Since LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network with over 675 million users in more than 200 countries as of February 2020, it is a smart idea to become an influencer on LinkedIn.

This network attracts a highly professional and business-oriented audience, so your profile has to be professional.

Becoming a LinkedIn influencer is different from other social networks because LinkedIn has to officially invite you to become one.

To receive the “influencer” name, you need to have a solid presence and a very professional profile.

A few of LinkedIn’s influencers include:

• Bill Gates
  • Co-chair, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
• Richard Branson
  • Founder, Virgin Group
• Mohammed El-Erian
  • Chief Economic Advisor, Allianz
• James Altucher
  • Entrepreneur
• Bernard Marr
  • Business and Data Expert

If this is something you’re interested in, follow along!

1. Fill In All Profile Details

LinkedIn gives you the ability to add your:

• Profile picture
• Summary of yourself
• Cover picture
• Work Experience
• Education
• Skills and Endorsements
• Accomplishments
• Interests

Having everything filled in and as up to date as possible is important because it’s what people see when they view your profile.

Users are much more likely to view profiles that have more detail.

In particular, if you don’t have a profile picture or a summary you’re less likely to be viewed.

2. Build Trust

Building trust with your audience starts with your profile. Having an updated profile picture is crucial because it shows you care about your professional and public image.

Make sure your picture is professional by:

• Wearing professional clothing
  • Dress pants, blazer, etc.
• Having a high-resolution photo
• Using a solid background

3. Earn And Build Connections

Unlike Instagram and Twitter, LinkedIn isn’t about the number of followers you have.

Having a focused group of followers who are interested in similar topics as you will make your content seem more engaging.

Follow other influencers as well to see how they’re posting and learn from them!

Watch how consistently they post and the type of content they post.

4. Connect With Others

Having a group of followers or connections means nothing if you don’t engage with them!

Post content that your followers are interested in. 

Comment and engage with others’ posts as well to get your name out there.

5. Present Yourself In A Professional Manner

Use correct grammar and spelling when updating everything, but ESPECIALLY in your summary.

Your summary is the first thing that your audience sees and this determines whether they will look through your profile or not.

6. Post Consistently

Adhere to a schedule!

Find a common time when you can post.

Search Engine Journal recommends shooting for one to two posts per month.

It’s a smart idea to plan out your week and have the content done a couple days in advance so you aren’t scrambling when it’s time to post.

I recommend posting about once a week because it will keep your audience engaged. If you want to be an influencer, you have to put in the work!

7. Host Giveaways

Giveaways are a great way to get people to engage with your content and grow your audience.

Give your audience a set of things they need to do to be entered like “tag two people in the comments and like this picture.”

When people are tagged in the comments, it leads them to view your profile.

And who knows, they might even enter themselves in the giveaway as well.

I recommend picking 2 or 3 winners. I tend to enter in more giveaways if I know I have a better chance of winning the prize… (don’t we all?)

Deepak Shukla hosted a giveaway on LinkedIn where his audience could potentially win a bunch of marketing tools. To be entered in the giveaway, his audience tagged other people in the comments.

While it’s not possible to do giveaways for every post, it’s a good idea to do one at least once a month to continue to grow your following base.

8. Post Thoughtfully

Becoming an influencer on any social network isn’t easy, but I think that LinkedIn is the hardest.

You need to organize your content in a manner that’s professional yet innovative and interesting to your viewers.

Invest a majority of your time in creating your own new content, but also spend time sharing others’ content that relates to you and your industry.

Use these tools to help you create fresh content!

• DrumUp
  • Social media and content marketing app. It helps you create and find new content for your audience by sifting through the web that’s relevant to you and your audience.
• Feedly
  • Finds content from different blogs and newsletters. Also allows you to organize the content by category.

9. Stay Active On Your Profile

Try to respond to everyone who reaches out to you.

If your audience sees you responding to others, they’re more likely to try to reach out as well!

Staying active also means continuing to update your profile as things happen.

Update your jobs when you get a new one, if you get a new headshot done make it your profile picture, and update your summary after important things have happened.

For example, you don’t want your summary to say that you are going to graduate in the spring of 2019 when it’s the fall of 2019.

Your audience will be very confused and think that you’re not committed to your professional profile.

10. Don’t Be Afraid Of Rejection

Voice your opinions!

This will engage your audience to respond to your opinions and voice theirs as well.

People are more likely to connect with people that seem “real” and voice how they feel.

While becoming a LinkedIn influencer is more difficult and work-intensive, if you put your mind to it and follow these steps, you’ll get much closer to becoming one!

Additional articles you might be interested in:

• How To Feel Confident For Your Business Photo Shoot
• 5 Tips On Making Great Business Connections
• How To Schedule Your Content For The Next 12 Months
• How To Become An Industry Leader
• 5 Ways To Network With Successful People
• How To Engage Your Target Audience

Carly Hancock is a blogging and social media intern at LadyBossBlogger. com. She’s is looking forward to having a future in writing or social media. She enjoys learning new things about beauty products and fashion, and Instagram is her favorite social network!