LinkedIn is the social networking platform aimed at businesses and professionals to connect and share a digital resume/CV to seek new employment. It has transformed hugely over the years to include article sharing and many other features not too dissimilar to the way you would use your Facebook account – everybody is connecting with anybody that falls within their ‘area of expertise’. Think how Facebook worked about 7 years ago!
As it has become more of a content sharing platform and is still within its early days of being so, the organic reach to connections is still very high. Now with this in mind, it’s easy to understand why I’m writing about LinkedIn and how musicians should be using it… You don’t need to scramble to get an invite to a top networking event to connect with music industry professionals, just connect on LinkedIn. Here’s how you can utilise the LinkedIn network to start gaining recognition and transforming your brand to a professionally respected entity by the industry.
When you create a brand as a musician or band, you’re creating a business and you should treat it as that. Joining LinkedIn as a channel and executing a presence there with content and engagement will show that you are a serious business person to be taken seriously. Read below how you can make this happen.
The Engagement Method
Just like Instagram and Facebook, you’ll need to actually engage with other accounts to get a good following. Why would you want to do this? Well, the more people that follow/connect with you, the more people are going to trust what you’re saying and want to interact.
The best way to engage is to aim for popular topics and posts that have a lot of activity and engage. To do this you need to:
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Go to the “What People Are Talking About Now” section to see the top posts.
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Click on relatable topics and see what people are commenting
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Now, add your own point of view in a comment that’s related to the topic or other comments
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Follow any influencers commenting that interest you
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Leave good comments and you’ll get recognition and followers from that
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Repeat this as many times as you can to start building a following
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Repeat the whole process daily where possible
This may sound like a lot of work, leaving thought-out comments on many topics daily, and it is. If you’re serious about creating a following it’s a necessity to grow your presence and get seen. You need to add value to a community before they start caring about you. Give and take, people!
On top of this LinkedIn has thousands of great groups to join, similar to Facebook groups, where you can get involved and engage. You’ll soon start seeing members visiting your profile, opening up the opportunity for a world of opportunity. Whether it be a niche topic or a more generalised one, there’s lots there that will provide good value.
The Creation Method
Engagement or creation are the two roads for this ‘give and take’ platform. By producing content on LinkedIn you’re still giving, just in a different way. Writing articles, posting videos, podcasts, anything that is going to be of interest and related to your field: music.
As an example, a musician might have a really good format of communicating with followers, so they’d post a “10 Ways to Keep Your Audience Happy” style article… Are you with me? By sharing your knowledge and expertise with others you are creating a relationship of trust. And with trust comes an open communication where you’ll be able to collaborate on ideas, on-board other creatives to work on projects and get guidance on the industry.
The Email Signature Method
A super easy way to gain more followers on LinkedIn is to simply add your profile link to your email signature. This way every time you’re communicating via email, you’re advertising your profile, which will lead to clicks and follows.
That one person who follows through on the link could be the person who shares your content on LinkedIn to really boost your post(s).
The Anti Spam Method
LinkedIn has SO many users that just spam the hell out of everyone by using the same lifeless message and sending in bulk to their networks. This does not work, people are so tired of it and people ignore it. The way you’re going to really be seen and get the right eyes on you is by creating good quality content on the platform. People will get interested, follow and get in touch to collaborate if you’re giving value.
So if you’re serious about starting a super cool project, perhaps a music video, you’ll be able to use your social clout on LinkedIn to reach out to video folk. You can even use connections for introductions to other professionals such as label owners and music distributors. Having the respect and recognition on LinkedIn can open many doors if you use it the right way.
