LinkedIn can be your number one Social Media platform when it comes to growing your business.

It’s a gold mine, with millions of users and less than 5% using it the right way to grow relationships and leads, you have a big advantage.

However, there is a different content strategy than Facebook or Instagram when it comes to content and building your community. I invited Mary Fain Brandt, a national LinkedIn trainer & strategist,  to come chat with us and give you solid tips on how to start using LinkedIn the right way to grow your business.

I had always associated LinkedIn as a way to find a job. Purely a way to showcase my resume.

l didn’t give it much thought when it came to generating leads for my business.
It took me some time to realize the power of LinkedIn when it came to growing my business. Building strategic relationships with other business owners to ultimately grow my business! 

What are the advantages of using LinkedIn over other social media platforms? 

Mary shares some statistics with us, there are currently 640M users on the platform with less than 5% actively engaging.

They put up a profile but are not strategically putting up content and utilizing the platform.

If you can position yourself with a rockstar profile and created a strong and strategic network paired with a strong content strategy you will be among the top 5% of all users! 

Also, LinkedIn was created as a networking community, it was not intended to be solely a job seeking platform. If you are interested in building strong relationships… this is your platform. 

The top three relationships you should be working on LinkedIn To grow your business are:  collaborations, affiliates, ambassadors, and referral partners. (which who doesn’t want referrals?)

 When it comes to content strategy on LinkedIn To Grow Your Business…

Mary gave us three tips. 

Tip 1: 

When it comes to hashtags, only use 3 hashtags.

Otherwise, LinkedIn will demote your post.

Two hashtags should be relevant to the content you are posting and the third hashtag should be consistent with your brand. This allows people to track all of your posts.

Tip 2:

When it comes to creating content. Videos are the strongest form of marketing. You can record a video, upload it to YouTube (LinkedIn’s preferred platform) and then upload it to LinkedIn.

Video is great because your personality comes out, who you are and you are relatable.

Pro Tip:
When you are use video, use closed captioning. A high percentage of videos are watched without the audio on. 

Tip 3:

When it comes to your content, have themes. At least have a theme for the month. (If you feel stuck when it comes to putting together a 90 Day Marketing Strategy check out this video!)

For posting content, it should be organically throughout the month. 80% of your business and 20% should be other stuff while adding in small tidbits of you!

Your profile should be attracting your target customers.

Let’s start with your headline. Your headline shouldn’t have a title on it. If you currently have Founder and CEO, you need to change it.

You only have 6 seconds to capture someone’s attention.  The headline does the job for you!

Your headline should answer the following questions:

– Who do you serve?

– How do you serve them?

– What value or benefit do they get from working with you?  

Example of a headline:

“Do you suffer from anxiety? Do you have Sunday Night Blues? Are you ready to leave your Corporate Job? I know how you feel, I suffered like that for 10 years. There is hope and I am here to give you the formula to leave your Corporate job in 6 weeks.”

If you need help coming up with a sizzling headline, Mary is sharing her cheat sheet with you! Grab it at the bottom of this post!

Your background photo should reflect your business.

This is free real estate and it gives you the opportunity to advertise.

If you have a book launching or a course launch… use the background photo are to advertise.
This is a great area if you are just advertising your own services! 

When it comes to the summary, this should be direct and to the point. Mary shares her formula with us. 

There should only be 3-5 sentences in each paragraph.  Make it scannable

You will need to answer the following questions and add it to your summary:

• Who do you work with? (your target customer) 
• How do I serve them? 
• What are the benefits/value they receive from working with you. An example you can increase their confidence or you’ll get them booked on more stages.

Lastly, add a call to action.
What do you want people to do? Book a call with you? Buy your book? Join your webinar? You have to share with people the next step for them to take to work with you! 

Pro Tip:
Always include your email at the bottom. Not everyone knows where to look for your email within a LinkedIn profile.

What if you woke up and LinkedIn was sending YOU leads to your inbox on the daily?

Yes, this can happen. LinkedIn has a service called ProFinder. ProFinder is the gem of LinkedIn.

If you want to grow your business using LinkedIn, ProFinder is a great way of making this simple for you.

You have to have LinkedIn’s premium service to use ProFinder. But what it does, it allows you to be listed as the best of the best of LinkedIn not to mention, it sends you job requests.

There are 17 different categories within ProFinder. From landscapers, marketing consultants, to business coaches. You should be able to find a category that fits your niche.

There is a process to join.
You will need to fill out the application and be accepted into the program.   
Have your proposals ready once you are set up! 

Pro Tip: A potential client can only receive 5 proposals. You will need to be prepared and react quickly once you receive an email from ProFinder. Having a proposal set-up prior will help you copy and paste the info into the request.

Tune in to hear how Mary increases her ProFinder conversions to be consistently selected over other proposals!

Mistakes business owners are making on LinkedIn…

Mary suggests not sending an email to a new connection immediately asking someone for something.
Get to know them first.

This also includes:

• Asking for testimonials without knowing someone.

• Sending a sales pitches right when you connect.

Also, you need to do more than just like a post on LinkedIn. It is better to comment. Spend 20 minutes a day, 2 likes, 2 comments, 3 likes, 3 comments, to start gaining momentum.

You may want to go a little deeper when it come to using LinkedIn to grow your business… 

If you are interested in learning more about how you can leverage LinkedIn to be your number one lead and relationship-building platform for your business. Mary is releasing How to find clients using LinkedIn: The Entrepreneurs guide on how to turn your LinkedIn Profile into a Lead Magnet on Sept 23, 2019! 

It’s a step-by-step course that covers:  

• How to set up a rockstar profile: Not only walking you through your profile but also what settings you should have on to optimize search results.  This will help you keep potential clients on your profile longer. 

• Define and develop a strong and strategic network with 10 referral sources. 

• Best practices for search strategies. New search strategies are launching in the next few weeks, she will be going through all the details within the “office hours”. 

• How to start getting Rockstar recommendations. To build your credibility and clients. 

• Gaining access to LinkedIn Live and how to use it to grow your audience and clients. (LinkedIn Live just launched.) 

Each module has video tutorials and templates.

Mary knows how difficult it can to describe and write about you and your business! She has created copy templates to ensure you don’t get STUCK through the process!

The templates cover hot headlines, how to write a summary that attracts your idea customers, and ten templates on what to say when you message someone to sound professional and not spammy.

Not to mention her private Facebook group with weekly “office hours”. You can jump into the group to network with other professionals, as well as, ask questions and receive immediate answers from Mary.

To Join The Course Click Here!

Download Sizzling Headliners Template

To connect and follow Mary:

LinkedIn

Facebook 

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