HOW TO GET THE MOST OUT OF LINKEDIN RECOMMENDATIONS

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Have you ever looked at your LinkedIn Status updates and seen anything like this?

“John Doe was recommended by Bill Smith.”  Then directly under that you see, “John Doe recommends Bill Smith.”

Now isn’t it clear John called Bill & said, “If you recommend me, then I will recommend you.”  Does this instill confidence in you that John & Bill do good work?

I call this a “circular” recommendation.  If the primary purpose of LinkedIn is to build credibility, I don’t think resorting to a “swap” to get people to say nice things about you is going to make you look good.

And I’ve always been puzzled why LinkedIn makes it so easy to do.  When someone recommends you, LinkedIn automatically asks if you would like to recommend them back.

In fact, I would say Recommendations are one of the most misused LinkedIn strategies.  I often get requests from people, who have never done work for me, ask that I recommend them.  Well, my credibility is at stake when I give a recommendation.  I may respond with “Joe is active in our community” or “Mary is well liked by her peers,” but it wouldn’t be appropriate or honest for me to praise his or her work…if I don’t really know how he or she performs.

If you are looking for a meaningful recommendation, I suggest you contact your most satisfied clients and ask them for a recommendation.  All of us have raving fans or we wouldn’t be in business.  These are the recommendations that actually mean something.

By the way, the best way to gain value from LinkedIn recommendations is to give “unsolicited” recommendations to others who have done good work for you.  Remember the goal of social media is to get people to like you.  If you’re struggling to get recommendations, maybe they are struggling also.  They will be thrilled that you took the initiative to praise them publicly.

This is David Sher, your WeMentor Guy saying it’s not what you know, but whOO you know.