One of the biggest issues I’m asked about is how to leverage LinkedIn effectively and with only a small amount of time. You’ve seen my profile and know that I went from 1k connections (acquired mostly by happy accident) in 2015 to almost 9k connections in 2017, mostly by strategic design, so it’s a fair assumption I know quite a bit about LinkedIn. In fact, my livelihood depends on me knowing how to be effective and efficient on LinkedIn – so you’d be right.

But back to you –  with the end of financial year (EOFY) looming, I’m guessing that right now you are head down, bottom up, forgetting to fly the flag for brand you despite knowing you should.

And while LinkedIn is definitely a far more strategic brand you flag flying option than Facebook, it can still be an absolute black hole when you don’t really know what activities count. So to help you avoid the black hole of wasted time, or worse, becoming invisible inside and outside your business during the EOFY busy patch, here is my best advice.

Minimum Effective Dose

Do you remember some years ago when Tim Ferriss published the Four Hour Body? In the book he popularized the idea of the Minimum Effective Dose (the MED). The MED is the minimum amount you can do to achieve the required outcome – not too much, not too little, but just right. A bit like the Pareto Principle where you spend 20% of effort to achieve 80% of the result.

Well I believe you can apply the same on LinkedIn. Yes there will be times when you do more, but if you’re about to hit up against the EOFY with major project deadlines along with KPIs for both you and your staff under review – then the MED is exactly what you need right now.

There are two things to do before you start –

1. Make a diary appointment with yourself once each week for just 15 minutes at a time when most of your ideal target market is likely to be on LinkedIn to do your LinkedIn MED work

2. Then in that time, implement the 5:3:1 routine detailed below.

Quick and Easy LinkedIn Visibility Hack – as easy as 5:3:1

The focus of the 5:3:1 hack is tactical and practical with the goal to keep you visible and memorable for all the right reasons.  Remember that – visible and memorable for the right reasons.

• 5 – LIKE 5 things that others have shared such as articles/images, job changes or anniversaries that are aligned with your executive brand and/or from people you want to stay visible with

• 3 – COMMENT on 3 items that people have shared in the main thread AND in groups. Make sure your comments are aligned with your executive brand or in groups where it’s important you remain visible with

• 1 – SHARE 1 article of your own (once again aligned with your executive brand) with a reflective comment about why this is important to your industry or to leadership more broadly.

Finally, it’s important to note that the formula is based on the SWAG methodology (thanks Dan Klein)  – you know, the Scientific Wild Ass Guess methodology – balancing effort and impact.  Those activities that require more effort, if done right, can have greater impact so you need to do them less frequently. And those activities that require less effort, and are likely to have less of an impact, are more frequent.

Sound easy? It is! And then when you find yourself with more time you can play a bigger game.

Does 5:3:1 work for a consultant?

Absolutely, if you’re a consultant and you find yourself overwhelmed with work, you can do the same but I’d recommend making a diary appointment with yourself 3 x per week instead of just once.  Plus I’d recommend that you Publish/Post one article per week in addition to sharing.

Your goal? To get your LinkedIn profile working for you 24/7 while you sleep until such time as you find yourself with more time to spend, then be sure to go ahead and do more.

Effective AND efficient every time

Remember, anything is better than nothing, and an easy system or process that you do, is far better than a perfect system or process that you never do. But a 5:3:1 social media formula for being visible at the right time, right place, with the right audience, and the right key messages is both efficient AND effective.

Have fun with this! And let me know how you go.

Remember – smart and savvy truly is the name of this game!

Vive la révolution!

 #ambitionrevolution #executivebrand