Using the LinkedIn news feed

If you are in business it's important to spend some time building a great business connection base, but how are you currently doing it?

If you are still networking your way across all of the golf courses throughout the country, and attending as many networking functions as possible in the evenings, there may be a smarter way to meet new business contacts, and probably more your target market - LinkedIn.

I have written many articles on building your connection base and networking within the groups on LinkedIn in the past, so let's take a look at a way that you may not have thought about.

In your LinkedIn news feed, you will find interesting posts that your LinkedIn connections are sharing with their connections; people you possibly don't know even exist at this stage. So how can you meet some of them? By commenting and liking, just as you do on Facebook.

By commenting on your connections' posts, you are doing two things. You are putting yourself back on the radar of your connection, a bit like seeing them in the street and waving "hi". How many times have you seen someone somewhere and thought, "Ah, must give him or her a bell"?

When you comment on a connection's post, the post including your comment is then shared in the news feed for your other connections to see. This means, if one of your connections comments on your post, the whole thing is shared on their newsfeed for their connections to see and you get greater exposure for your message or comment across another network.

From your home page, you can decide whether you want to see the most recent posts, the top posts or the shared posts, which ever suits you.

What can you comment on?

Anything that you have a sensible answer for, or the expertise to add value to a post. It's not a mechanism to post links back to your product or service, which will just annoy your connections and probably get you unconnected from. Add value, and personality if appropriate.

Remember also, each time you comment in an open LinkedIn group, that message is also posted into the news feed, so you and others can see lively discussions in groups and head over to add your piece.

This subtle online exercise is an additional way to network with others, putting yourself on your connections radar, and at the same time, exposing yourself to new connections; connections that one-day may be very valuable to you. And it takes moments to do.

Next time you look at your Facebook news feed, don't forget to check your LinkedIn news feed too; it may be more yielding for your business.

Linda Coles is an international speaker, author, and consultant at Blue Banana.