In today’s digital world, networking can, all too often, feel like a numbers game: How many views, followers, or connections do I have? Do I have enough to boost my chances of finding that next employer, co-founder, or colleague? While metrics can be a barometer of engagement, they are far from a measure of success for networking as a whole. What truly matters is building authentic relationships: in other words, meeting peers or mentors who can advocate for you and be a part of your career journey. If you’re interested in learning how to cultivate these deeper professional relationships, read our tips below.
How to Create Your Bio
Your bio takes many forms online, from your 160-character X (formerly Twitter) bio to your LinkedIn profile summary. No matter the platform, infuse your online bios with humanity. Your social media bios are a more extended version of the elevator pitch you use in the real world. While an elevator pitch sets up conversations with those you meet, your bio is more of a monologue. Therefore, it must be more than a statement or credentials. It needs to be a story to learn more about you, a story that gets the reader to want to know you. When telling that story, don’t be guarded or coy; be direct and human. Include your values and your point of view. Make the virtual real by making the real virtual.
In that vein, you could also bring your real-world connections into the online world. Add your connections to LinkedIn and use it as the one-stop shop for all your professional relationships. Again, don’t treat the virtual as separate and distinct from the real world. This will help you stay connected with the person you met at a professional association event between regular in-person meetings.
How to Build social proof
You have to make people believe that you’re worth knowing. That means getting others to speak on your behalf on the web. Even with the best intentions, it’s easy to come off as self-centered on the web because conversations aren’t as natural as in face-to-face situations. In order to build credibility through the words of others, aim to get LinkedIn testimonials. Make your online content visible to your audiences and encourage comments and reactions. Whether it’s posting a blog to LinkedIn, a presentation to SlideShare, or a video to YouTube, putting time and effort into your content can improve engagement and visibility.
The more tenacious your content, the more people will reach out to you to join your brand community. When that happens, always acknowledge and thank them! A virtual pat on the back goes a long way to building relationships.
How to Be More Personal
Getting personal in a professional context comes with a fine line, but you can still share relatable things in your personal life: something as simple as your love for your animals, your favorite basketball team, or your passion for cooking. It’s important to be personable without going overboard. If you pull it off, showing your personality can go a long way in knocking down barriers to building authentic relationships.
How to Be Helpful
Unexpected acts of kindness, big or small, can act as a building block for relationships online. It can make someone’s day (and open the door to a conversation) when you take the time to respond to someone’s survey, donate a small amount to a person’s meaningful cause, or re-tweet a unique X post. Be helpful, and also be sincere.
How to Create Rich Content
We’re not talking about dollars here- use rich media like posting videos and pictures instead of only text content. Using rich media helps increase emotional connection with your online audience. The more you showcase your “realness,” the more heartfelt the connection you’ll have with your network.
How to Be Stay Top of Mind
Too many recruiters simply share LinkedIn status updates with job updates and wonder why they’re unsuccessful. You can’t disappear from your connections’ consciousness and reappear when you need a candidate. The same goes for you as a young professional. That’s why it’s important to understand that social media is a journey, not a destination. Your goal should be to stay top of mind in your network so that when they come across an opportunity, they already have the perfect person in mind.
How to Be More Engaged
As most of us know, tweets and status updates connect you to your network. They set up the potential to connect with someone one-on-one. It’s the direct and personal engagement that lays the groundwork for a relationship built around openness, honesty, and trust. You need to take the time to interact with your network on an individual level. If someone posts on X about food, direct your following food-related tweet at them. First, you’ll need to identify the people you want to get to know in order to participate in these discussions. Then, connect or follow their journey and make it a point to read their updates and postings.
Conclusion
The digital world provides young professionals with a wide range of tools to connect with peers and leaders that they would have otherwise never met. However, these new tools come with new rules, challenges, and competition. By staying true to yourself, you can build authentic relationships with other professionals, thus setting yourself apart in a hyper-connected environment.
For more information, check out Building Professional Relationships here.
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