How’d you like a chance to give your elevator pitch to hundreds of millions of potential clients and referral sources at once?
That’s what you get on LinkedIn – the self-styled “Facebook for businesses and professionals” – which has 650 million subscribers worldwide.
“LinkedIn is an excellent platform for finding your ideal customers and clients,” writes Chanell Turner for the Atlanta Small Business Network. “However, excelling on LinkedIn takes more than filling out your personal profile. Creating and sharing relevant content, determining your ideal customer, using LinkedIn to find these individuals, and asking for introductions can help you connect with professionals who can become loyal customers and trusted brand ambassadors.”
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Steps to LinkedIn Success
LinkedIn is a dynamic community. Three million users share content each day. That makes it a great place for you to tell your story.
Don’t know what to say? How about simply letting the world know what you have to offer? Or give some helpful how-to’s from your area of expertise. Don’t worry about making it sound “legal.” Just pretend you’re having a friendly chat with several million close friends.
Still stumped? Do a keyword search to find out what law topics are top of mind for business professionals. Then write something interesting and engaging about that topic – and be sure to link back to your website.
“Not only are you introducing customers to what you do, but you are also positioning yourself as an authority within your respective industry, which can increase the trust between your business and potential customers,” writes Turner.
Here are four more pointers:
- Target your market. The LinkedIn demographic skews affluent and educated. That’s good news for you. Do a bit of research to drill down on incomes and occupations. Come up with an “ideal target” and post content they’ll love.
- Think globally. More than 70 percent of LinkedIn users live outside the U.S. This may or may not be relevant to your practice. If it is, keep your international audience in mind when it comes to timing your posts and translating the content into other languages.
- Practice social marketing. “People buy from other people, not business pitches,” says Turner. “LinkedIn gives you the platform to truly make connections with individuals while sharing who you are and what you do. Your connections on the platform can quickly become prospects. So, use LinkedIn to practice ‘social selling.’ Ask them how you can help on the platform while expressing interest in what they do. This establishes a relationship and allows you to offer your content as well as your product or service as a solution.”
- Ask for introductions and join groups. “Who are your customers? Chances are high that many of them are on LinkedIn. Look at the demographics (industry, location, and personal attributes) and create a customer profile. From there, you can begin to use your customer data and determine the type of LinkedIn user you should target. Ask trusted contacts for introductions. Join groups that are directly related to your industry. LinkedIn has a robust search feature where you can search by industry, keywords, and even specific companies. Use this information to your advantage.”
Are you on LinkedIn? What works or doesn’t work for you?
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