Five Reasons You Should Visit LinkedIn every Day

I am a true believer when it comes to LinkedIn, and I am here to try to convince you that you should be, too.

If you missed the webinar I co-hosted with Marketing Ideas for Printers recently on how to use LinkedIn to connect with printers and print buyers alike, you can catch the replay here.

The Effectiveness of LinkedIn for Business

LinkedIn was founded almost 20 years ago and is technically older than Facebook and YouTube. Today, LinkedIn is wholly owned by Microsoft and is arguably the most relevant social network for business.

LinkedIn is remarkably effective for learning, networking, and expressing yourself. So, without further ado, here are the top 5 reasons you should be going to LinkedIn every day.

Top 5 Reasons You Should Be Going to LinkedIn Every Day

1. You will meet someone important.

Did you know 27% of Americans and 51% of people with a college degree use LinkedIn?

It is the fifth most popular social network on the planet. For more useful LinkedIn statistics, check out this article.

To put it another way, all the cool kids are on LinkedIn.

LinkedIn is a great place to answer the question, “Who?” For example, let’s say you already know the name of the company you want to do business with. LinkedIn is the logical next step to take to “meet” the kind of person you want to engage with.

And to settle the debate about who you should connect with,
my honest opinion is EVERYONE.

I have over 3000 connections on LinkedIn. I do not know them all personally. But every one of those connections has value to me in that he or she might be able to teach me something or connect me to someone I need to know.

2. You will learn something.

Some extremely committed people are expending a lot of time and energy to educate and inform their followers.

When you follow your vendors, clients, and even your competitors, you will (and I promise you this) learn something valuable.

3. You will influence someone.

You know stuff. Yes, you do.

You have valuable things to contribute to our industry. Your clients and prospects stand to learn valuable information from you. You are not expected to do this alone. Consider gathering a brain trust of people within your organization to talk about the kinds of things you WISH your customers knew. And then write it. Or shoot a video.

You do not have to be Martin Scorsese to make valuable content. And if you need help? There are people like me out there who can give you a hand. And not the clapping kind. (Although I do a lot of that, too)

4. You will have fun.

Not a day goes by that I don’t smile or LOL at something I see on LinkedIn.

People are out there trying to weave a chuckle into the great content they are sharing. It is worth it, and our collective psyche needs it so much right now.

5. Not doing it costs more than doing it.

More and more, your decision to not participate in social media is telling your customers and prospects something about you.

And it is NOT something you want.

It says that you are not interested in embracing the tools that help you engage with the world. This is not who you want to be. If given a choice between acceptance and being stubborn, choose acceptance. Choose the path that leads you to deeper and more interesting engagement. Choose a world where you can make friends with people you have never met, all over the world, and people you would have never met otherwise.

It’s Time to Jump in the LinkedIn Sandbox

So, what are you waiting for?

You will not regret the decision to jump in the sandbox with the rest of us. Do it every day. Start small. Five minutes a day. Connect. Comment. Like. You will be glad you did. And while you’re at it, connect with me!


Written by

Kelly Mallozzi

Rainmaker, Success in Print

Blogger, author, consultant, coach, and all-around evangelist for the graphic arts industry, Kelly sold digital printing for 15 years so she understands the challenges, frustrations, and pitfalls of building a successful sales practice. Her mission is to help printers of all sizes sell more stuff. Kelly's areas of focus include sales and marketing coaching, enabling clients to find engagement strategies that work for them and mentoring the next generation of sales superstars. Kelly graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in Political Science and, among other notable accomplishments, co-founded the Windy City Rollers, a professional women's roller derby league. She is also the mother of two sets of twins under the age of ten, so she fears nothing.