I have a friend who’s a master salesman. He used to be a realtor in the past and he’s now a technical recruiter. But, no matter what he does, he usually excels because is a good salesman.
He has this thing about making people listen to him, and do what he wants them to do. This is by definition the essence of someone who knows how to sale.
Just about a year ago he was hired by a big IT/ Technical recruiting company, and sure enough he showed his colors in just a few weeks as a recruiter, and now he trains new people, teaching them to do what he does.
One thing that he has developed as a recruiter is how to use LinkedIn to find the type of people he’s looking for. He has now over 1,200 direct connections, and over 13,000,000 in his network on Linkedin. What he has done is use some of Linkedin’s guidelines as well as made his own. He gave me a list of the steps that he takes to connect with his market, and I asked him if I could use his list to write this post.
He,s not a blogger or writer, so I thought that it would be a cool topic for the readers of this blog, just in case you would like to learn more about the things you can do to promote your business on Linkedin, which is – need I remind you – where the professionals meet.
So, here are …
10 steps you can use to promote yourself and your business on LinkedIn
1 – Don’t’ Be Half-Hearted
One thing that my friend is saying and that I’ve learned myself in my own experience with Linkedin is that there’s no point of using Linkedin if you’re half-hearted with it. If you want to be seen as a recruiter, a cook, a web designer, a writer or a coach your LinkedIn profile should reflect that.
Your Linkedin profile is not the kind of profile where you want to confuse people, because if you do, you will never attract the right employer or client to you. They have to know what you do and who you are exactly at first glance.
Think about that when you create your entrepreneur profile. Don’t be fuzzy or vague about your occupation. This is the first step you need to take when you set up your profile on Linkedin.
2 – Start Your Own Group
You can start a local or worldwide group, depending on what you’re business offers. Then you can invite people who could add value to your group. When people join, make sure you greet them to the group, and ask them question directly. You know, the old building relationship rule applies here too.
Get to know about them, their business or organization and what problems or challenges they may be facing. One thing that my friend does here is approach them with a solution in mind, and that solution is HIM.
So you can do the same once you create a group and get to develop a relationship with people joining in. If you find out that they are having challenges, you could show them that YOU may be what they need. What do you have that their lacking?
3 – Check who has Seen your Profile
It’s always a good daily habit to check out who has seen your profile, and add them to your network if possible. As a recruiter, my friend looks to see if companies who looked him up have upcoming jobs in the areas he works at. If he finds out that they do, he lets them know that he mat be a useful contact for them. He helps them see him as an expert in the area of recruiting.
You can help people who are looking at your profile see that you are an expert at what you do as well by asking the right questions and understanding their needs by chatting with them.
4 – Add Value To Others
Adding value always works, no matter what you’re trying to sale or promote. When you’re valuable to others, they will seek you out, and refer you to others. That’s as simple as that.
So, be on the alert for people who ask questions, for example. If you see someone asking a question, try to be the first who answers it, but be accurate as well. Don’t just answer if you don’t know the answer to what they are asking for.
Remember that even if you don’t have the answer, you could always extent a helping hand in some way. Always be proactive.
5 – Asked to Be Introduced
This is something that Linkedin really emphasis, but probably many of us don’t do.
Ask your connections to introduce you to other key members in their network. Referral always work in your favor, so take the extra time to browse around at your connections’ connections and ask to be introduced to people you might not know yet, but would like to get to know to pick their brain and other valuable ideas that may come to mind.
6 – Accept ALL Invitations to Connect
OK, there are arguments here about whether or not we should connect with all who ask for it, but my friend says that as a recruiter, the true value of your network is measured by its size – numbers work.
You never know what your invitation is going to lead you to. So unless you see that’s really a no-no for some very obvious reasons, accept people that want to join you. You want to sale, don’t you?
7 – Reach Out to Connect
On the proactive side of things, be also the one trying to reach out and connect with others.
In my case, when I wanted to grow my network to reach the minimum number of 500 connections, I made a point to reach out to about 5 people a day, and that’s really what got me to my 500+ connections fast enough. When I wasn’t doing anything to connect with others, my account was stagnant. When I applied my effort to grow it grew fast.
Now, it’s not because you have your 500+ connections that you should stop there. Keep on growing your network by inviting new people in each day or at least on a regular basis.
8 – Join Relevant Profession/Industry Groups
The new Linkedin search function allows you to search for people that are members of the same interest groups as you, regardless of whether you’re connected with them or not. So by joining more groups within your business and/or profession you will have access to a growing number of people in your market.
It is allowed to request to connect with any member of the groups you belong to.
9 – Group Participation
Linkedin has a feature on each group that shows you your level of participation in a group. Once you join a group, make sure you’re set up as to receive a notification when a new discussion has started, so you can join in early in the discussion.
My own to cents on this is that you need to invest some time to respond to and start discussions. There is no point in joining groups if you are not going to show up there. Don’t waste your time in joining groups if you have no intention of joining in in conversations and adding value.
10 – Clustering
Clustering is a network of connected businesses. You can create a network of businesses with mutual interest as well as like-minded people. This is usually done in the same geographical area as a start, but it can grow by region to a national following.
If it pertain to your type of business, you can learn more and use clustering to grow you potential outreach as well.
That’s all for now. I hope you enjoyed this information to grow your business on Linkedin. Let me know what your thoughts are.
Hi Sylviane,
Informative post indeed 🙂
LinkeIn surely has a lot of potential, waiting to be tapped, though honestly speaking, I still have to take out time to be a real part of it. I know you are very active there and had written a post earlier also on it.
Never thought of starting a group because of the moderation hassles, though I am a part of a number of groups and do share my posts. Active participation again requires time, something that I always struggle with, but it does help, especially if it’s LinkedIn. Not to mention the great connections you make and people you come across.
I think I will bookmark this page and come to it when I take my summer break shortly, because I won’t be on vacation all the time, and need to work on a few things before I head for it, and would add this in my to-do list.
Thanks for sharing. Have a nice week ahead 🙂
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Hi Harleena,
I hear you, I’m always pressed for time too, so I know what you mean, and we can’t do it all. I’ve never created a group either myself, but as I said this post was primarily the tips my friend gave me. I know I have to do more on Linkedin myself.
Thank you for coming and for your comment.
Hey Sylviane,
Great advice here. I see where I lack when it comes to social media in general, but this is one post that will hit you over the head.
I think the biggest and best tip here is to add values to others. A lot of people join groups and connect with people to get some value out of them. So it definitely makes sense to be of value to others. This runs along with The Law Of Attraction.
But besides that, I really like the other tips and see how beneficial they are! Thanks for sharing Sylviane!
I never thought about asking to be introduced through my other connections, but this is a great idea! Why do we overlook it! A lot of us have a tendency to making things more complicated than what it really is I guess.
Number 6 i’m pretty iffy about. We come from a background of focusing on target marketing, and through my experience I think if we keep that mindset, it’ll would out much better. At one time I was accepting every invitation, but neither me or them got the benefits from our connection.
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Hi Sherman,
I’m glad you enjoyed this post and that it gave you some ideas about using Linkedin in different ways. Of course, Linkedin or any other social media does take time, and it’s not always easy to find, but it can be worth it.
Thank you for coming and have a great week 🙂
Hi Sylviane,
Thanks so much for sharing these wonderful tips to follow on LinkedIn. Oh boy do I have to work on #5! I never asked someone to be introduced. Oh it is that darn old neuro-linking of mine…Need to get on this one because it raised a red flag within me.
I haven’t heard of “clustering” but it seems like a great idea to do. One thing on my bucket list is to get a little more local too. (wheels spinning in my head). But it is a good way to direct local people via LinkedIn.
As you mentioned, Don’t be half-hearted, I do need to develop a better habit of getting into LinkedIn on a regular basis. I do love it and there are so many opportunities there. But I really need to vamp things up to give a clear message of what I do.
Thanks millions!
-Donna
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Hi Donna,
Linkedin is my favorite social media platform. I spend more time there than I do on Twitter or Facebook for sure, because I feel that more professional people hang there, and also it’s easier to connect with such people on Linkedin than other social media, for me anyway 🙂
I’ve joined a couple of local groups and I want to join more, because while we work online, it doesn’t hurt to introduce our business locally as well.
I’m Glad you enjoyed this and have a wonderful rest of the week!
Love it Sylv! And yep I’ve been a half-hearted LI user till last week lol….time to ramp it up even more. Thanks!
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Hi Ryan,
I’m glad you’re not half-harted with it anymore, then. I think that they’re great opportunities with Linkedin for any business.
Thanks for dropping by.
Hi Sylviane,
I use LinkedIn regularly, but not as often as I’d like. Kinda complicated but I guess if we take a deep dive and get to know it better and I think I know it well. You’ve given some more important tips that I can delve into so thanks for that.
We need all the information about LinkedIn we can get! 🙂
Barbara
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Hi Barbara,
As I said to someone else above, as for me, Linkedin is my favorite social media, and where I spend the most time. I spend very little time on the other guys to tell you the truth, and as long as my situation is what is, won’t kid myslef in thinking that will change, but I know one day it will get better:)
Thanks for coming and for your input, and have a great day!
Hi Sylviane,
LinkedIn is definitely very powerful. Last I read was that 67% of all jobs in 2012/2013 came through LinkedIn. That is amazing thing to know.
I have a decent presence on LinkedIn but I do not spend my time there for marketing purposes like I do with other social networks.
But this is something which is always there in the back of my mind. I am still figuring out what strategy do I want to employ on LinkedIn. On day, I will make that big move 🙂
Thank you for sharing these tips. I liked your point #2 the most.
Regards,
Kumar
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Hi Kumar,
Yes, just by myself, most people I know who got a job recently got the job through Linkedin, so that’s working great for that.
As for me, Linkedin is the social media platform where I spend the most time, because I feel that’s the best one for my type of businesses. I think that I also understand it better than the other ones 🙂
Once you get more involved with it, I’m sure you’ll like it a lot.
Thank you for your input.
Hi Sylviane
Thanks for this post. Did I need to read it. Not because i could not figure most of this out but because I am not as regular as I should be.
I find it difficult to keep up with all the social media sites and think we are maybe better just to really get good at one or two.
I love number 5 too and would not have thought to do it.
Thanks Sylviane.
Sue
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Hi Sue,
That’s right. I think that it’s better to spend most of our time and energy in ONE social media, than being mediocre with them all. In my case, I picked Linkedin, because it’s just more professional. I got more tips and connections for my biz there than anywhere else.
I’m sure you’d like it too 🙂
Hi Sylviane NuccioThanks a lot for sharing this wonderful post. Because of craze for purely personal type of social media people underestimate the worth of Linkedin for promoting business. Its grouping option is far impressive than other social media. The accuracy in picking your potential customers is also matchless. Here every use has his very vivid and detailed profile and we can\’t miss even a partially potential client to add in our group or friends circle. Once again a big thank you for sharing this very valuable post to grow business with Linkedin.
Hi Mi,
Yes, Linkedin is invaluable for businesses, more than any any other social media in my mind. All the most important business links I’ve got are from Linkedin.
Thank you for coming and for you input.
Hi Sylviane,
Great Post Indeed!!
I have a profile and a presence in LinkedIn but I am hardly there for my time. But after reading this post, I think it is better to spend more time on LinkedIn than on Facebook.
I love the idea of creating a group and provide value in it and build a brand through it in LinkedIn. That’s a very smart idea. I will have to make the time to do it. I need it more than ever to grow my business and LinkedIn is the best place to find serious people for business.
Thanks Sylviane for a great educating post.
Be Blessed,
Neamat
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Hi Neamat,
Yes, if you want to be seen as a professional, Linkedin should be where you spend more time. That’s where I spend more time than any other social media, and I’ve got some great tips and relationships there. I really like it.
I hope you’ll give it a try and see how it goes for you. Of course, like anything else, the more you’ll put in the more you’ll get out of 🙂
Thanks for your input.
Hi Sylviane,I haven\’t been on LInkedIn in quite sometime and I had actually been thinking about deleting my profile. I wasn\’t sure if it would be good fit for my blog niche…but I think I had it wrong.Now I realize the profile should reflect me, who I am and what I do, right? If that\’s the case then maybe I should go in there and give my profile a good cleaning and look for groups in my niche and see how it goes.Thanks for these tips. I\’ll be keeping these nearby :). I hope you\’re having a great Tuesday!
Hi Corina,
Oh, no, don’t delete it! I think that Linkedin can be good for any business. No matter what you do. There’s lots of engagements on Linkedin and it’s really good for professionals.
As I mentioned in few of my replies to comments here I spend more time on Linedin than any other social media.
I hope you’re doing great too 🙂 Have a wonderful day!
Hi Sylviane,
Good to see your post here.
Its indeed a great joy to meet you here after a bit gap.
This post is filled with relevant tips for growing your business with linkdin as well as with the members there.
When I was with Google’s Knol pages i joined LinkedIn and we formed few community groups there and that was indeed a wonderful time of fellowship with the like minded people in the community, but Alas! in the meantime Knol is dead and the activity there too diminished tremendously and i was not fully participating or even in interacting with my people there. Though there are some VIP members recommended me and posted reviews about me, somehow I was a bit away from LinkedIn and its activities and in the recent time I am active again and my member connection number went up high and my post and other activities appear automatically but still blogging activity increased and I restricted my activities mainly to G+ twitter and fb but not much at LinkedIn.
Now i realize the need and the benefit of active participation there, thanks for sharing this valuable information.
Yes, readers should make note of this point again you mentioned and I quote again:
“Now, it’s not because you have your 500+ connections that you should stop there. Keep on growing your network by inviting new people in each day or at least on a regular basis.”
That is the key here, to keep on growing be active more !!! 🙂 🙂 🙂
Best Regards
Phil
PS: Hey Sylviane, I read this post at kingged.com and i kingged it and posted this comment there.
Thanks ones again for reminding the need of active participation in Linkdin
Best
Phil
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Hi Philip,
Oh, I’m not stopping here, no. I have now more than 500 of course, it keeps on growing and I try to increase my participation on groups.
I’m glad you got back to it, and hope you can keep building there.
Nice to see you again.
Excellent post Sylviane!
As I mentioned from the extremely nice comment you left on my blog, I knew from the title of your post, that I definitely had to read this one.
And so glad I did, because you really shared some excellent, previously unthought of points, on my part!
I have to agree with Sherman, your idea of leveraging your current contacts on linkedin in order to be properly introduced to other potential contacts, is nothing short of pure “think outside the box” marketing genius!
Just reading it may made me smile! And I also really liked tips 8-10. Another truly excellent and highly informative post!
I always get new insights and potential marketing angles and perspectives, whenever I read your posts!
Thanks so much for sharing it! Now, it’s my turn!
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Hi Mark,
Well, I’m so glad you liked those ideas that my dear salesman of a friend was nice enough to teach and share with me.
Thanks so much for the compliments. Who doesn’t like to hear nice compliments about what they put on their blogs? I know I do 🙂
Thanks for coming, and have a great rest of the week!
Hey Sylviane,
This is a really great post on how to connect the right way on LinkedIn. I mean who better to learn from then someone having great success right! That was so nice of him to let you share with us his tips.
Now you know I’m not that active on LinkedIn. I have joined some groups but if I must be honest, the topics of their blogs just didn’t interest me at all. So although I know it’s about the connections let’s face it, we have to show some support in that way too and it was just really hard for me.
I will share these tips though with my friends and I do appreciate you sharing these with us too. Really great advice.
~Adrienne
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Hi Adrienne,
Maybe you’ve not joined the right groups. There are tons and tons of groups out there, maybe try other groups. You can also quit the groups you’re not interested in anymore. If you’re interest, that is 🙂
I spend more time on Linkedin than any other social media, because it fits better what I do, but it all depends on the person/type business I guess.
Thank you for coming and have a great day!
LinkedIn has been the most visited site to start a business and to effectively promote it as well.
So, as for me, these tips that you have shared in the article above would be very helpful and valuable for everyone here in the online world. I’m pretty sure that these tips are effective to promote yourself and your business on LinkedIn.
I agree that adding value will always work. As what is said, people will seek you as long as you are valuable to them, and chances are that you will be referred to others. While building your own group and joining other groups are great ideas to increase your online visibility too.
Thanks for sharing this post! 🙂
Best,
Ann07
By the way, I found this post shared on Kingged.com
Hello there,
Yes, Linkedin is great for businesses and business people for sure.
Adding value always work, it’s the way to go.
Thank you for coming 🙂
HI Sylviane,I always wonder when I should use LinkedIn. I have had my profile for years and keep it up to date. I schedule posts for FB and Twitter. Do you think it\’s appropriate to add them to LinkedIn as well? Thanks, Lisa
Hi Lisa,
Yes, absolutely! You can post your posts on Linkedin and even looke for groups that match your niche. I always advise people to get on Linkedin, no matter what their business is.
I hope you’ll give it a try and thanks for trying again with my stubborn blog 🙂
Hello Ms. Sylviane
I got hit over the head with this post! Shame on me. I do have a profile, but I do not get there too often. I want to, but I think I have too much on my plate, but you know as I am typing this comment, I think I need to schedule it on my planner and go there once a week (for now)
All your tips are excellent and how nice of your friend to share these tips with you. I guess he is a success because of LinkedIn.
Thank you again
Gladys
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Hi Gladys,
Sorry for the late reply, but I thing I’ve got too much on my plate too these days.
Interestingly, as far as I see, employees or American Corp people seem to take better advantage of Linkedin than a lot of the entrepreneurs I know, anyway. I’m not quite sure why. As for me, Linked in has given me more than any other social media, so that’s where I go first.
I think it’s worth the effort to dedicate some time there.
Thank you for coming and I hope you will try it.
Sylviane, interesting about accepting all invitations. I wasn’t sure on that one. I also loved the point about interacting on a few groups. I’ve gotten to meet locals that way – they have quarterly get-togethers and it’s a great way to connect and network. I’ve been using LinkedIn for years and love it.
I don’t understand why some don’t use their photo though. My pet peeve on LinkedIn 🙂
Thanks for sharing these tips with us and have a great rest of the week Sylviane!
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I’m glad you are using, Linkedin, Lisa, as many bloggers I see, don’t. That’s the social media I use the most, and I love it too.
I’m with you on that, I do not like people using no picture or logos rather than their own, and those are the ones I usually ignore when they ask to connect. Especially the ones who have no face or some type of company name rather than their own name. I’d connect with anyone, but not anything 😉 I have to at least see you’re human, ya know 🙂
Thanks for coming by and have a great week. So sorry for the late reply too.
Good to know Sylviane. I wasn’t doing that, leaving it more for Corporate IT stuff, but since that isn’t my focus, I guess it’s time to shift. 🙂
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HI Sylviane !!!There is no doubt that Linkedin has the great potential to expand the business. I am there, but still not getting the results as per expectations. After reading this post, I have got some clues how to survive there regarding the business. Awesome Guide Indeed.Thanks
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Hi Ravi,
I’m glad this post helped you understand how you can connect on Linkedin better. It’s a great social media to be in and do great business with too.
This post is really informative and very much helpful to me so i thanks to the owner of this website for sharing such an amazing post
Hi Kunal,
Well, the “owner of the website” has a name. My name is Sylviane. Thanks for coming and glad you liked the post.
Hey Sylviane.
Sad to say, but I really need to step up my LinkedIn profile. Apparently, there’s another guy with the same name who pops up on Google searches, and he’s a “busboy at burgerking” with 4 connections. 🙁
I guess I’m gonna have to look for my previous clients and ask for invites/connections. I’m sure I could make a decent profile by now.
I’m with you on the idea of expanding your network. You never really know who you might get introduced to.
Thanks for giving me a wake up call about this!
All the best,
Micah
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Hi Micah,
You could start connecting with all your blogger buddies too. That’s a start. Then when you join groups and start getting to know them, you can connect with them as well. That’s how you can gradually build your network.
What a wonderful tips on business promotion through Linkedin Sylviane. I haven\’t be that active on Linkedin. I used twitter, Fb and Big G+. As I red your post I thik I have to give it a consideration.
Thanks for sharing this very informative post! I haven’t been 100% into social media and my profile in LinkedIn is incomplete. Need to implement many changes in what I am doing if I want results!
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Ciao Sylviane,
Okay, I really needed this article because I have been half-hearted about LinkedIn – haven’t even begun to tap into the power of relationships over there.
Bookmarking this post, Sylviane, so as to come back through with a fine tooth comb and take ACTION! 🙂
I actually do number 6, unless they’re sleazy, which is pretty rare on LinkedIn.
Had never even heard of clustering till your blog post, so thank you for sharing all this new information with me! Sharing it all right now, and I’m a student of yours in this! Will let you know how it goes…
– Carol Amato
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Hi Carol,
Well, I’m glad you found this post, then. I know those tips were good to me too, it’s just about finding the time for it all 🙂
People on Linkedin are definitely more professional than other media sites, as far I have seen for myself, but like everywhere we need to contribute in order to get something back.
I’m glad this post can be of good you to you 🙂
I never used Linkedin for promoting my business or some of my clients in past two years. I mostly use Facebook Twitter Pinterest and other social media networks. You explained and cleared a lot of things that I believe can give us real business from Linkedin too. Thanks for the tips about Linkedin.
Hello there.
I usually do not approve bloggers who are not using their real name, so please, try to do that instead of using a business name.
I’m glad you enjoyed this information.