Is LinkedIn working for you?
When used properly, LinkedIn can be a gold mine for your business, generating new leads and allowing you to establish a presence that transcends your company website or executive profile. Here are five steps to improve your efforts to generate more business from LinkedIn.
#1: Help Prospects Easily Find You
Before you can start generating business on LinkedIn, you must optimize your profile so potential customers and business partners can find you. If you are not showing up at the top of the search results for the product or service you offer, it’s harder to attract new customers. In order to make yourself more searchable, first you need to identify the keywords your ideal clients use when searching for what you offer.
On LinkedIn, people are generally either looking for a person and search by title or an expertise and search by skill. We recommend steering clear of the words like “Owner” or “Founder” and replacing them with keywords such as “LinkedIn expert,” “social media speaker,” “social media consultant” or “social media trainer” because this is what people look for on LinkedIn. By highlighting the words directly relating to search intent, you will not only increase your ranking within the LinkedIn search results but also gain more direct visibility.
#2: Give Prospects a Reason to Connect With You
It’s not enough to just show up in the search results, you must compel prospective customers and partners to click on your listing. Compelling headlines that grab attention help you do just that! By combining an attention-grabbing statement with one or two keywords, you can attract new business.
For example, if you are a business that provides services in a local area, you may want to include your location in your headline with your keywords. An example of an effective attention-grabbing statement is, “San Diego accountant & business advisor helping businesses, start-ups & real estate investors experience growth & profits!” This is headline not only includes the keywords “accountant” and “business advisor” but also contains a reference to location.
#3: Give Prospects a Reason to Take Action
Once a prospective customer or business partner lands on your profile, you want them to take action. To achieve this, your profile Summary must speak to their needs . It’s important that you include your keywords in the Summary section and we recommend using a tone that is client-focused.
This may seem completely counter-intuitive, but LinkedIn is a business-building tool (this does not refer to job seekers, though many use LinkedIn for this too!). As such, your Summary should skip the resume, curriculum vitae (CV) or professional bio and focus solely on what you can do for the people you serve. Your profile speaks directly to your ideal clients so begin your Summary section with a paragraph about who you are, share some of your story and position your credibility. In the remaining paragraphs, speak to your specific target market – who they are, what their problems are and what solutions you provide. End your Summary section with a distinct, direct call to action such as, “Visit our website for a free report” or “Email or call, today!”
#4: Grow Your Network So Prospects Can Find You
Based on the number of people in your network, you are limited to who can find you in the search results. If you have a small network, you dramatically limit the number of people who will ever see you in their search results so in order for more people to find you, it’s important to grow your LinkedIn network.
To do so, we recommend you make a point of accepting most incoming connection requests (unless you suspect they are from a spammer or fake account). Then, set a regular schedule to reach out to people you know or would like to know and be sure to always send out a personalized message. A personalized connection request should always include their first name at the top and your name at the bottom and if you are reaching out to someone you know, be sure to remind them how you know each other.
#5: Follow Up With New Connections
Always follow up with new connections who have reached out to you and the ones you’ve reached out to. We advise you send a welcome message after someone accepts your connection request or sends you a connection request. An easy way to do this is to thank them for connecting with you and then offer them something of value. In order to strengthen the relationship, maintain contact with your network by reaching out to them regularly and adding value for them. Whenever possible, move the relationship offline and have a telephone call or an email. You’d be surprised at how much business still happens the old-fashioned way!
If you need help creating a LinkedIn profile or establishing a LinkedIn presence for your business team, contact CMarie Consulting!
Source: http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/5-ways-to-generate-more-business-from-linkedin/
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