So, you want to be a LinkedIn star. I often speak to employees of businesses who are ready to join LinkedIn and do their bit for the marketing team by sharing company content and finding new connections. Finding valuable business referral partners isn’t just a case of being in the right place at the right time though, although that is a good start, you need to be approachable and appeal to the right people...
Looking at LinkedIn as an extension to your real-life networking, or a soft-start to begin networking is a good way to begin.
Identifying the need for a LinkedIn profile:
To attract people to connect with you and go on to view your articles and the website
To raise awareness of your services - particularly the ones to boost in your chosen sector
To convey trust in the company and its operatives
To establish a form of communication, interaction and engagement with referral networks and end-users
To offer advice on your expertise
To ensure a steady flow of enquiries throughout the year.
You will also get personal growth and development benefits from being on LinkedIn:
Becoming more confident at using social media
Making connections online before going to a real-life meeting, so you don’t go in ‘cold’
Looking for answers to business related questions, taking polls or getting feedback
Learning or being inspired from others.
Identifying the initiatives:
LinkedIn is the most business end of social media with Facebook (and Instagram) being more colloquial and relaxed. Facebook and Instagram act as a showcase and ‘story-telling’ platform, whereas LinkedIn is both this and more importantly, an extension of real life networking. LinkedIn connections are made and messages exchanged with referral partners as well as end-users.
Facebook Messenger can be used as a way of direct marketing and staying in touch with customers. Remember, one person has more than one role in life and may well be in both places, however they will be in a different mindset between the two.
Optimising LinkedIn profiles
Images
You will need a good quality profile photograph, preferably one that wouldn’t look out of place on the company website, wearing company branded clothing maybe, or in front of a branded backdrop. You don’t have to be posed in corporate headshot; a well-focused shot of you in action or a well-clipped photo of you interacting with a client will show some personality without looking like a Facebook profile image. Your header image will need to be added and is a great place to showcase some of your work, or header images from your website - include contact details. This can be done in word, using the snipping tool to save an image, or in Canva, as mine below.
Name and headline
I have my keywords in my name section as well. This way I can use my headline to tell people how I help them.
TIP: If you use your LinkedIn headline to explain your benefits, it could well read the same as someone else with a different job, so identify your role first in your name.
Personalising your URL
Did you know you can add the keyword you want be known for to your LinkedIn URL? Left un-edited your URL will likely read something like: hilary-nightingale-50994a6b0/. You can replace those meaningless numbers with something like marketing-manager. From your profile page, click ‘Edit public profile & URL’.
Next, click the blue pencil by ‘Personalize the URL for your profile’. Include keywords such as, ‘marketing-manager’ or ‘commercial-electrician’; I would be reluctant to use job titles because people want to see your worth before your title... If they are using a search technique to look for a level such as CEO or Director, LinkedIn can identify that from within your experience section.
TIP: Editing your LinkedIn profile URL is another place you can get your keywords online. This will also boost search results from Google as well as within LinkedIn itself, but make sure it reads sensibly and isn't 'stuffed'.
Biography
Please don’t write in the third person, or write a list of dates and what you’ve done. This is not an area for lists or your CV, this is where you engage your potential contact and teach them how being your connection will benefit them. Break it down using paragraphs and Unicode icons. Include your contact details.
TIP: This is your profile, about you so let your personality come through, share what you care about, why you do what you do, but if you wouldn’t say it in a business meeting, don’t say it on LinkedIn!
Featured
Add anything here that you are particularly proud of; awards, magazine articles etc.
Recommendations
Ask for recommendations from anyone that has given a testimonial for your website. Only connections can do this and include a personalised note asking for them to mention something in particular. For example, ‘I would be most grateful if you could mention how we saved you £x, or how your new xxx means you can now xxx’.
TIP: Think about the things you want other people to know you’re good at, and ask your recommender to include that in their recommendation!
Connections
Anyone you’ve worked with or buy from
Anyone you’ve met in networking, or want to meet in an upcoming networking meeting
Ask people you already know to introduce you through a group LinkedIn message to their own connections
View awards websites and request the winners and runners-up to connect - remember to congratulate them
Follow company pages you admire and connect with relevant employees
Check the connections of people you admire and connect with them
Conduct a Boolean search; “Job Title” AND “Location” or you can try “Job Title” OR “Job Title” AND “Location”
Save up to three searches and get weekly alerts to the results: https://www.dummies.com/social-media/linkedin/save-linkedin-searches-future-use/
You are limited to around 1,000 searches each month in the free profile, so using Boolean will help you be most effective.
Remember to include a note when you request a new connection. You can have three or four notes on a Word document to copy and paste. For example, ‘I’m expanding my network to include xxx and I believe we have the same client base, so would benefit from reading your posts. I look forward to connecting. Hilary’ Or, ‘I’d like to connect so I can learn more about your business... Hilary’
Once a connection has been accepted, please message them to say thank you and ‘if there’s any advice I can offer on anything xxx related, please drop me a line.’
TIP: You may want to send a thank you message with a link to a case study they may be interested in. Make sure that case study or whatever you choose to send them is written for them and offers value.
This is NOT a place for selling! It is considered poor etiquette to sell soon after connecting or to spam with invites to events etc. However feel free to message with business referrals or introductions, genuine invitations to networking opportunities or occasional new case studies like a newsletter would act, but make sure it’s not monthly if you haven’t had engaged interest from them in the past.
Ready to connect?
Why not make a few small changes to your LinkedIn bio today and make a new connection or two, using my tips? Let me know if this has been helpful to you in the comments, or if you have tips of your own 😀
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