Understanding the correlation between a job and a business makes it easier to see the opportunities in career-driven tools for your business. It means you can take advantage of tools created for careers and channel it to the growth of your business.
We’ll talk about this in 5 phases:
- Your Brand
- Your Perception
- Your Network (Clients & Investors)
- Your Team
- Your Growth
I already discussed the first two here.
Your Network:
Be very careful who you let into your LinkedIn circle if you are focused on building your personal brand. LinkedIn works great with “connections” and the people you let in either speak for or against you. If people love your content, they should follow you, you don’t necessarily have to be “connected” except there is a reason. It’s not about the numbers. With LinkedIn, it’s a game of quality over quantity. If it’s a company, there are hacks on how to grow your network, get clients, partners and possibly investors. Be creative about how you share updates on your business. Explore video content, infographics and show your growth and sometimes your failures. Show that your business is not stagnant.
People like and associate with progress
Share your learnings from your failure. Before you share anything, ask yourself, how does his benefit my business. Be willing to share! Do you like a person and you’ll want to draw that person’s attention to your business. Say something and tag the person e.g. @richardbranson daring attitude to life makes us believe in the power of risks as regards learning and growth. Go on to share a link or a video emphasizing the message. You can include a feat you conquered based on that learning point. People love it when they inspire people. Tag people, use your personal handle to tag people, share and reference their content. Be deliberate. Cheer them on.
Think collaboration not competition.
Project your company culture and dream team on LinkedIn like it’s a mood board. Nurture the LinkedIn friendships you get by following up with a message, an email, a call, something. Online friendships are best built Offline. Tease people with your business accomplishments and live up to your brand promise.
Your Team:
If you don’t have one, you can build them from LinkedIn. What should you look out for? Read this – https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-position-yourself-get-job-linkedin-blessing-abeng/
@cregital founded by @evansakanno is a good example of how to use your team to grow your business LinkedIn. I don’t know if it was deliberate but it worked. Reflect the brand through your team. Let your team take control and share. Let them see themselves. Tag them! They are humans and if they are on LinkedIn they would share. Remember that you can only reflect or simulate what happens offline, online. So ensure that your offline team cohesion is on point before you try it. If you have team members who have achieved remarkable milestones, share it. Talk about their accomplishments, their wealth of experience, their current strides. Be fun! Don’t be too serious! Share birthdays, and fun achievements too. It will reflect experience, cohesion & history.
As Onyeka Akummah of FarmCrowdy said at Startup Grind Lagos’ Meetup
There are different aspects of a team that investors look out for – Experience, Relevance to business, History and Cohesion/Chemistry.
So, express this on LinkedIn and you may just have one coming your way.
Your Growth
I have touched on this in previous paragraphs but just for emphasis. Don’t be stuck in an idea or just one phase.
Take steps to ensure you’re a little closer to your dreams than you were yesterday.
Show that you have a learning culture and you are not afraid to take calculated risks. You can’t fake it! So learn it and it will show. Read books or articles and share your learnings.
Watch series and share your business learnings. Series you can watch – Billions, Startup, Dragons Den, Silicon Valley, The Bold Type. Don’t be afraid to share and take feedback.
If you have questions or contributions, please comment below.
2 Comments
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Awesomely expressed!