I was really taken by an article in TJ last week from Michelle Parry-Slater.

I use LinkedIn a lot more now since Twitter has lost its effectiveness as a marketing channel and it is really interesting to see how people perceive it as a marketing tool. I agree entirely with Michelle that it is about building relationships and sharing experiences and it feels like there are a lot of people on LinkedIn who haven’t worked that out yet.

There’s a definite gold rush mentality on LinkedIn these days. Some people are so desperate to stake their claim, they’re pumping out content, hoping for a viral nugget that explodes their network. But like Michelle said, it’s not about blasting out sales pitches into a void, it’s about cultivating genuine connections.

Michelle asked how do you market you?

For me, it’s about regular (daily) and short (less than 200 words) posts and articles.

It’s about making my presence on point, authentic and realistic. The balance between professional and personal is a very fine line.

It’s about leaving a positive trail so people’s memory of their last engagement with me and my content is positive.

It’s mostly about being the same person online as offline. I would say I’m digitally resident and my personality is reflected pretty well by my online profile.

It’s necessary to invest; engage with your network by showing genuine interest in what others are up to.

When you invest time in building a network based on being yourself, respecting others, and genuinely engaging with them, good stuff happens.