Eight Things that Gain Business Using LinkedIn: Really Works

LinkedIn is in a way like a stock exchange.   The more you put into it, the more you connect with other solid business people and weed out the less serious, the greater your return. It’s that easy.

I’ve been using LinkedIn for nearly eight years and and receive over 80% of my customer leads from LinkedIn.

That’s right. Not Twitter or Facebook… from LinkedIn.

It really makes sense though, doesn’t it?   As the world’s largest professional network with over 100 million business professionals, LinkedIn is the perfect platform to grow your network and generate more leads.  So how does it work?

Here are eight easy ways you, too can generate lots of new leads using LinkedIn…

1. Create an Account

If you don’t have an account, it will be pretty hard to generate leads from LinkedIn. Your first step is to set up a profile at www.linkedin.com.  Don’t think Facebook or Twitter, think seriously.   Make sure to come across professional.  Most importantly, Don’t think ‘Branding’ your product or business.  LinkedIn is All About ‘Who You Are’, so keep this in mind when setting up you account.

2. Complete Your Profile

No one wants to connect with someone who has a crummy profile. Gimmicky names or unprofessional wording in the name will not be taken serious.  Think ‘I’m the guy or gal in charge of my business’ since that is what viewers are coming to YOUR profile to see. They are not coming to see characters of Stars, or Email Addresses or Catching Symbol in the name field that are there to draw attention.  The quality of your profile will draw enough attention.

Take the time to finish it 100% and optimize your LinkedIn profile — your tagline, work experience, summary, and specialties. Make sure to state your interests as well.  Your profile is the story about who you are and what you do. 

Make sure to clearly state who is in your target audiences and markets.

3. Customize Your Website Links

There are so many profiles with their website links that say “my company” or “my website.” Clicking on LINKS has got over 80% of the savvy interneters very leery since over 40% of the links people may to “my website” or “my company” lead viewers off to sales letters or worst.  No one really cares!

No one cares about your site.  All viewers care about is how you can help them achieve their goals or solve their problems.  Edit your website link to show “About Me” . Add a a phrase of ‘call-to-action’ that directs people to your website and tells them exactly what they are going to get when they click.

4. Blog Link Rules

Use the advanced applications on LinkedIn. One that helps drive traffic back to your site is the ‘blog app’.  Simply add your blog feed link to the app after you install it, and you’ll have your most recent blog posts showing on your LinkedIn profile for the everyone to see!  Make sure the blogs are relevant and not the posts you make about politics or religion.  Nobody wants to get involved with endless debates.

5. A Video Sometimes Works

Would you rather have an average profile and try to compete with all of the other professionals who are in your niche, or stand out above your competitors? I’m sure I know the answer.

Adding a sixty-second video on your profile does does the trick.  But, don’t fall for the advice many tell you by making that video run on Auto Play. That is a good way to be blocked.

Tell people who you are, who you help, and how you help them at the first of the video. Spend the final section telling them how to get in touch with you and how to take action by connecting with you to see.  Lewis Howe can show you how to add a video to your LinkedIn profile here.

6. Ask Questions and Answer Questions

I have received a few calls from potential clients by using the “Answers” section on LinkedIn.

Here is the best thing to do in the Answer section of LinkedIn.

• Look for categories of questions that fit your niche or industry.
• Showcase your expertise by answering a few questions. 
• If possible, provide links to content you’ve created that offers more detailed information on the topic.
• Then send a private message to the person who asks the question. More than likely the question they asked has something to do with an issue they have in their business.  Could be a Lead In for you.
• Providing value in your answer,offering them more resources is another.  
• Make sure don’t be pushy or spammy in your contact. 

7. Groups Can Work

If you are looking to make large numbers of leads — more leads than they can handle…then forming a group could work.  But, look to spend a lot of time managing the groups. I have created a few groups. They can be a major headache but for all the work they do produce solid leads.

Groups can be a great way to get a message out to the members of the group. Here is a link to how to Create a LinkedIn group .

Don’t create a group about your company. Instead create a Group that fulfills a need in your industry, and you will be well on your way to more leads than you can handle.

8. Connect to Only Real People

Too many times business people fall for the ‘Number’ game that many marketing people feel is of value.  Getting more contacts than you can manage or keep in touch with  periodically serves absolutely no purpose. 

Yes, I know, I am told I am missing the point with why people want to get tens of thousands of contacts.  The pundit of internet marketing seem to think it offers an audience or market for business people to use as they see fit.

That is the problem with getting large numbers of contacts.  Once someone looks at your profile and sees you have thousands of contacts their first reaction is ‘the guy will never remember me if I connect with him’ and this is absolutely true.  So connect with only people you deem to be people you want to talk to frequently. 

Do connect with someone asking to connect that does not fit into your professional needs.  Most of the time they are just trying to get you to be part of their number or game, or are setting you up for a spam-a-thon.

There are dozens of other ways to generate leads using LinkedIn, but I wanted to give you just a few of the basics here to get you started. I hope you see by now that LinkedIn isn’t just another social networking site but rather a powerful engine for generating qualified leads to help you grow your business.

Even with all its weaknesses, LinkedIn still houses more business professional by far.  Make sure to make a strong presence on LinkedIn.  It will pay off for you in the long run.

Let me know how I can help.