LinkedIn is a powerful social media platform for professionals to make connections and network, but did you know that it’s also great for generating new leads? If you’re like countless other business owners, you’ve been using one of the biggest online platforms for years, but you don’t really know how to get the most out of it. Here’s a crash course on how to win business on LinkedIn to help you turn the platform into a lead-generation goldmine for your business.
LinkedIn is so powerful, which makes it an ideal place to:
- Demonstrate your credibility
- Start and develop professional relationships
- Drive the right traffic to your website
- It allows the right people to find you
Unlike Facebook and Instagram, which are notoriously known for making it difficult for influencers to get their content to reach a bigger audience, LinkedIn is… nicer.
We had three key things that we’re using LinkedIn for: to drive traffic to our website, to get people to sign up for some of our stuff. And then thirdly, we use it as a prospecting tool.
The 3-step guide for how to get business on LinkedIn
1. You need to know your purpose
So the first thing you want to do is go back to your marketing plan and and think, who do I want reading my LinkedIn profile?
Think about what you want your prospects to think/feel or what action you want them to take
It also helps you to think about what you want people to think/feel? What often happens if you see a post that catches your eye on LinkedIn – you will then go and look at their profile. If the profile starts answering some of your questions or becomes interesting, the next stage is you will ask to connect with them.
So, when it comes to creating your profile, you really need to think about what you want people to think/feel/do as a result of viewing your profile, but also how this connects with your business development strategy.
2. Refine your LinkedIn profile (to help your ideal audience find you)
Your image and banner need to reflect your brand. Your profile should contain 2-3 sentences that really hook people in.
What are the needs of your key clients? What are the biggest pain points that you’re helping them with? (look at your client personas), how can you speak to them? What is your story?
3. Build your social media presence
Make a plan to write/share valuable content, comment on influencer’s posts, connect with people from your target market… and, most importantly, make this a daily habit!
What not to do on LinkedIn...
Post something without thinking about how it could come across/ post things that are not of value
What worries me is that in a normal face-to-face conversation with somebody, you can see their facial expressions and can say things you wouldn’t necessarily write in a post or electronically.
When you send an email, or you write something down, it’s there forever, and it can be taken the wrong way. So, sometimes when posting something, think, before you post.
I try and imagine what other people would be thinking when reading it because they don’t necessarily know my personality. Sometimes, when I’ve written a full post and thought, actually, this isn’t adding anything useful. I end up deleting it.
Don’t sell immediately when you make a new LinkedIn connection/ Don’t forget that there are people behind the screen
One of the things that I tell people is, to think about LinkedIn as if you’re meeting someone in the flesh. So you know, the equivalent of a connection request, he’s coming up to a group of people and going into all rights by joining you.
When you then take that from the next level – would you go in and join a group of people you don’t know and immediately sell to them? No.
Don’t be all business all the time
Sharing personal stuff allows you to showcase your personal brand. It gives you identity so that when people see these posts, they identify with you on a personal level.
If you leave enough of the person in your update, that helps people get to know you better. Some of my best posts on LinkedIn have been personal posts, and these are also the type of posts that stick in my head.
If all everybody posted was about business, it would be hard to relate. Often the most popular updates which get spread are where you share a bit of personal success.