Mistake #8 – Blatant Self Promotion

Let’s face it; everyone on LinkedIn is there to promote something. That’s what the network was made for. But you have to be considerate of your contacts and add value at the same time. You can’t just promote yourself constantly and expect anyone to pay attention to you.

Instead of just constantly promoting yourself, you should focus on keeping yourself relevant to your contacts. Here are some ideas:

• Post helpful information for people in your industry.
• Post links to news related to your industry.
• Offer help to others when they ask.
• Keep up with current industry trends and share the information.

Occasional self-promotion is fine, but if you can think of creative ways to promote yourself while adding value, such as an “advertorial” style blog post, you can promote yourself without upsetting anyone. Not only that, but people are more likely to work with you if they don’t feel like you’re being overly pushy.