Archive for the ‘Internet-related’ Category
OK. LinkedIn is a great online venue for generating business opportunities. Potentially. But to realize the benefits of this powerful professional networking site, you need to use it. Here are some ideas:
LinkedIn Answers
One of the ways you can get noticed very quickly by a significant and diverse group of people on LinkedIn is to simply answer questions other members are posting in hopes of finding good answers. Merely answering questions in your area of expertise gives you great visibility to many LinkedIn members.
If your answer is chosen as ‘best’, that gives you some bragging rights on LinkedIn. In fact, LinkedIn will post that on your profile for you. Free PR! it never hurts! Also, whether you ‘win’ or not, if someone else likes your answer, they may check out your profile and then reach out to you directly. Yes, it does happen!
LinkedIn Search
You have a lot of options here. One is to use LinkedIn’s ‘search’ function (upper right screen) to find a business you’re interested in. Assuming the firm’s name pops up, click on it. You’ll then see anyone you are already connected to as well as people in the business you may want to know better. Now, generating some powerful and personal connections should be relatively easy for you to do.
More to come tomorrow!
Regardless which approach you choose to use (and BOTH is a very good option!) there’s one thing you must be sure to do or neither approach is likely to be productive.
The King and I
Yul Brenner, the iconic actor, was renowned for portraying the Kind of Siam in Rogers and Hammerstein’s classic musical, “The King and I”. One of the songs in that play was, “Getting To Know You”. The lyrics are: “Getting to know you, getting to know all about you . . .”. It’s a good idea to do this on LinkedIn, too.
It’s Not About You
Social media in general and LinkedIn in particular are not about marketing that interrupts other people. You want to ‘blend in’ to join in with the LinkedIn member community.
Take the time to really understand who you may want to approach — directly or indirectly. Study their profile. View their connections to other people and groups on LinkedIn. Learn what you both have in common. Engage with people based on what’s interesting to them. You’ll be far more interesting to them as well. And do this all before you ever approach anyone on LinkedIn for an overt business purpose.
KEY POINT:
Getting to know LinkedIn members before you approach them is smart!
With all the talk about using social media to promote your business, it seems like as good a time as any to look at how some people are using LinkedIn for just this purpose.
Two Options
If you’re going to use LinkedIn to promote business for you, you can connect with prospective clients and centers-of-influence directly or indirectly.
The former means using the ‘search’ function of LinkedIn to help you identify other LinkedIn members whose profiles suggest people who might find your services or expertise to be of interest. You’ll also want to check out which LinkedIn groups their profiles show they belong to — because water (and, prospects) have a magical way of finding and connecting with their own kind.
The latter means using the many opportunities LinkedIn offers to help you make others aware of you and your expertise. Typically, this means you’ll be using various ways of connecting with other members that are less direct.
Tomorrow, we’ll look at a few of the more popular and effective ways you can use LinkedIn to promote awareness of and attract response to you as well.
KEY POINT:
LinkedIn is where you can find business opportunities and be found by them as well
