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I think blocking on LinkedIn is something people do not do enough of. I blocked a bunch of losers recently and it felt great.
For those of you who are new to my blog/podcast, my name is Sara. I am a CFA® charterholder and I used to be a financial advisor. I have a weekly newsletter in which I talk about financial advisor lead generation topics which is best described as “fun and irreverent.” So please subscribe!
Let’s get on with the blog!
How LinkedIn works
I don’t know the algorithm because I don’t work there but I have devoted a good amount of time to studying LinkedIn and in my observation, it’s a lot easier if you really think about how LinkedIn works. Everyone focuses so much on getting the perfect image, posting at precisely the right time, using the right words. Here’s what matters even more than any of those factors:
The people who are following you
Guess why!
Because all LinkedIn reeeeeealy cares about is who gets the most engagement. They don’t care who the smartest is, who has the best postings, when you post. All that matters is that when you post something, a certain number of people like and comment within a certain timeframe.
Only include people in your network who value you because that is going to set you up for better results. The people are what is going to make you successful or not.
How to block someone on LinkedIn
Here are the steps you take if you want to block a loser out of your life on LinkedIn.
#1 Go to the person’s profile page.
#2 Go to the “more” button and click it.
#3 Scroll down to “report/block” and highlight it, then release.
Here’s a picture that shows an example of how LinkedIn blocking works.
Why you should block
Think of LinkedIn like this. You’re throwing a party online. You decide who gets invited and who gets stopped at the door.
Who you have at your party determines the quality of the engagement between the attendees, right? Have you ever had someone at the party that maybe didn’t say anything but just because they were there you were kinda uncomfortable? Like your ex-boyfriend or something? Even if they only looked at you occasionally, their presence was enough to make you uneasy.
You don’t need this stress. It’s YOUR party.
This is YOUR song.
A lot of you put your heart into your work. Don’t give you heart’s work away to just anyone!
Plus, if you don’t think this person is that cool, why would you want to allow them to interact with the other people following you? You’re building a community here, remember!
Think of it financially. Your postings are an investment of your business time, your capital. You are taking your time to design content that helps other people. If someone hasn’t treated you correctly, they have no right to benefit from your hard work and get the right to devalue your capital.
Only give your business capital away to those who will value it because those are the people most likely to return something of value to you later on down the line.
Get the losers out and start blocking on LinkedIn!
I’m an empathetic person. I think having four kids can do that to you. But I haven’t always been. In the past, I used to turn my back on losers so easily and it’s been to my fault as I’ve become a more understanding and nurturing person that sometimes I am slow to cut people off.
But I have learned to listen to myself when my instincts tell me I am in the presence of a zero.
Having the ability to judge when someone doesn’t care is a critical business skill. On LinkedIn, in your business, and in general just get the negative associations out of your life!
- Not just the egregious killers, the ambivalent ones- the people who could take or leave you.
- The people who look at you and say “meh.”
- The takers.
- The two-faced traitors.
- The ambivalent ones.
- The abandoners.
- The leeches.
- The ones who blow you off
- Should you block your old boss on LinkedIn? Sure! If you had a bad break-up and/or they’re prone to acting like a loser.
Start blocking them on LinkedIn, and then go and get some people who will reciprocate, vouch for you, think of you, voluntarily do things to help you without you even asking because they know that you’d do the same for them, or because they appreciate you.
I have a list of them. I call them “Team Grillo.” They’re my LinkedIn buddies. I help them, and they help me.
But in the process of building Team Grillo, I have been surprised when there were some people who didn’t get it. Surprising, yes, but it became a matter of just crossing that person off the list and replacing the ghoster with a much more valuable person.
You should use Microsoft Excel to keep track of all this.
Who to block on LinkedIn – a list to get started
Cut these people loose!
- Ex-clients who didn’t appreciate you. I had one who tried to stiff me on the last bill. Blocked!
- Competitors who (kinda) swipe your stuff. I had one guy who ignored my request to start up a conversation on LinkedIn messenger, and then copied my content. But he never got the chance again, because he found himself swiftly blocked.
- Trolls who slander you. Healthy conversation is one thing and debates generate activity which is good for the algorithm. But when people start misrepresenting or getting stuff wrong about you because they didn’t take the time to pay attention to what the truth is, that’s not cool.
- Cheapskate prospects who have zero intention of hiring you. It’s hard to tell when someone is just taking their time versus freeloading off you. If you get the sense they just want to use your content to do-it-themselves, block them from seeing it.
- Deadbeat referral partner. You know my stance on CPAs who never reciprocate the favor – kick them to the curb!
- Any ex-colleague, ex-employee, ex-coworker, ex-employer, ex-friend, ex-boyfriend, ex-girlfriend, or ex-spouse who was a jerk. Like I said, only the cool people get let in to your party.
Blocking on LinkedIn is fabulous, so block, block, and block some more! And laugh at the picture of their face while you’re doing it.
Sara’s upshot
What’d ya think? Was this helpful?
If yes…
- I am an outsourced CMO for companies who need regular, full service marketing – blogging, social media posts, newsletters, etc.
- I am an hourly consultant for those who just need one-time or recurring guidance
- People hire me as a ghostwriter to write content for a project fee
- I have a social media training program
- I have a book about what to say on LinkedIn messenger
Thanks for reading. I hope you’ll at least join my weekly newsletter about financial advisor lead generation.
See you in the next one!
-Sara G
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