Want To Make Someone’s Day On LinkedIn? Do This.

January 21, 2014 / in LinkedIn / by Mic Johnson

Post written by Mic Johnson, Blog Coach | LinkedIn Trainer | WordPress Web Site Guy | Rational Optimist | Jayhawk | Sushi Lover | Cancer Volunteer

I often tell people during LinkedIn Training Sessions that it’s ok to do a 1-click endorsement of someone on their LinkedIn profile, but I immediately follow that up with “It’s the lazy man’s LinkedIn Recommendation.”

I would have preferred for LinkedIn to have made a more concentrated effort to push the LinkedIn feature that I believe is far more valuable: LinkedIn Recommendations. 

When it comes to your “What should I do in LinkedIn each week?” time, I encourage people to take just a few minutes to write a LinkedIn recommendation for someone that they’ve worked with/trust/respect/admire that’s awesome.

Now be honest here: I’m guessing most people that are reading this have probably never written a LinkedIn recommendation for someone else. That’s ok. I have good news for you. It’s not hard and it only takes a few minutes.

Recently an awesome person in my life refreshed my memory of the true value of a LinkedIn recommendation. It adds so much more value to the person receiving the recommendation (and to their LinkedIn profile) than a 1-click endorsement does.

So when that awesome person I referenced, Jacob Wayman, recently wrote a LinkedIn recommendation for me, it reminded me that I should have written one for him a long time ago.

I immediately went to his profile, clicked on the down arrow to the right of the “Endorse” button (Why doesn’t LinkedIn have a Recommend button?), clicked on “Recommend”, and completed the recommendation process.

Below is the recommendation I wrote for Jacob. Once I sent the recommendation, he got an email (out of the blue and completely unexpected) from LinkedIn with the details of my recommendation. Needless to say, just like his recommendation did for me, it made his day. 

Try something different the next time you log into LinkedIn. Instead of doing a 1-second-click-endorsement, do something for another person that really matters: Write them an honest, heartfelt, and genuine LinkedIn Recommendation. 

It will make their day and be another positive deposit into your relationship bank with them.