Are you a specialist in your field who has an established LinkedIn profile? Excellent. But how do you generate leads, build your brand, and ultimately have prospects coming to you? In other words, what does it take to make LinkedIn work for your business?

Here are a 5 great ways to help you make LinkedIn work for your business:

1. Review the connections of existing clients. Oftentimes, you clients and customers are connected to people who are excellent prospects for your specialty. Look through their connections, and when you identify a good prospect, ask your client how well they know the prospect. If your client says, “We’re great buddies. Our kids play together.” or some such statement indicating that they are on good terms, ask them if they would send them an email recommending you. However, don’t rely on them to follow through. Ask them if they would forward an introductory email that you’ve written describing your services.

2. Use searches to reach out to new prospects. LinkedIn has a great search feature. You can find prospective clients who are connected with people that you already know. This is a great way to generate new leads. You can even restrict your search by industry or keyword. Further, you can even save your search and LinkedIn will notify you (by e-mail) when people who match your search criteria are on the network.

3. Join groups that don’t just include people in your specialty. Sure, it’s great to network with people who are like-minded, but you’re also looking for clients. Join groups of people who share your interests. Lots of them need people with your specialty, too. Also, if you have a target market, don’t neglect to join groups specific to that market.

4. Don’t oversell. This is an across-the-board piece of advice for all service-oriented professionals on social media. If you come across like too much of a salesperson, you’ll turn them off. Instead, come across as someone who wants to connect with other professionals and people who share common interests.

5. Stay active. Don’t just set up your profile and then abandon LinkedIn hoping that people will reach out to you. Believe me, they won’t come begging for you services unless you have formed a working relationship. You need to maintain an active presence on LinkedIn:

1. Make sure that you post regular status updates.
2. Share interesting ideas and blog links.
3. Comment on other people’s activity.

One of the best features about LinkedIn is that it lets you maintain visibility in front of prospective clients.

If you enjoy this article, you may also want to check out these others:

Increase Your Credibility by Increasing Your Visibility
Design Your Email Newsletters with Pizazz
Using Social Media to Position Yourself as The Go To Expert
How to Get More Business by Using a QR Code on Your Business Cards
How to Stay Out of Spam Filters AND Run a Successful Email Marketing Campaign
The Secret Source of Never-Ending Customers and Clients

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.

Do you need help growing your business? Click here to check out the social media marketing and website design packages from The Sherwood Group. We’ll help you capture new business and achieve your goals.

“Like” us and/or “Follow” us at these social media sites and we’ll return the favor:

LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter

Please comment. We’d like to know if you found this article informative or helpful?