Linked In: An Overview from Crossman Communications

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Why Use Linked In?• More than 467 million business professionals use Linked In (133

million users in the US and 12 million in Canada) and chances are good that the people you want to do business with are there.

• 40% of users check Linked In daily; about 25% check in monthly

• If you aren’t active on Linked In it’s possible your competition is –why give them the advantage?

• A robust listing demonstrates to potential customers that you are engaged and professional. It lends credibility to you and to your organization and it helps support search engine rankings for your company.

What is Linked In?• A way to communicate with the people you would like to do business

with and cultivate relationships with them in a way you might not otherwise be able to do

• Once you've connected with a person, you have access to their list of connections – this is called your "extended network"—and you can request an introduction to people in your extended network through your mutual contacts.

• LinkedIn also provides other features including the ability to set up and join groups

• The basic service is free.

Four Aspects to Leveraging LI

Findability

Visibility

Credibility

Profitability

Findability

• A complete, professional profile with a strong photo

• Include words in your summary that relate to your field of expertise – this will make you easier to find when people are searching for what you offer

• It will make you and your company easier to find online (better search results) and help you all stand out from the competition

• It will help you to ask for introductions to the people with whom you want to cultivate a relationship

Visibility

• Connect with the people you meet at a conference or networking and send them a note in the connection request inviting them to also contact you if they need any assistance with anything. That might look like this:

Hi _______,

It was great to meet you at ______, and I enjoyed our conversation. I’d like to stay in touch through Linked In. May we connect?

Visibility

• When a good prospect reaches out to you to connect, respond with a personal note. That might look something like this:

Dear _______,

Thanks for reaching out to connect on Linked In. I offer ___________ to __________ and if you feel a conversation would be helpful in meeting your organization’s need for _________, I’d be happy to make some time available to chat. Alternatively, if you know of anyone who is looking for this type of assistance, I’d be glad if you would pass my name along.

Let me know how I can be of service!

Best regards,

__________________

Visibility

• After you have connected, wait a while and then send the people whose business you desire an InMail note that might say something like this:

Dear _______

We connected a few weeks ago and I appreciate the chance to be part of your Linked In network. I just wondered if you had heard of __________ from [your company name]. It helps our customers ___________, ___________ and ___________ [three benefits of using the product]. Results from users so far have been really positive and I would love an opportunity to share how we can save [name of their organization] a great deal of money while enhancing your reputation for excellence. May we book time for a short conversation to discuss?

Best regards,

_______________

Visibility

• Leverage your brand by joining your company’s company page

• … and commenting on and liking information that is posted on the company page:

Visibility

As your prospects’ information shows up in your news stream, comment on it, like it and send them a message about it.

Find out what groups your prospects’ belong to and join them, then monitor the groups for opportunities to comment. When someone makes a comment you like or that your business can help them with, you can answer them in the group or direct message them – you can’t InMail anyone you aren’t connected to unless you upgrade to the paid Linked In account but you can usually connect with anyone who is a part of a group to which you belong. You can join up to 100 groups.

Connect with prospects you come across in your group monitoring activities

Credibility• Like, share and comment on the content posted to your business’s

company page

• Ask trusted friends in the industry to give you a recommendation

• Monitor your groups for opportunities to comment on other people’s posts and answer their questions

• Link to any preferred content on your website and share it through your news stream

• Share links to your business’s videos through your news stream

Credibility

It’s a good idea to curate content on your social media platforms, including Linked In – sharing links to good articles

that pertain to your field develops thought leadership

E.g. https://sproutsocial.com/i

nsights/content-marketing-tools//

If you come across any great articles yourself, please send me the links so we can share them on your social media platforms

• Like, share and comment upon articles you feel will be interesting to your contacts – this will show up in your newsfeed and all of your connections will have an opportunity to see what you have shared

Profitability

• Look for the company page of someone you want to work with and follow it

e.g. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

https://www.linkedin.com/company/8736/

Look for a referral partner’s company page and follow it

• Endorse and recommend your prospects and your referral partners

• Like and share the status updates posted by your prospects and your referral partners

• Initiate conversations with your prospects

Resources:

Great Linked In Profiles:

https://komarketing.com/blog/10-examples-highly-impactful-linkedin-profiles/

Future Linked In Topics

• How to maximize your profile

• Connecting with people

• Leveraging the company page

• Groups

• Search Strategies

• Introductions

Questions? Feedback?

Please contact Susan Crossman and her team directly at:

info@crossmancommunications.com

289-259-6934

@CrossmanCom

www.crossmancommunications.com