On topic, professional conversations with business insiders in the safe environment of LinkedIn Groups can prove very useful for growing your professional network. Here are some ideas that can help you grow yours.

Be Visible

When starting a group, make it easy to find. Use keywords in the description and the title of the group. This is the same advice given for blog posts:

• Artsy titles are artsy, but keyword-heavy articles are more easily found by Google bots and people.

• Many experts advise you to send e-mail to all your e-mail and LinkedIn contacts about your group.

• However, these very same experts suggest that you have a narrow niche, a well-targeted group of professionals of the same field, or same area, or something otherwise relevant – go figure.

• Handpicking your invitees might be a slow method. So try to balance somewhere in between: group your contacts on LinkedIn and in your e-mail list and send invitations only to them. This might be time-consuming but it sharpens your aim.

You can also start a closed group, which means joiners will need to be approved, so this way you can mass-invite everyone you can reach and select who you let in, which might be effective, although it lacks elegance.

• What would your colleagues or business partners think if you invite them to a LinkedIn group which focuses on a topic they have absolutely no interest in?

• You need to decide which method works for you.

Related article: 4 Ways To Grow Your Business Using LinkedIn

Be Active

As you can might have noticed, LinkedIn groups require more effort than other social channels, because this is a special environment. It’s for professional growth, not entertainment, which is what people are looking for on LinkedIn.

• After joining or setting up a group, you will need to spend time with management regularly.

• You need to lead your group and the discussion, especially in the beginning, when engagement is low.

• Make the most out of the group features, like Announcements and auto-emails.

• Joining a LinkedIn group requires greater dedication than liking a Facebook page, so people should be okay with receiving regular e-mail updates about the group.

Lead The Party

Be a Host! Whether you’re a member of a group or the owner, you run the party.

• Invite, connect people, ask questions, join the conversations.

• Spewing out useful links one after the another might not be enough to get people involved.

• Bringing life to your group early on is important because joiners will decide if the group is good upon engagement.

• If they see the group is active, they possibly instantly invite their own professional contacts as well.

By adhering to these 3 suggestions, you can be part of a huge professional network boost from LinkedIn Groups.

Please contact us to learn other LinkedIn alternatives to grow your professional network.

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