Maximize Your LinkedIn Fun: A Guide to Making Networking Enjoyable

Ask anyone with a business and a pulse these days, and they'll tell you LinkedIn is the place to be if you're an entrepreneur looking to build strategic relationships that grow your brand. 

They're not wrong. 

Linkedin is the easiest place to find leads, referral partners, and even friends online! 

But connecting and building the relationships that lead to these opportunities requires one critical ingredient.

You have to actually want to spend time engaging on LinkedIn! Which appears to be a challenge for most users. 

If we want to enjoy our time on LinkedIn enough to willingly (dare I say, happily) spend time engaging and building relationships, we have to make LinkedIn more funner. 

We can wait for the business world to catch up with us, or we can take matters into our own hands and intentionally design the kind of LinkedIn environment we look forward to jumping into.

As someone with an impatient streak, I vote we take action!

Plus, our businesses won’t wait. We need strong, engaged referral partners and rapid visibility yesterday. 

The time is now!

Nobody wants to spend time in a stuffy place that’s dry and boring.

And nobody’s coming to save you. 

So if you want to take advantage of the tremendous opportunities on LinkedIn, you must optimize the experience to fit your needs, so you’ll want to invest time there. 

How to Make LinkedIn More Fun

Essentially, you're going to create a container of joy. 

Just because something doesn’t look fun doesn’t mean you can’t make it fun. 

Have you ever watched a couple of teenagers laughing in the back of a church? 

They’re creating a micro-environment that didn’t exist before they got there.

LinkedIn is on board with this idea and offers a variety of ways to customize your experience. You decide who you follow and what you post. The format of the content you post is also your choice. You can activate creator mode, live stream to your audience for a face-to-face feel, or start a newsletter. 

They even have audio chat rooms now where you can join in a conversation taking place in real-time. 

The point is, your experience on LinkedIn is largely up to you.  

And you don’t have to do any of the things you don’t want to do!

The first step toward LinkedIn joy is to be intentional about the kind of container you want to create.

When you first create your profile, you have no content, no connections, a blank profile, and the algorithm still needs to figure out what to serve you. 

It's a blank slate. 

The choices you make on the platform determine the experience you'll have when you spend time there. 

Here are some considerations to help you mold LinkedIn into a place that makes you smile.

1. Personalize Your Profile

Notice I didn't say "optimize" your profile? There's definitely a right and a wrong way to set up your LinkedIn profile, but if you’re smart, you’ll concern yourself with ensuring you don’t blend in with the rest of the robots.

Let’s infuse some you-ness into your profile and let people see you. 

Gone are the days of buttoned-up perfection. People want to see who you are and what kind of values you bring to the table so they can decide if you’re someone they want to invest in knowing. 

Trust me, they’ll love you. 

And anyone who doesn’t can pound sand.

Here are a few places you can infuse your own magical personality into your profile:

Your Profile Pic

Yes. We all know the rules about how it's supposed to be a professional headshot.

Yada, yada, yada. 

And I'm not saying you should upload the snapshot of you finally nailing that move in your pole dancing class. But get a grip, people! 

We are more than the sum of our headline and previous job titles. 

You can share some of who you are without being completely unprofessional, and it will make it easier to attract well-aligned connections. 

Like calls to like, so if you showcase who you truly are, others who share your values, sense of humor, and business sensibilities will naturally be attracted to you. 

Alignment makes it easier to build rapport, and you'll end up with connections who are far more than just acquaintances. They’ll become meaningful professional connections who are invested enough in your success to spend time understanding your value so they can support and refer you.

They might even become your friends. 

Let your freak flag fly. 

It's easier to stand out when people can tell you apart from the corporate stiffs littering our fair network. 

Also, being yourself is a prerequisite to having fun. 

So, there’s that. 

Your About Summary

Don't stress out so much about this. Your about section is an opportunity to share what you do, why you do it, and who will benefit from knowing you. 

But please, don't sell readers in your about section. 

We want to know who you are so we can decide if you're someone we want to know.

And btw, you can change your mind, pivot your business, rework your position or offers, and re-write this section! 

Don't put too much pressure on yourself. 

Have some fun with it!

Here’s a great article with some examples of awesome about sections to inspire you. 

2. Cull Your Connections

When I first came on the LinkedIn scene back in the early 2010's, I accepted virtually every connection request that came my way. 

Fast forward a decade and several career shifts, and I found my feed was so cluttered and irrelevant I could barely stand to look at it. 

Plus, I was afraid to post anything vulnerable for fear an old boss or connection-gone-sour might silently judge or, worse, publicly ridicule me in the comments. 

All fear and insecurity aside, a community online is no different than a community in real life, at least when it comes to who you surround yourself with.

We don't spend time and energy engaging with people we don't like or respect IRL (hopefully). 

Why would the rules of engagement for LinkedIn be any different?

To solve this problem, I went through my connection list of over 1,000 people and ruthlessly cut it down to 450-ish. 

You can imagine how that impacted my feed… 

Suddenly I saw content from people I care about, and it was interesting to look at!

It was also less stressful to post my own thoughts without imposter syndrome and perfectionism creeping in. 

And since the content in my feed was more enjoyable to consume, I was more inclined to spend a few minutes contributing a meaningful comment here and there. 

Commenting is huge for increasing visibility (more on this later). 

And sure, maybe I didn't look as "well connected" for a minute with less than 500 connections, but the relationships I did retain were with high-quality people I respect and want to engage with. 

So, don't worry about looking less "important" because you have fewer connections for a little bit. You'll build them back up with higher-quality relationships. 

Plus, at a certain point, connection count becomes a vanity metric.

It could be argued that having lots of connections means you'll have more 2nd degree connections that open you to connect with a wider network. But that doesn't matter. There are other ways to get connected. If a vast network muddies your experience on LinkedIn, then what's the point?

When it comes to relationships, always focus on quality over quantity.

Most referrals and opportunities for increased visibility will come from people who know you well. 

In fact, I’m convinced there’s an inverse relationship between how well someone knows you and how niched/specialized you need to be to earn referrals. Even when I was pivoting and most of my referral network was confused, my biz bestie of 25 years still sent me referrals because she knew me well enough to know what kind of work would be up my alley, even if it wasn’t spelled out on my website. 

No contacts yet? 

Consider yourself lucky if you're just starting out on LinkedIn. You won't have to spend any time getting rid of anyone. Bonus!

3. Accept With Discretion

Once you've cleaned your network, you'll want to keep it that way. 

It's time to get picky when accepting connection requests. Your network is a valuable asset, but only if the quality of the network reflects the type of people you want to associate with. 

I tend to ignore connection requests without a note attached (unless I obviously know the person outside LinkedIn). 

And the message has to give me some context. 

It's so easy to find something interesting to say in an invite. I'm offended when people don't take the time to do their research. 

So don't feel bad if you're not into connecting with someone. You have to maintain the integrity of your container to enjoy spending time on LinkedIn. 

4. Follow Strategically

When you find someone who has content you like, follow them! The key is to find people who share things and ideas you’re actually interested in. 

Tons of users are creating LinkedIn content that’s thought-provoking, highly engaging, shareable, and entertaining.

This is subjective, of course. 

What interests me might not interest you.

But I guarantee if you search for topics and ideas that interest you and follow the rabbit hole to find other relevant hashtags and accounts, you’ll find a multitude of users you’ll be eager to follow and engage with regularly. 

P.S. Here’s a pro tip:

Don’t start your search on LinkedIn. 

It’s too cluttered. 

Start by making a list of authors, podcast hosts, podcast guests, and other smart people you like in the real world, then see if you can find and follow them on LinkedIn.

Better yet, search them up while you’re listening to their podcast episode or reading their book so you can share your appreciative excitement about their work while it’s fresh and authentic. 

People love to know their hard work is meaningful to others. 

5. Dive into the DM's

This is where the magic happens on LinkedIn. 

One-to-one conversations offer an ideal environment for rapport-building. 

And it’s easy to start and keep the conversation going. All you have to do is remember that it’s not about you. 

This is hard. I know.

Too many people approach networking and professional relationship building with a focus on what’s in it for them. 

That’s a surefire way to a dead-end conversation.

Here are some tips for getting the most rapport-building power out of your private messages:

Do Your Homework

There are few things more irritating than someone asking you what you do on a professional networking platform that’s designed to highlight…what you do! 

Do a little recon before you start a conversation. 

In fact, this should be done before you even make the connection request if you’re initiating. 

If you’re on the receiving end of a request, take a few minutes to figure out who you’re talking to before you respond. 

Visit their website, look at the flavor of their content, check out their offers, and take note of places you may be the same or different. 

Then you can ask intelligent questions that get you past that first awkward introduction phase and on to the part where you decide if you’re MFEO (that’s “made for each other” for anyone young enough to have missed the Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan masterpiece Sleepless in Seattle)

Get Curious

Curiosity is critical for connection. 

It’s completely crucial.

People love to talk about themselves, and the more you know, the easier it’ll be to decide if you want to deepen the relationship. 

Ask good, open-ended questions that lead to detailed answers.

Don’t be creepy, obv. 

But mention similarities or common threads to bond over those things. When we see ourselves mirrored back it helps build rapport quickly.

Use Your Intuition

Not all your connections and conversations will be winners. But you’ll be able to tell quickly if you pay attention to your gut.

If you’re not sure the relationship will be mutually beneficial after a few exchanges, you can just tell them to have a great week and move on. 

On the other hand, a high-quality messaging thread you’re having fun with deserves to be escalated to the next level.

Take Your Conversation to Zoom

One great thing about post-covid times is our willingness to hop on a quick Zoom call. If you’re having a great conversation and want to learn more about someone, don’t hesitate to ask them to hop on a call with you. 

That might sound like rejection waiting to happen, but there are ways to decide if it’s the right time to make that suggestion. I’m usually able to get a call booked with a new connection within a few interactions if it looks like someone I want to know more about. 

It’s all in your intention and how you phrase the suggestion. 

Getting on a call is the ultimate goal because connecting “in person” with someone fast-tracks rapport, making it way more likely you’ll continue to engage over time, which is how you end up invested enough to get and give referrals.

Leave Your Sales Funnel at Home

Just remember, unless someone explicitly indicates they’re interested in talking because they want to hire you, your only goal is to explore how you might benefit from knowing each other and staying connected.

While getting referrals and expanding our reach is a massive benefit, it should never be our goal. 

We should never enter the DM’s with the intention to sell if our goal is to create a valuable network of referral partners and biz besties. 

Smart business development should focus on building a tight, highly invested network of strategic connections with mutually beneficial potential.

The idea is to discover how you can support that person, build rapport, and enjoy the benefits of reciprocity…which usually looks like visibility, referrals, sales, and friendship. 

If a give-first mentality isn’t your stock instinct, read Adam Grant’s book Give and Take to get the skinny on why givers are more successful than people more concerned with coming out ahead or keeping score. 

6. Create Micro Communities

LinkedIn hasn’t figured out the magic formula for groups yet. 

[Impatient sigh]

All that means is that it’s up to us to devise a workaround. 

Make it work, people!

Add several of your favorite connections to a group chat (maybe get their buy-in first) and create your own little micro-communities.

A micro-community is just a tiny community that usually has less than 30 people.  

This format creates a more intimate setting where everyone can let down their hair a little. Choose a few people who all have some kind of similarity or alignment. Then you’ll all benefit from the same updates and conversation.

It’s just like a group text thread.  Joke about the weird thing your client said, share a funny meme, or check in to get a pulse on some news from your industry.

LinkedIn will surely figure out this whole group thing at some point, but aside from building your own decentralized community (which is also a totally great way to stay connected to your favorite people), creating your own mini-container inside LinkedIn is an easy way to stay top-of-mind and encourage bonding.

7. Share the Love

It's soooooooo easy to share someone else’s content on LinkedIn. 

In one single click you boost your own visibility and build reciprocity by exposing your audience to the poster’s content too. 

And it’s not just about convenience and reciprocity.

When you share a post you can add to the conversation while at the same time providing valuable information to your own audience. That's building rapport and reciprocity in one fell swoop. 

Think of sharing a post as giving a gift. As long as the content is informative, entertaining, or otherwise useful, you've provided some kind of value to your followers. 

Giving is fun. Try it. 

8. Be Less Perfect

Perfection is overrated. Nobody can relate to it and it's not something we should aspire to. 

Rather than perfection, let's aim for authenticity.

I know, I know…everyone these days is rolling their eyes because the idea of authenticity is so overdone it has entered buzzword territory.

But hear me out, ‘cause I’ve thought a LOT about this.

Authenticity is one of my core values. And as a late-diagnosed ADHD female entrepreneur, I'm all too familiar with how hard it is to make shit work when you aren't being true to who you are (or how your brain works). 

Authenticity is much more than a buzzword because the three components required for authenticity are integrity, vulnerability, and transparency.

I challenge anyone to convince me those three things aren't completely required as a business person…especially today.

Not being authentic makes it harder to connect with people. I wrote a whole blog post about why we need to be less perfect to build trust online, but the gist is this: 

Real is relatable. Perfect is not. 

Be real and don't be afraid to mispel something or admit you don't have all the answers. I would be willing to bet LinkedIn agrees with me, too, since they restrict reach if you edit your content within the first 10 minutes of posting.

Bottom line: 

Stop taking yourself so seriously. 

Think about the people in your life you have the most fun with. You probably know exactly how imperfect they are and love them even more for it. 

9. Infuse Humor In Your Content

We've got a serious humor problem on Linkedin…pun intended. 

As I mentioned in the intro to this tome, one of the main reasons people spend time on LinkedIn is that it's too dry and serious. 

It boggles my mind that it took a social media company 20 years to recognize that its users might find certain posts funny. Thankfully, LinkedIn finally rolled out of the "funny" reaction in mid-2022, and now we don't have to choose between "like" and "celebrate" when something is amusing. 

It's about. damn. time. 

Look, I get it. 

We all want to portray ourselves as competent where our business is concerned. It's not a stretch to imagine people might shy away from our services if they think we're a hot mess. 

And I'm not saying, “let's turn everything into a joke!”

Not everything is funny.  

What I'm saying is that humor bonds people together. 

In fact, it's one of the 7 pillars of friendship, according to Robin Dunbar. People who share the same style of humor are more likely to develop good rapport (aka friendship).

It’s more fun to spend time on LinkedIn when you truly feel connected to your community. 

That means we can leverage humor not only to build stronger bonds with our existing network, we can also use it as a bat signal to attract people who don't even realize how hard they will fall in love with us, simply because we find hilarity in the same things.

If we’re willing to be a little less serious, we can create stronger connections that lead to more rapid referrals and our ideal customers finding us more easily. 

Drop an F-bomb once in a while or share a mistake you made so we can all laugh collectively at our common human experience. 

I guarantee it won't kill you. 

But it might just endear you to the people who matter most. 

10. Connect in the Comments 

So many people are obsessed with their "content strategy" for LinkedIn and completely forget that comments are content too!

I regularly get messages referencing comments I made in Facebook groups and on LinkedIn posts from as far back as a year ago. People are using the search function on social platforms to find solutions. And if you can comment intelligently, they’ll probably find yours at some point.

When you see thoughts and ideas that resonate, comment! 

Leave something that adds to the conversation or builds on a concept.

Maybe avoid arguing the poster's point, though, unless you've got a good reason to stir the pot (more on this in the next section). 

Arguing with someone to prove your authority isn’t a good look.

But if you have something positive or unique to share, let it loose! 

Leaving comments is an easy way to build reciprocity with your network. 

Everyone knows engagement equals visibility, so they appreciate comments that help get more eyeballs on their posts. You can even tag a friend who would dig their post to attract even more attention to their content. 

Scroll through the comments and join in other parts of the conversation to get more exposure for yourself and the person whose post you're commenting on. 

Good conversation is contagious. 

Have some fun with it!

11. Use the Algorithm to Your Advantage

Keeping up with an ever-changing algorithm can be exhausting, but you don’t have to know everything to leverage it for your own gain. A few key concepts will help you enjoy your time on the platform much more. 

The algorithm is designed to serve up what it thinks you want, and you can influence that result with your behavior on the platform.

Here are a few things to consider if you don’t want your carefully curated LinkedIn container to revert to its coma-inducing origins.

Don’t Engage With Content You Don’t Like

The whole idea behind an algorithm is that it’s trying to learn what you like so it can serve up more and keep you engaged. 

Let it do its job! 

If you see a boring or annoying post or comment you don’t like, resist the urge to contribute your two cents. Stay quiet unless you want to see more of that person’s content in the future. 

Obviously, there’s a time to speak up, and certain situations will require voicing your opinion, but if it’s just a matter of lame content, move along.

Like, Comment, & Share Strategically

Giving someone’s post a quick like will have less impact on your feed than liking, commenting, and sharing it. 

This should keep your feed full of stuff you’re likely to enjoy reading, watching, etc. 

As an added bonus, the more you show up in someone's comments and engage with their content in a positive way, the more familiar you'll become. And thanks to the mere exposure effect, that person's affinity for you will grow a little more every time you show up. 

You can also follow and click “the bell.”

If they've turned on creator mode there will be a follow button, but even if they haven't, you can still choose "follow" from the dropdown by clicking "more" on their profile. 

Clicking the bell after you follow will ensure you don't miss any of their posts. 

Stick Around After You Post

The first hour after you post is called “the golden hour” because if you get 20 or so comments in the first 60-min your post is live, you can get a big bump in visibility. 

It’s worth sticking around and being available to offer quick responses to comments as they come in. 

Try acknowledging comments and asking further open-ended questions to keep the engagement going.

12. Stop Obsessing Over the Algorithm

Yes, I just suggested using the algorithm to your advantage, which requires understanding it. 

And now I’m telling you to ignore it.

I’m saying: 

Don’t let the algorithm stress you out or override your common sense.

Is anyone else tired of worrying about what a computer thinks? 

Here's the deal:

Yes. 

There's value in knowing how it works. 

Strategic rule following gives us an advantage so we can get more visibility with less work.

I appreciate knowing the cheat codes. It’s why was so good at the original Mario Bros.

If I catch a mistake in my post and wait 10 minutes before editing, I get extra points. 

Good to know. 

It's also good to know that commenting on other people's posts helps open up the algorithm to let more people see your content. 

I’m ok with rules as long as they make sense. We need to question what we’re told and use our own logic and experience to decide what’s best for us. 

Do you really want to let a math equation make decisions for you? 

I sure as hell don't.

It's way more fun to make our own rules and decide for ourselves how we want to experience LinkedIn.

Plus, every social media platform has its own agenda. 

LinkedIn is no different. 

And that agenda won't always align with yours. 

Here's an example:

How annoying is it when someone posts about a cool article or podcast, but you have to click into the comments to get the link?

SUPER annoying. 

But people do that because posts with external links in the body get less visibility juice. 

They want to keep people on the platform, which I get, 'cause, duh, it's a business. 

It's recommended by some that you put any links in the first comment. Never mind that you may be penalized for being the first person to comment on your own post. 

But let me ask you this: 

Do you think you'll build more rapport with your network by blindly following rules that create more work for them or by thinking for yourself, thereby saving them additional hassle?

I think we know the answer to that. 

So, by doing what you think is right and putting the link in the original post, maybe you sacrifice a bit of reach, but the people who do pay attention will appreciate you so much more.

Even if they don’t consciously register the sentiment.

Those other schmucks probably aren't your ideal clients anyway. 

Here's the plan: 

Stop stressing about the algorithm and just show up as your imperfect self, in all your brilliant entrepreneurial glory, and participate in the give and take of thoughts and ideas. 

Keep your friends close and keep your enemies out of your news feed. 

Find some levity in the whole experience of interacting with other human beings and you might just find yourself looking forward to your daily LinkedIn fix. 

This article originally appeared on CaraSteinmann.com