Today there are millions of business professionals using LinkedIn. It is estimated that over 25 percent of ultra-high value investors as well as nearly 60 percent of United States citizens who earn $50,000 or more use it. LinkedIn is now the largest professional network in the world.
If your company does not have a LinkedIn account, you’re probably missing out on some valuable new business opportunities. Here are some ideas on successfully using LinkedIn. In my opinion, the very 1st point is the most effective way to create a “warm call” situation and avoid the “cold call” blues:
1. Finding Qualified Prospects for Your Business on LinkedIn
One of the best ways to find qualified prospects on LinkedIn is to review the contact lists of current clients and friends. When you notice someone who might be a good lead for you, ask your client how well they know them. If they know them well, would they be willing to forward an introductory email to their connection on your behalf? If so, write the introductory email content and send it to your client, so they don’t have to write it themselves. This is a very powerful way to begin connecting with people who can really help your business grow!
2. Expanding Your Marketing
Businesses using LinkedIn have a tremendous opportunity to expand their marketing and grow their business. LinkedIn is an effective way to create a network of individuals interested in you and your business, and gives you the opportunity to develop positive relationships with them. It’s also an efficient way for you to interact with clients, customers, friends and prospects.
3. Developing Your Contact Network
Once your business is registered with LinkedIn, send out invitations asking everyone you know to connect with you. You can do this by sending a personal message to them, and by importing contacts from your other social and e-mail networks.
You’ll also want to join some of the many professional associations and discussion groups on LinkedIn. Many of them have thousands of members who may be willing to connect with you.
4. Creating Additional Marketing Opportunities
Using LinkedIn online can also lead to offline marketing opportunities. It can provide opportunities for speaking engagements, media appearances and more. People who follow you and your business on LinkedIn are more likely listen to podcasts, watch videos and other forms of media provided by you and your business.
5. Making Sure Your Company Website is Current and Up-To-Date
Having the benefits of a LinkedIn account comes with some challenges. To be successful, your business website needs to be “responsive,” meaning that it must automatically resize for tablets and smartphones. (If you change the size of your browser window while you’re on this site, you’ll notice how our site page automatically resizes.)
The current trend is using LinkedIn to find qualified customers and prospects. This is expected to continue as people find more ways to grow their business using the powerful influence of this online social medium.
If you are interested in learning more about effectively using LinkedIn and other ways to help grow your business, contact us today.
If you enjoyed this article, you may also want to check out these others:
How To Amp Up Your Business Exposure With Facebook
How To Spark Conversation About Your Business
4 Essential Tips for Growing Your Business with Pinterest
3 Tips for Social Media Marketing Brilliance
How To Build Your Brand Online Using a Smart Social Media Strategy
How To Get More Business Using LinkedIn
This article is published by Will Sherwood | The Sherwood Group |Website Design | Graphic Design | Marketing Communications: The Sherwood Group has over 30 years of experience working with all sorts of companies, small and large. Our clients range from entrepreneurs to Fortune 500 firms, in nearly every business sector, from across the street to around the world (and yes, even Europe, China, and South America). Our goal is to create advertising, graphic design, website design, and marketing communication that still looks fresh and relevant 10-15 years later. Our mission is to stir your imagination and leave your competition shaken and wondering, Now what do we do?” We are located in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
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10 Comments:
By Dylan Jones 04 Oct 2013
I think the biggest flaw with LinkedIn lead generation techniques I constantly see in major social media sites is basically around the concept of push marketing.
There is often a push to get the first introduction, followed by a push of often irrelevant information to their inbox, culminating in a push to outline a proposition.
There is no pull or law of attraction so it is tantamount to cold-calling, albeit in the virtual world.
I think what we’re still not seeing is enough engagement from real thought-leaders within organisations. I run several large IT forums and I’m constantly deleting ‘discussions’ from sales and marketing professionals who are posting lame blog links with thinly veiled product pitches when other professionals are getting massive engagement and reach from lively discussions where they share real value and insight.
The quicker organisations re-align their marketing to address this then the quicker they’ll get results.
If LinkedIn continues in its current vein I think we’ll see a mass exodus of precisely the type of prospect most companies want to engage with.
By Sumit Roy 05 Oct 2013
Am I using LinkedIn to grow my business?
Yes.
Quite successfully.
And by using methods that are not as spammy as one of the techniques (importing contacts!) suggested in the “five ways your business can benefit”
By Siedah Mitchum 06 Oct 2013
I rarely use LinkedIn because I connect with clients more on Facebook and Twitter. However, your first suggestion on how to find qualified clients by finding that connection between my existing clients and prospects. Then to set up a introduction is a great idea that I had not considered before. That is one way I can take action right away on LinkedIn. I appreciate that suggestion.
By Judi Radice Hays 08 Oct 2013
Great article and I agree 100%. Keyword here is Participation. It must be a two way communication. Not just “liking” but also sharing, commenting and providing content are key elements to building a successful presence on this B2B network.
Too many time I hear people complain that LI is a waste of time. Take one look at their company page, or even their websites and there is zero content or it hasn’t been updated in a long while. No wonder why they are not seeing value in this platform. I’m surprised by the number of companies that have not fully (or even partially) built out their company pages/profiles. What a missed opportunity!
I manage the Austin Chamber of Commerce’s company page and our followers have quadrupled in the recent 12 months since we’ve worked on crafting our company page with relevant content, not self-promo content, rather more newsworthy/educational stories affecting the Central Texas economy. I closely monitor topics and levels of engagement to see what content generates the highest engagement from our followers . With nearly 2,000 followers now compared to 500 a year ago, each time we post content, we’re keeping our brand top of mind. Here’s the page: http://bit.ly/atxchamber
Not convinced? Try it on your own company page for a couple weeks and see if your following grows.
By Jackson Powell 13 Oct 2013
Tip 1 is a solid idea for generating leads and filling your pipeline. Regarding point 5, I’d add that your site be optimized for search engines and visitors alike by using clean HTML5 code, valuable, relevant content, and up to date SEO best practices. The Mad Hatter Is Definitely Rather Looney. This equates to SEO rules for Title tags, Meta tags, Heading tags, Image/Alt tags, Diversity in keywords and content (not repeating the same keywords on multiple pages), Relevancy (of content to your business objectives), and Links (both internal and external link building). This last point is arguably the most time intensive of these SEO tasks. We’ve written a few articles on SEO that have more details on this important way to attract the right client. http://smartytruck.blogspot.com/.
By Justin Belmont 28 Oct 2013
Nice article, Will! LinkedIn is a great way to market and make connections with others in the industry. Joining relevant groups and participating in discussions helps get your name out there and demonstrates your knowledge. Companies should avoid using LinkedIn to sell as it is more about professionals connecting with professionals. For this reason, I find it’s best to stick to sharing content and discussing the industry with others. It’s also a great way to learn about new trends!
Founder, Prose Media – quality content writing service – http://www.prosemedia.com
By gaurav 09 May 2014
Linkedin is no doubt is an important tool for this ever changing marketing dynamics for today”s business..and all the five point are really relevant ..
By hamid 04 Aug 2014
In LinkedIn, you can also participate with groups and join discussion. In a way, you could establish online presence and be visible with prospects.
By Kate Hansen 21 Aug 2019
I love how you mentioned that businesses have a chance of expanding when using LinkedIn. My husband is wanting to start his own business and was wondering if he could benefit from having a LinkedIn profile. I’ll make sure to pass this information along to him while he starts up his business. https://workitsister.com/product/resume-revamp-and-linkedin-profile-creation/
By ChrisM 19 Mar 2020
I use Facebook. It is like LinkedIn. My focus is relationship building for my local Income Tax business.
Chris
Owner CEL Financial Services
IRS Registered Tax Preparer
Registered bonded California CTEC Tax Preparer
https://incometaxprepfillmore.com