Last week, I was back at Devex to talk about how to make meaningful connections on LinkedIn. I thought I would share three takeaways with you this week:

Every time you comment on someone’s post or direct message a contact, there's a high chance they’ll check out your profile.

When was the last time you updated your LinkedIn profile, ?

If you want to be seen in your industry, your profile should provide a snapshot of your role. If you want to find a new job, your profile should give me a bird's eye view of your relevant experience. And if you want to find clients, show in your profile what you offer.

This doesn't need to become a master thesis.

Spend 1 hour updating your profile. That’s it.

1. Have a recent, good profile picture.
2. Update your headline (the line below your profile picture).
3. Write a brief About section in the 1st (!) person.
4. Review your experience section (and clean up if necessary).

If you focus on those, you’ve worked on the sections that people look at first.

Let’s break this down:

A weak tie is an acquaintance you know well but isn't a close friend. A 5-year study showed that weak ties (i.e. more distant relations) give us access to new social circles and extend our reach into new areas. It’s where your next opportunity might come from.

And why 150? Dunbar’s number suggests we can only have relationships with 150 people simultaneously. (While the exact number has been contested, social scientists agree that there is a limit to how many people we can have relationships with at once.)

And what about relevance? Who you should have in your 150 weak-tie network at any point in time depends on your career goals. Maybe you already have the right 150 weak-tie relationships in your network, or you need to establish new relationships.
(If you’re unsure of your career goals and need help, you know where to find me).

With knowledge of Dunbar’s number and the concept of relevant weak ties, you can cultivate your network on LinkedIn more strategically.


3. The currency of LinkedIn’s algorithm is human-to-human relationships and knowledge-informed conversations.

Yes, you read right. You don't need to dance to funny tunes or post pictures of your cat. Quite the opposite: LinkedIn likes content that adds value and knowledge. It measures how people engage with each other. This also means: Personal pages will always perform better than company pages).

How can that help you?

Well, the algorithm will like you (and put you in front of new people) if you engage with other people’s content - think Likes, Comments, and Shares. Doing so will also show you more of the stuff you like, comment on, and share.

Next time you get frustrated scrolling your LinkedIn feed, remember this. You tell the algorithm what to show you more of by engaging with stuff you like.