At Exceptional Thinking, we use LinkedIn as our main database to get clients. So we thought we’d write some of our top tips to help you make the most of LinkedIn.

Create a profile you are proud of…

If you had dirty cups everywhere and folders strewn over desks – you probably wouldn’t invite a client into your office, or you would at least give it a tidy up first… wouldn’t you? So make sure you don’t invite them to visit your LinkedIn “office” (your profile) without making sure things are in order.

The key is creating a profile that best represents you as a person – and your business… meaning that instead of having a profile page that is shouting about your personal achievements (these are great but it’s not the place if you are looking for new business) talk about what makes you different from your competitors and explain how your products or service benefits your ideal clients and customers.

Target the right prospects…

One of the best tools in your arsenal is to use the internal search features on the site. With a few simple clicks, you can instantly find over half a billion people in some 250 countries and find the perfect prospects for your business.

The key here is to know who you are targeting; start broad and narrow it down, rather than narrow and then broadening it out – this way you can really start cherry picking those prospects who are most relevant to the products and services your business offers. Once you’ve found them – send them a connection message, but ALWAYS personalise the message and tell them you work in their industry and it would be great to become part of each others’ networks – don’t hit them with a sales pitch immediately. First rule of networking (social media or in-person) is give more than you take from your network!

Content, content, content…

But make sure it is relevant and not too salesy… what I mean by that is create content that is relevant to the prospects you are targeting, talk about their industry, offer insight – show them that you understand their pains and that you have been working with clients in similar positions to them and helped them ease their pains – potential prospects will be far more attracted to you and your business if they can relate to the stories you are telling. Become a thought leader in your sector – what are the hot topics now, what are your views? You want to be getting conversations going on your blogs and your posts – this way, the LinkedIn algorithms cleverly push your posts to the top of people’s news feeds, thus – getting you, your thoughts, and your business in front of more potential prospects!

This content should be posted out on a regular basis, not just a flash in the pan and sent out a couple of times a year – let people know via your profile status “new blog coming up this week on XXX”

Ask questions and create a poll – what would your network like to see in your next blog, what would add value to THEM and THEIR business?

Be reactive and responsive

Now you have a profile to be proud of, a network of prospects and potential customers and of course well written posts and blogs that are gaining traction – Interact with people, pose questions about your post to those who are interested and commenting – DO NOT , do nothing – you’ve done the hard work – now engage with your audience, ask them whether your posts or blogs resonate and why, what are their views and if they see value in it, invite them for a conversation – why not, if you don’t ask you don’t get, and clearly – something about the words you wrote has peaked their interest!

These are just a few tips to get you growing your networking an building traction and traffic to your LinkedIn profile, the old analogy of give more to your network than you receive is exactly the same on LinkedIn as it is face to face – don’t oversell, offer your audience thoughts and insight, perhaps tips and tricks on how to overcome common challenges in your industry, always try to create a bit of intrigue with what you do and what you are posting – an inbound enquiry from a prospect is far more likely to be converted into revenue than you approaching them – BUT if you utilise all of the above well, people will recognise you and your business WHEN you do finally reach out to them.

At Exceptional Thinking we know exactly how to leverage LinkedIn to grow your network and increase revenue by getting you qualified appointments. To have a chat, simply reply to this email, call us on 01386 298 042 or click here to choose a convenient time in our diary that works for you.