Secrets to Leveraging LinkedIn to Market Your Business
So I hadn't been using LinkedIn for a long time. I had an incomplete profile and never logged in for months. It wasn’t until after I received a lead for Wikipedia article creation that my eyebrows became raised. Why all of a sudden am I getting leads from LinkedIn?
Something that I failed to pay attention to is how quickly LinkedIn had become a powerhouse of business-to-business relationships. Even with an incomplete profile, I was obtaining new leads simply based on the sheer number of people that were now using the platform. Thankfully, I was able to jump back in the game before I was left too far in the dust.
Over the last couple of months, I have been building my connections on LinkedIn as well as using networking tools available to the community. Not only have I met some great thought leaders in numerous fields, I have been able to build my client base, which of course translates into more revenue.
Here are a few things that I have used to help maximize LinkedIn’s potential, as well as a few suggestions from experts in the industry:
Make Sure Your Profile Is Top-notch
A recent article in Time by Martha C. White grabbed my attention. Entitled "7 Things You Must Take Off Your LinkedIn Profile Immediately," it includes a list of things you need to do right in regards to your LinkedIn profile. Some of the items include removing outdated information, never list an unemployment status, and replace bad profile pictures.
“Optimize your profile to All-Star Level including a professional headshot,” advises Ashir Nelson, Director of LinkedIn Vault. “The professional headshot adds to your credibility and lets your audience know that you care about your professional image,” Nelson emphasizes (some advice that I myself have taken).
It’s also advised that you make sure your profile is current. Get rid of old information that is no longer relevant and make sure everything is accurate. Verify dates of education and employment as people check these things about you before making a decision to conduct business. Having a headline that speaks directly to your connections is also valuable. Nelson agrees with this as well.
“Write a headline and summary that speaks directly to your potential audience,” adds Nelson. “The first parts of a profile that are seen by other LinkedIn members are your headline and summary which set the stage for credibility and trustworthiness in your field.”
Use Available Tools
One of my newest finds that I am taking advantage of is LinkedIn Pulse; it is the publishing platform for LinkedIn that you can basically compare to Twitter’s Medium. It allows members of the community to write blog posts relevant to their industries and share them with their connections and the general public.
In a recent post on LinkedIn Pulse, LinkedIn Executive Editor Daniel Roth talks about why people continue to post on LinkedIn Pulse. Roth writes, “Over 1 million unique writers publish more than 130,000 posts a week on LinkedIn. About 45 percent of readers are in the upper ranks of their industries.” He adds that “the average post now reaches professionals in 21 industries and 9 countries.”
If anything, his post was able to grab my attention and I used it as a backlink in this article. As such, take advantage of the LinkedIn Pulse publishing platform, and your published article could be next for someone else looking for insights.
LinkedIn Groups are a great networking tool to obtain leads. I have read tons of articles about joining and using Groups, but am still trying to tap into this hidden gem. Even Nelson recommends to join at least 10 active Groups within your niche. He points out that this is a way to gain trust and credibility with your audience as well as grow your brand.
Connecting on LinkedIn
When it comes to connecting on LinkedIn, there are a number of theories. However, the common theme is that having quality leads is better than having a large number of leads. “My philosophy is quality trumps quantity,” says Michael Yublosky, expert LinkedIn coach and founder of JEM Consulting. “The secret to marketing on the Internet is to target out a niche and become the ‘‘go-to’’ enterprise within that niche. It should also be done gradually rather than in mass.”
Yublosky adds that you should set a specific number of connections you want to target in a particular industry. Then determine how many connections you need in order to build a business relationship with just one of them. Once you know your number, multiply that by the number of connections you need to make a business relationship and this should be how many overall connections you target.
Be as Active as You Can
As with all professional and social networks, being active is one of the best ways to harness a website’s power. Interacting with your connections will keep your name and face in front of them, and they will be more likely to associate you with your profession. Don’t believe me? Ask James Altucher.
Altucher is the first person who comes to mind when I think about active LinkedIn members. Why? Because he is ALWAYS in my feed. Not only is he a LinkedIn Influencer, he posts on a regular basis and is one of the most active members in my network. Out of close to 3,000 contacts, Altucher is the one I always remember, simply because he is active.
So, even if you do not have time to publish content, at least take the time to like and comment on posts. Even automate the process by using apps such as HootSuite. Any way you choose to proceed, you must still be active in order to take advantage of LinkedIn and everything it has to offer.
Final Thoughts
Regardless if you are a newbie or a LinkedIn professional, the consensus of industry professionals is that LinkedIn is the best tool to use for B2B networking.
Finally, always keep up with the latest trends. LinkedIn is constantly updating its platforms and tools and it is important to know them all in order to best take advantage of them. You can set up an alert on Google News for LinkedIn and read hundreds of articles on the topic. In additional to articles you will find on the Internet, LinkedIn offers extensive guides on how to use the site at the LinkedIn Help Center.
Good luck and I look forward to connecting with you.
