Before you start reading this post, I would like to ask you a question. Which all sites do you use frequently for social networking?
Your instant reply would be Facebook and Twitter. Though they have the potential to get you some income we can’t neglect other social networking websites like LinkedIn etc. I know LinkedIn is not as exciting like Facebook or Twitter but it isn’t that bad. When I started my blogging career, I focussed on almost 10 Networking sites which also included Rediff, StumbleUpon, LinkedIn etc but now I have started neglecting it. With my second site to be launched soon I have again started to put in some efforts back on linkedIn again.
I have also discovered that it is not only a powerful networking tool but it can also help you in generating some leads or sales. With almost 150+ Million members (almost all are Bussiness Owners, Senior Management etc etc.). It has the perfect readymade audience that I was looking for my new site which would be about selling some SEO services. After going through the linkedIn again, I have come to a point that generating leads is not a big task on LinkedIn. So here are some personal tips by me on how to generate leads on linkedIn.
1. Give a Oomph Factor to your profile
Your profile would decide your linkedIn presence, and if your profile is not upto date then you are missing out on something big. So its time to change it and make it par with others. Add your experience in your LinkedIn profile. Provide an in-depth write up about your professional history and your services that you offer so that other LinkedIn Members would get to know your services better and order you somehing directly. A professional looking picture of you is suggested. Don’t add some other pics like Taj Mahal or Twin towers.
2. Create a LinkedIn Feeds
The best part about LinkedIn is that it gives Individuals and Companies a chance to demonstrate their expertise by replying to questions in their field in LinkedIn answer Area. To grab the attention, answer in categories like your current employers or previous employers or your geographic location. To make it even more easier for you, you can create a RSS feed for your answers and use it with any of your Favourite RSS Feeder tools like Feedburner.
3. Increase your connections
It is similar to increasing your Facebook friends. This one is pretty simple to understand and even to complete the task i.e Adding more connections to your profile. The more, better for us. Because you would have wider audience for your products and increase your chances of generating the leads. When you find someone with whom you would like to connect, give him your personal info briefly this would help the second person know you better. Let the person know about your services and products and express your desire about staying in touch with him/her.
4. Share Content
Another simple way to generate leads is to share contents with your connections on regular basis. I’m sure you would be reading something interesting or different every day then why not let your connections also know about this unique post and get some trust. You might also consider to share only those content which is related to your product or services and even write a short brief about the post before posting it on your profile.
5. Search for local events
Look for some local events that are posted on LinkedIn, which would again help you in increase your presence and reach. Meeting online connections are something that I love, hope you will also have this minset. You can also create events on LinkedIn.
Though I have generated some leads using the above tips but I can’t guarantee success to you too. What next? Feel free to comment below and know your trick to generate the leads on LinkedIn.
I was wondering how we could get our new connections to get off of their butts to talk business with us. They will connect, but you rarely if ever hear anything else from them. So what is the benefit of the connection if they are not doing business with us.
Thanks for the post. I never really used Linkedin for business purposes either and was wondering where is the advantage.
Never thought of LinkedIn to promote blogs..Thanks for the info!
BTW I blog at http://www.sparkwiz.com
Linkedin has always been one of the best ways to increase traffic as well as some cool ideas from it..
Never tried linked in for this type of things !! Even never thought that we can generate leads from it .. Will check them for sure
I am quite happy with traffic that I am getting from Linkedin, most of the time it is very high quality targeted traffic and it doesn't require too much efforts to get it.
Hi Simoni, great tips, certainly useful for someone looking out to leverage the potential of LinkedIn. But I think you missed out on one of the most powerful features of this social network site, The LinkedIn groups, there are hundreds of them where you can establish your prowess over a particular topic or subject and be recognized as an authority or SME in your field. I am sure you have definitely explored it's potential for driving some targeted traffic and there by generating leads. But like any other forums, you will be booted out immediately and mercilessly for Spamming, so we must be very cautious about the way we carry ourselves in there, never haphazardly dumb links to our blogs there. No, that's not the place to fool around. But can be really beneficial if done right !
"Hello Sumoni Gupta nice to meet you ,you covered very nice points about social media 🙂 i'm not have any experience with linked in .. now i'm going to try it once
"
Linkedln as a site has been very complicated and difficult to handle for people. One point that is most noteworthy is the fact that unlike Twitter and Facebook that are personal spaces this is a more professional space. People can only do the normal things that are needed but there is a more important need to get to know what leads are needed and in that manner, the posts on your site helps a lot.
Yes now we should understand the importance of this another famous site of social media which is growing daily with positive response for all in every field where we can keep in touch with many good personalty for gain and share many things any of the time in a day.
I never used linked in for business purpose but I think I have heard a lot about it and Now I cannot wait to use it for getting leads. Thanks for the post buddy.