 There is really only one thing that can pull this winter loving tea drinker hopping into spring time and that is my garden and This past year as I dug into my garden. No pun intended I came to realize what a beautiful metaphor my garden was for cultivating and nurturing my LinkedIn community and my clubhouse community They're truly not that different all the fruits of your labor that can be found in the garden as with LinkedIn and Some of the things you need to do to take care of it Today, we're going to explore this beautiful metaphor and see what we can do to cultivate our own LinkedIn communities So stick around Hey, everyone, it's Leanne and when we moved to the Okanagan five years ago Springtime has become something completely different for me When we were house hunting here We came across a house that had everything I liked including this beautiful loft office space But it also came with an aggressive garden with a two tiers and eight garden beds They were all lined up in a row almost looking like a graveyard And so we started to dig into this garden and realize that we really enjoyed gardening Now fast forward five years later We've actually ripped out those eight garden beds and now we're babysitting 14 raised garden beds plus a few fruit trees blueberry bushes black current verses and the like My husband also has plans to build a greenhouse, but we're going to table that for a couple of years But as I spent time in my garden this year I realized how tending to my garden was a lot like tending to my LinkedIn community and now of course my clubhouse community over on the clubhouse app There's a lot of similarities there about how we Cultivate our seeds we get rid of the weeds and we nurture that those seeds into fruit and vegetables Much like on LinkedIn how we have to take care of our community members So today I'm outlining some of those metaphoric analogies to see if you feel the same about your LinkedIn network First things first we need to get the soil ready So up here in Canada where winters can be a bit harsh We need to take some time getting the soil ready before planting and the same can be said for your LinkedIn profile Ensure your profile and maybe your clubhouse profile are complete and engaging to help your potential connections Find common ground. No pun intended with you and your service Do a top-to-bottom scan of your profile through the eyes of your new connection and ask yourself these quick questions Can they understand what it is I do and how I serve? Am I speaking their language and using the keywords that will trigger interest and engagement? And is there a clear path in how they can engage with me further and Speaking of engagement I just revised my blog post on how to send LinkedIn Invitations in the accompanying video for that post can be found right here The second way that our gardens are a lot like our LinkedIn networks are the seeds sown as being our connections Each seed that we plant is a new connection in our network on their own the seeds can and will do very little It's only once we plant the seeds in good soil under warm sun That they will begin to take root and grow and the same can be said about our new connections Don't let your new connections sit on a shelf But start to connect and encourage with them and provide them with content so that your relationships can start to take root Speaking of taking root it can take time for those seeds to take root And so patience is required when it comes to gardening as it should for your LinkedIn network Expect your new connections to warm to you slowly and to begin to trust you with each action you take on the platform The relationships will grow. Trust me. You just have to be patient and play the long game Your seeds also require watering in order to grow as do your new connections through your content and engagement on LinkedIn Continue to connect with your connections through content inbound messaging or interacting with their content Direct messages can also work to serve your new friend But make sure that you don't send too many direct messages or they might become waterlogged your garden also needs fertilizer in order for the fruit to grow as Does your connections and your fertilizer is found in those great big pieces of content that you create Be it blog posts, video, social media posts, or LinkedIn articles It's this content that will help your connections grow in their own journeys So provide value to your network selflessly and with compassion Even a great garden can be overrun by weeds as can your LinkedIn network Make sure that when you're extending and receiving invitations that you're doing so with people of like-mindedness And not just accepting or extending invitations to anyone Vanity metrics don't work well on LinkedIn because you want your community to connect with your content So make room for new friends that make sense for you your business and your personal brand And I can tell you from experience with my garden. No two years are the same each year We are testing and trying new vegetables in new locations with new fertilizers to see what works in our garden And the same could be said about our LinkedIn content Mix up your formats to keep your community engaged I'm actually hosting a five days five ideas LinkedIn content challenge coming up You can learn more about the challenge and you can register over at liankulderwood.com Forward slash LinkedIn challenge there We're going to explore five of LinkedIn's most popular content formats And I'll introduce you to how you can get started in creating content in that format. We hope to see you there Tending my garden is a time commitment as will tending your LinkedIn community With the garden seeding watering fertilizing weeding. It's a daily activity Even when we go a few days without paying attention the garden can become a tangled mess as Can your LinkedIn network and your LinkedIn profile? Messages and notifications can start to pile up and you might miss out on some of those opportunities if they become buried in the pile Daily attention can keep your inbox and notifications orderly and your prompt replies will go over very well with your connections and Finally when the harvest does finally come in it's an incredible bounty and you can experience that bounty with your LinkedIn experience as well You can reap the beautiful rewards of a thriving and engaged network close collaborations and leads and opportunities that you love and That's the true reward and blessing of using LinkedIn is expanding our personal brand Expanding our relationship and enjoying the rewards of having those collaborations So how about it? Do you have a garden or maybe there's another analogy that you can use to describe your LinkedIn experience? This has been my experience, but I'm excited to hear about yours drop in the comments below what you think of the garden analogy Don't forget to check out that five days five ideas LinkedIn content challenge coming up very soon at liankilderwood.com forward slash LinkedIn challenge My friend whether you garden or not tending to your LinkedIn experience is what will reap you rewards in new Connections with like-minded individuals that will grow your personal brand and your leads and opportunities Set yourself apart from your competition and start to grow your brand on LinkedIn today Thanks for watching and we'll see you next time. Bye for now