A steady stream of what’s relevant, audience members, and career connections with savvy, money, and businesses of their own – is it a dream or is it simply…LinkedIn?
The potential LinkedIn holds for business owners is often underplayed, but make no mistake. Serious people are searching for you there, and if they aren’t finding you, your credibility and your lead generation abilities are taking a hit.
Whether you use it as a static virtual business card, or as an active lead generation channel, setting up a profile is just good business. You’re not in the game if you’re not on LinkedIn.
So let’s get you there, and looking like a natural.
LinkedIn Setup: Opening the free lead generation floodgates with finesse
Before you make any changes to your profile, go to your LinkedIn account’s Privacy & Settings, and turn off your activity broadcasts and your activity feed.
You’re going to be making a lot of changes and spamming people through an over-active stream is the # 1 LinkedIn no-no. This is a social media account that plays by different rules. More is not better.
If you’re new to LinkedIn, click here to join, sign up with your favourite email and password, and skip adding contacts until you’ve run through the 5 steps below.
5 Steps to LinkedIn Lead Generation and/or Eternal Glory!
- Define ‘You’So, before we go crazy bombarding you with LinkedIn how-tos, we need to ask you one very important question: What do you want to be known for?This is the most important step, so don’t skip it! Write down 4-5 key words or phrases that describe you and your skill set.If you own a bakery, you should use words like ‘baker’, ‘pastry chef’, or ‘boulanger’ to describe yourself.You’ll also want to describe your skills and job duties like ‘cupcake creator’, ‘wedding cake decorator’, ‘sugar sculptor’ and other skills potential customers and colleagues might search for – don’t forget, your LinkedIn account is searchable through Google too!
TIP: Opt for keywords that sound like titles instead of ‘ing’ words – for instance if your main skill is baking, choose ‘baker’ as the keyword. People tend to search roles on LinkedIn more than anything else because of the business mindset.
- Put a Twist on your TitleThe LinkedIn headline. So many people lose an opportunity to make an impression here by sticking to LinkedIn’s default filler – your current title and place of work. Boring.Instead, use this space to tell people who and what you are: “Baker. Boulanger. Cronut Pastry King.”Doesn’t that sound better than ‘Baker at Sweet and Salty Cupcake Boutique’? Ok, well, maybe not. That sounds a lot more delicious than most businesses, but you get the point. Choose your main keyword, and build around it.
- Do Right By Your ReadersIn your summary section, write a quick bio that includes your keywords, and make it personal. People want a bit of insight, so charm them with a story or tell them what makes you get up in the morning. This is NOT your resume, so talk in first person: “I’m a baker, a boulanger, and I wouldn’t trade my apron for the world.”Write a few lines to describe each job you’re listing as well. It doesn’t have to be long, but this is a good place to stack those key phrases again. Bullets are acceptable, but don’t use more than 5.
- Stack Your SkillsScroll down to LinkedIn’s skill section and add your keywords in verb form if you have to, keyword form if you can.Also, add anything here you might want people to say you can do – LinkedIn lets people endorse your skills, so take advantage of it! Just make sure your mom isn’t the only one plus one-ing your skill set. Ask a couple of friends to stack the deck for you as well.
- Connect with Your ContactsIt’s time to announce your arrival!Go to Connections>>Add Connections and let LinkedIn access your email accounts to scan your contacts.From the list that appears, select everyone you’re comfortable adding, and hit the ‘Invite’ button for your moment of glory!Whether it’s 20 or 200, it’s a great start, and you’re now a relevant part of the biggest business related social media site on earth. Congratulations!
Your life of free lead generation and/or eternal glory has officially begun. Ok, you got me…there are other strategies! And we will discuss those in our next article.
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Success always
Deborah x
