Who here loves making cold calls? Just absolutely loves it. Wakes up each morning and just can't wait to make cold calls all day long to people you either barely know or don’t know at all?
Instead, how many of you would much rather be introduced to someone by your buddy or family member? Or reaching out to someone you know a little bit about? It’s not so cold anymore. It’s a nice warm introduction or referral.This is the core of our existing business. We are in a referral based business.The online social space uncovers a ton of potential (data) for either reconnecting with ancient friends or meeting new people who may only be a few degrees away. It's also a great opportunity to do some homework before each appointment or call.Research their online presence to get to know them, what their interest are, where they're from, went to school, work, etc. It uncovers a lot of useful data.
The important thing to remember here is that Social media does not replace anything, it enhances everything. It adds a social layer to your current foundation. When connecting with people for the first time online within the social space makes for a much more genuine, deeper, and intimate relationship offline. It’s the icebreaker and eliminates awkward moments when meeting for the first time.It’s the catalyst to a deeper and stronger relationship – Instead of seeing a client or contact once a year or twice a year, you’re in contact with them daily online either directly or indirectly. Staying top of mind and being part of their life through online channels. This is what strengthens the relationship.The key ingredient in all that we do, no matter what business we're in is, building relationships that matter.
1 new member joins LinkedIn every second – LinkedIn Press Centre59% of active social media users rate LinkedIn as their number one platform of choice – Performics120 million professionals use LinkedIn to exchange information, share ideas, create opportunities, and most importantly, establish relationships that matter.LinkedIn provides you an opportunity to grow your professional network in a way you couldn’t replicate on your own or via traditional methods. It utilizes a “gated-access” approach where to connect with any professional requires some type of commonality. It then leverages those contacts to connect you with other professionals.With the gated-access approach this establishes instant credibility. Why? Because people trust their friends recommendations and connections.
Where to start?
Establishing your LinkedIn presence is essentially wrapped up in 3 steps.Build a profile that represents you. Your experience, goals, and aspirations. It's not a resume per se. Use a human tone.Grow your network.Leverage the power of your network.Your profile and your connections completely influence your experience on LinkedIn and any other social space.
Your profile is your brands first impression. Would you want to meet or hire you?[click]Your headline and photo are the essentials on your profile- these are the two things that always appear no matter what a user is looking at. In search, when hovering over your name, etc. - Be creative with your headline and change it up every month or so. This keeps things fresh. Having a professional photo is a must. People do business, build relationships, with people. I for one don't accept anyone without a photo. If they don't care enough to upload an image to personalize their presence, then it just shows there in it for the wrong reasons. They won't be too engaged anyways.[click][click][click]Be sure to fill out all of your profile; experiences, summary, education, additional information, etc.On the additional information section – customize the url’s you put in. By default LinkedIn names them generically. Name them something that represents your brand.[click]It's essential to have a 100% completed profile as the more information and things your are tied to the more possibilities of connecting with other people. LinkedIn provides tips for you to complete your profile 100%. It influences your LinkedIn experience immensely.
Build your network.Your existing connections pave the path to grow your network.Your network consists of several degrees of separation. [click]-1st degree, meaning you are directly connected. 2nd degree is an individual between you and a 1st connection. 3rd degree reaches the users through a friend of one of their friends. This expands your potential prospect list immensely.[click]First, connect with people you already know. You can do this by syncing with your email, uploading a csv file. When connecting, always include a personal message. LinkedIn also allows you to directly connect with colleagues and alumni.Again, to fully utilize this feature, it's important that your profile is filled out completely. Your LinkedIn experience and value is only as great as the completeness of your profile.
Leverage your network to grow your network. This is the opportunity that LinkedIn provides to you and your business.
Track who is viewing your profileYou can track who is looking at your profile and how often they are viewing it, so that you can act instantly on companies and professionals who are already researching you and your expertise – meaning you are already on their radar and can therefore start to build a relationship with these leads.Depending on the amount of information you include in your profile, you will begin to show up in searches. Thus resulting in people viewing your profile. With this you can see who lands on your profile.This is probably my favorite feature. I check this every single day.When people land on your profile it's for a reason. The reasons can be endless, but, you are on their radar. A lot of times people will land on your profile and not get around to sending you a message or get a hold of you. Or maybe they thought about it again and decided to keep looking. Either way, you are on their radar. Don’t lose this opportunity.When this happens reach out to those people. If your not connected to them, invite them. If you are connected to them, send them a message. Not saying that you noticed them checking out your profile but about something general. Research their profile to see if there is anything worth discussing, or a simple "it's been a while, want to meet for coffee“ if you’re already connected.
LinkedIn is 100% searchable, and that right there is the real beauty of the site, as hundreds of thousands of potential leads are waiting at your fingertips.And like I just mentioned, people are searching for you.The first thing you need to do is compile a list of keywords related to both your businessand the people you are looking to connect with. You can search on keywords related to an industry or job titles. You can be as general or specific as you want with these searches, meaning that you can target exactly the right type of LinkedIn members who you believe would be interested in your products and services.[click]Log into your accountGo to the search bar and type in the search you want. For this purposewe’re going to use CEO.[click]Then the search page comes up and you can refine your search. I narrowed it down to 2nd degree connections because I want to find people I don’t know but have some form of commonality. Then I narrowed it down to geography, then to the marketing/advertising industry. [click]4.Then I scrolled down to see who would be a good person to reach out to based on the number of connections and commonalities we have. It came down to one individual who is in my city and we have 10 people in common. [click]5. I then can either ask him to join my network or can click on “get introduced” and have one of our connections in common introduce us. I have 10 people that can introduce me to my prospect. When messaging the prospect keep the messaging human. This is a social environment with real people.Also, prior to a call or an appointment – you can do some research on your prospect by reviewing their profile. Get up-to-date information. It’s an ice breaker.
This is perhaps the most direct way of prospecting via LinkedIn, as this is where you will start to make real contact with your desired clients, and through genuine engagement in these forums you can start to build good social relationships that can later be turned into valuable leads.This is where you become a valuable player in the space, the thought leader within your industry, and the expert for your community/group/connections.It’s where you shine.Find out what groups your prospects are members of (these aren’t going to be insurance groups, these are going to be groups that are of interest to your ideal client) and then join these groups and start contributing to them through genuine and helpful content and by participating in discussions and debates with fellow members. Once you have made this initial connection with a prospect via an enthusiastic exchange of ideas in a LinkedIn group it then becomes much easier to introduce yourself from a business perspective and start to take your relationship from a social to professional context. Before you know it you both are meeting for coffee offline. Not having to worry about the awkwardness and “get-to-know” you stage because that has already been done online.
Don't connect with just anyone - there needs to be a commonality.If you have too many rejected invitations to connect or people report you as spam, LinkedIn has strict rules and will revoke your privileges. Besides, that's not the foundation of the platform. It's about connecting with people who already know and then those lead to additional connections - instant commonality and credibility. Other commonalities include colleagues, classmates, group members, etc.Connect by way of a introduction through an existing connection or send an invitation. You can also use InMail (you only get a certain amount each month for the free plan - premium you get an extended amount). - This is part of LinkedIn's gated access approach. If this wasn't controlled, it would be filled with Spam.InMail or LinkedIn's messaging system is a phenomenal way to connect. First, these messages get routed to their connected email and will not go to Spam. and Secondly, it's 30x’s more effective than a cold call. Why? Your profile is attached to your message; They can see who are your common connections. This adds instant credibility and tosses in a hint of trust without ever formally meeting.Just like email, make LinkedIn part of your daily activity. It’s not a set it and forget it mentality. It’s spending 15 minutes each day connecting, asking questions, answering questions, sharing thoughts, ideas, etc. It’s got to be consistent and authentic.
Your profile not only influences your LinkedIn experience, but it directly contributes to your online reputation. Make sure your profile is public not private. You can do this in your settings. Your profile will ranks high in the search engines like Google and Bing.Thus is why it's important to think strategically when building your profile in that you're speaking directly to the audience you are wanting to target and that you are using keywords that your potential clients would be using to find your type of service.Refresh your profile information, specifically the summary and headline often – bimonthly, etc.Also, to enhance your brand awareness you have to participate.
You must be active on the platform to see any type of return.If you’re not active, it’s like going to a local networking event in your community and placing your business card on the table and leaving. Is there any value in this? Can you expect a call? NO. You must stay and participate, engage, listen, ask questions, shake hands – simply meet people and establish a foundation to grow relationships. Not just put your card on the board.Same goes for LinkedIn. Having a profile setup does nothing if you don’t actively engage and participate.
You have to continually engage and build relationships. Before you ask for anything you have to have formed a relationship with your connection. There has to be time to develop trust in that relationship. Always Give before you ask.
Participating doesn’t mean try to sell you products or services.Instead….You have to be a good explainer and educator. People will see right through you if you're all sales talk. Ultimately tarnishing your online reputation. The greatest thing you can give anybody is to make something understandable and to be able to relate to them.You need to find the value your audience is seeking. Who is your audience? Why do they want to connect with you? What is of value to them that you have? You need to educate, offer value, and simply entertain. Give a reason to come back for more.They’re not looking for a sales pitch. They’re looking for an educational resource.You have to give before you will get.
You have to have your secret sauce. Don’t be afraid to be different.Push your ideas, thoughts, and expertise in a way people will remember you… in a good and professional way.There's 120 million people on LinkedIn. Be remember-able in everything you do.
