How To Use LinkedIn To Expand Your Business

Using To Expand Your Business

Presented by: Vanessa CabreraYour Social Media Mentor, Inc.

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www.yoursocialmediamentor.com

Your Social Media Mentor –Vanessa Cabrera

Chief Creative Officer

Your Social Media Mentor, Inc.


[email protected]

facebook.com/yoursocialmediamentor

@vanessacabrera

linkedin.com/in/vanessacabrera


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You Can’t Afford NOT to Pay Attention to LinkedIn

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• LinkedIn is the 12 Most Visited Site in the World (Alexa)• LinkedIn reaches into over 200 countries • Today there are over 300 million users Worldwide• Percentage of users that check LinkedIn daily = 40%!• Over 2 Million LinkedIn Groups• 8,000 Groups created weekly

MUST DO ITEMS BEFORE ANYHTING ELSE:5


1. Optimize your profile to convert views into leads2. Develop your “Ideal Customer Profiles” – so you can

have a crystal clear vision of who your best client is3. Join the right LinkedIn Group

1. Upload a Decent Profile Picture

Your LinkedIn profile photo sets the tone for everything else a viewer will experience on your page — just like match.com or Instagram. Except LinkedIn isn’t match.com or Instagram. It’s the world’s largest professional network. So that means:

• No blurry photos• No photos of you cropped out of a group shot• No photos of you at a ball park (unless you’re gunning to work for one)• No avatars• And for goodness sake, no selfies!


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Optimizing Your LinkedIn Profile

2. Your Headline = You, NOT Your Job


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The headline of your LinkedIn profile is highly searchable. Consider including key words, as if you were doing a little SEO for your own profile! So why would you have your Job Title as your headline?

Include key words you want to be found for

Optimizing Your LinkedIn Profile


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Whatever you do, don’t leave the summary blank or limit it to a few bland sentences. This is your chance to be creative and describe who you are and what you’re passionate about.

Make it personal, while also highlighting key accomplishments you don’t want anyone to miss.

Thanks toLinkedInsights for sharing some great examples, including Paul H. Simon’s summary

3. Write a Killer Summary!

http://www.linkedinsights.com/3-stunning-good-linkedin-profile-summaries


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4. Let Your Clients Speak for You

Showcase Your Value via Recommendations

Ask for recommendations!

These make for a priceless first impression! You know people who would gladly recommend your work, so ask them to do so. But don’t rely on LinkedIn to do the asking for you with their recommendations request feature.

The best approach is to ask in person or to write a personal email sincerely expressing what their recommendation would mean to you.


11Most profiles on LinkedIn are just plain text – how boring is that? Build a visual profile and you’ll instantly stand out. This LinkedIn feature (called “Professional Portfolio”) allows you to share presentations, photos, videos, links, PDFs, and more. So use it to your advantage and show off your creative work!

What a difference! I added just a few visuals to my Summary, a photo of one of my speaking engagements, a link to yoursocialmediamentor.com, and links to three of my presentations. It already looks MUCH better.

BONUS TIP: Build a Multimedia Profile

http://www.yoursocialmediamentor.com

How to Use LinkedIn to Build Your Business


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LinkedIn is no longer considered the social platform where one goes to look for a job. There is SERIOUS business being conducted on LinkedIn! Many just don’t understand how to use LinkedIn to grow their business and increase sales.

How are they using LinkedIn to build your business

1. Savvy business people know who their clients are2. They Join the Right Groups and use them wisely


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Know Your Ideal Customer Profile

Attack LinkedIn with a clear plan and FOCUS every time you login

The most crucial element is really knowing your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP). ICP characteristics may include location, size of organization, industry or any other criteria.

Sample Prospect Profile – For a consultant who provides sales advisory services to financial advisors

Ask yourself these questions:• My target industries include… Banking, Capital Markets, Financials Services• My geographical focus is…North America with a more intense focus on the Midwest• The LinkedIn groups my prospects are most engaged in include

Banking Careers – Financial Services Marketing – Financial Services Career• My ideal target is a company with the following employee level: Over 50• Top 10 position titles for my ideal client include1. Financial Representative2. Financial Advisor


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How Do You Find New Ideal Clients?

Finding New Business

LinkedIn has a fabulous search facility. With their advanced search you can find people by title, company, location or keyword. Grab a paid account and you can add company size and seniority level too. By intelligently mixing the different filters you can get really deep and identify key individuals quickly and easily.

With premium account –provider more filtered features


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Targeting Local Business Owners


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So how do you reach this massive pool of ideal clients…

…Bring them into your network…

And move them into becoming clients…


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Making the Connection

See if any of your 1st connections are connected to one of your targets. If they are…

Ask for an Introduction –

Neal Schaffer, founder and editor-in-chief of Maximize Social Business, says that the best strategy to ask for an introduction on LinkedIn is to approach it the same way you would if you were asking in person. When reaching out, give your connection all the information they need in order to properly introduce you.

Including these three elements in your request:• Briefly explain how you want to be introduced• Explain why you want an introduction and how you can help the prospect• Save the sales pitch for after the connection is made.

Example: “Hi John, I noticed that you’re connected with Jane Smith, an IT director at Awesome, Inc. I specialize in optimizing analytics software that IT departments depend on for high performance. I’d like to send Jane a white paper just published by Big Industry News that may help her when she plans her next IT project. Would you be so kind as to introduce us? If you aren’t comfortable, I understand. But if you can, it would be much appreciated! Thank you, and please don’t hesitate to let me know how I can return the favor. All the best, Jack Smith IT Analytics Consultant.”

http://maximizesocialbusiness.com/

http://maximizesocialbusiness.com/how-to-ask-for-linkedin-introductions-427/


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Save the Sales Pitch!

Once you’ve identified a prospect and have been successfully introduced by a mutual connection, what do you say in your initial outreach? Don’t start with your sales pitch–it will immediately rub your prospect the wrong way and shut down the chance of establishing a sales relationship.

You have to earn the sale by first being genuine and making an effort to learn how you can help a prospect. Social selling is less about selling and more about giving.

Here are a few creative ways to show a prospect you want to help them:1. Offer to introduce your new connection to someone in your network who could also

be helpful to them2. Boost their visibility in your network by sharing a piece of their content in your groups3. Connect them to a conference opportunity that increases their visibility with leaders

in their field.

THE SALES PITCH THE GENUINE CONNECTION

NO YES!

The Power of the LinkedIn Group

@vanessacabrera #yoursmm

There’s a reason there are over 2 Million LinkedIn Groups with 8,000 Groups created weekly. Business is being done within LinkedIn Groups Period!

Use groups for more than simply keeping up to date

Member questions are great for telling you about frustrations and unmet needs. They can also give you the perfect reason for making contact with a prospect.But groups are incredibly useful in three other ways:1. They can give you further insights into what’s happening within a prospect company –how active they are, whether they’re hiring etc.2. They allow you to see more of an individual prospect’s details – in particular their full name. This is usually restricted to first, level contacts3. Group membership gives you both the reason and capability to make more connections (it’s one of the criteria you can select when you send a connection request).

Choosing the Right Group


There’s a reason there are over 2 Million LinkedIn Groups with 8,000 Groups created weekly. Business is being done within Groups Period!

Criteria for Group Selections – 50 Groups can come up fast!

1. Search & join groups whose members match that of your Ideal Customer Profile – ICP2. Search & join groups that include your industry3. Once you locate such groups pay close attention to:

• The number of group members• How active is that group


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You’ve Joined a Group Now What?

Get active

Be helpful – answer questions…Ask questions

Become a “Top Contributor” of the group – a trusted professional.

Position yourself as the Expert

Then present your pitch


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How I Landed a Client

BONUS TIP!GETTING PAST THE INMAIL PREMIUM

Did you know that if you're a member of the same group as another user, you can bypass the need to be a first-degree connection in order to message them?

In addition, group members are also able to view the profiles of other members of the same group without being connected.


Your Social Media Mentor –Vanessa Cabrera

Chief Creative Officer

Your Social Media Mentor, Inc.


[email protected]

facebook.com/yoursocialmediamentor

twitter.com/vanessacabrera

linkedin.com/in/vanessacabrera


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THANK YOU!

LinkedIn Trainer Extraordinaire!

How To Use LinkedIn To Expand Your Business

Marketing

Transcript of How To Use LinkedIn To Expand Your Business