • That’s 50 profiles with a single marketing message punting your company.
  • On average, only 20 percent of folks will accept your connection request. Out of 20 that would be four. Out of 400, that would be 80. If we multiply 80 by 50, we can estimate a total of 4000 connections every month. That’s a staggering 48,000 connections made every year.
  • If each of you is sending out four articles per month (48) and they reach your ideal clients, what would that mean for your business?
  • If you had a connection to contact system where you could bring your sales team in to reach out to those who have met the lead scoring criteria. For example, if you have six interactions with your ideal client, that could indicate that it is time that a sales person reached out. How much more business do your efforts could generate for your company?

Go have a look at your profile. If you’re using it as a CV whilst working for another company … well, that’s just not cool (Remember Tinder). Ask your marketing department to help you set up your LinkedIn profile properly.

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