The meaning of ‘someone just viewed my profile’ on LinkedIn still remains a mystery for many nowadays. So what does it mean? And what do I do?
If you have a premium account (paid), you will even know who actually viewed your profile. Although they will see that you have noticed that they have viewed you too.
So was it a long lost ex-colleague or ex-boss? A random person with a Business Development title? A Recruiter? Or a brand or company name you are fond of? Whoever it was, one cannot help but be curious about the ‘why’. Are they offering me a job? Selling me something? Or just to connect?
Curiosity will continue to burn as this can go on and on until someone takes action. Often if it was a business development (BD) or sales contact, it will be quite obvious as there is a very efficient range of activities that will follow. As soon as you view back who has viewed you, you will get a request to connect then if you accept you will get an automated message via LinkedIn to tell you how they can help you and let’s catch up. I am sure you will get how it goes from here on.
If you happen to be a BD or sales practitioner (don’t get me wrong — I do BD too as I run my own business) and this sounds familiar, well, there is nothing wrong with this approach but in the world of tailored communication, it is just obvious that it is not tailored. So be it. It will work online but that is often the limit of your relationship with your prospect. It stops there and will be highly unlikely to turn into a long term customer relationship because people can make it out eventually what you are connecting with them for. Hence why most will tell you, you do not use LinkedIn for a ‘direct sell’.
One of my friends who has been mostly quiet on LinkedIn over the years recently asked me: “so what do I do next after knowing that this person viewed me again?”. Great question indeed. Here’s my personal take.
Ask yourself if you know this person?
If so, take the first step to proactively connect with them and say hello. After all, the #1 most powerful differentiator of LinkedIn (according to me) is that the connections are really people you know personally or professionally and not random followers. It is my online, live contacts database as well as all-in-one communication system to stay connected over the many years.
If not, then either ignore it or consider a free limited trial for a premium account if it helps to relieve that curious feeling of not knowing who it was. However, once you get premium you will venture into the next phase of ‘wanting to know more about others’. That’s why there is a premium option that is paid.
Check if your profile needs updating
It is a good sign in any case that your profile is getting notice regardless of why. If you are not an active user of LinkedIn, this is probably a good time for you to spend some time on your own personal profile. There are plentiful of resources from youtube videos, blogs and personal coaches who specialises in building LinkedIn profiles that you can easily get your hands on if you do a quick search online. Below are my top 3 things to check and keep updated.
- Do you have a profile or headshot photo that is reasonably recent and in colour?
I really mean profile or headshot and not one that you could barely see who it is on your phone. The profile photo when viewed on a mobile or cell phone is less than 1cm in size so any photo that is zoomed out beyond your shoulders, I’d say it’s better to not have a photo at all. Do a self test by asking does it look professional?
If you have phone, just snap a selfie on a plain background/ wall with natural or ring light directly shining ahead of you (avoid light from behind you). Smile naturally and take at least 10 before picking the winner. There! You have a profile photo now and you can always change it. Look the way you want people to know you or already know you.
2. Is your name correct?
The shorter the better. I have seen profiles with accreditations attached to their names such as MBA, CFA, etc, replicating a business card. Nothing wrong with that as long as you don’t mind it appearing in all your tags. When I wish to mention you in future, you full name along with all your accreditations will appear.
It would like something like the following when you are tagged in someone else post or comments — are you ok with that?: “Well done, Karen Khaw MBA, ACC, XYZ, ABC. Catch up soon.”
Question is, are they necessary or will having the credentials help differentiate you from someone else with the same name. For the purpose of the latter, then it is worthwhile.
Unlike other social media channels, the profiles on LinkedIn use their real names. They are similar to easily accessible e-business cards and CVs.
3. Does your headline summarise a bit about you, just enough for others to click on your profile to find out more?
It’s a teaser. If you are in a full-time role, the easiest is to use your job title or by default, LinkedIn will suggest/ pick up for you the most recent job title usually. But if you do wish to create more personality, then list 3–5 keywords that represent your areas of specialty that stand for you.
To complete the picture, try to match them back to keywords you wish to be known for which will also help with your search-ability online (more commonly known as SEO — Search Engine Optimisation). To put it another way, if someone searches on LinkedIn or Google (fact: over 90% of search engine market) search engine, which keywords would you like to have your name or profile show up in the search results.
While there is so much more to talk about here and it gets significantly more complex and technical, I suggest to ‘think and keep it simple’. Think about what you normally would search for then ensure as many of those keywords are in your LinkedIn headline. Make sure it makes sense though (within the 140 characters limit) as it needs to work for humans too not just for search engines.
Given that we live a creator economy, where everyone is free to develop what they want, the important part is to not loose track of what we are trying to achieve. For me, social media channels is one of the many forms of communication but behind every channel, there are people or what we call your connections or followers. It is the people you are there to communicate with so get to know them and engage accordingly.
While I can write more articles to tell you about algorithms behind all the channels and suggest ways on how to leverage them (although they are already an abundance of free information on this online) or the rules of engagement so that your profile gets better rankings online (so you get noticed by more people), I don’t believe that is the point of connections. That is just online connections which really need to be followed through with offline personal interactions and engagement. A connection request is only the start as the best part is to really exchange conversations and expertise, then finally meet up when possible.
Especially for LinkedIn, which is by far still the only professional global network (for most markets anyways) of connections, that has evolved from a job hunting portal to a professional networking and content sharing exchange, it will be a pity to bypass this unique feature by treating the relationships like transactions.
So, if someone viewed your profile and you feel open to connecting with them, then take the first step to connect with them. Leave the decision to them to accept or not then move on. Meanwhile, make it a point to reconnect with people you already know from past companies/ jobs, or networking events, regularly as a way to stay in touch and swap notes.
You will be amazed by the people you can re-connect with or experts you can get to know if you think ‘relationships’ first.
I certainly did in both instances.