How to Use LinkedIn to Get More Clients
LinkedIn is the world’s largest social media platform that’s exclusively for business professionals and employers. If you’re not currently using LinkedIn to its full potential, you’re missing out on countless networking opportunities and possible clients for your business. To learn how to use LinkedIn to get more clients, follow these tips on how to optimize your profile, write great job posts, and interact with current and future customers through groups and conversations.
Find your niche
Take a moment and think about your business. What do you specialize in? That is, what skills do you have that set you apart from other professionals in your field? This may sound like common sense, but it’s important. Linkedin is designed for professionals; if your presence on it doesn’t reflect what makes you unique as a professional, you will likely be lost in a sea of similar users. So, make sure you take some time to figure out how your skills or services can help others. Once you know who you are and what you can offer others, it’s time to start building connections. You don’t need thousands of connections—in fact, having too many could be counterproductive—but having a few hundred quality connections can go a long way toward helping grow your business through referrals and introductions.
Create your profile
If you’re not using Linkedin to market your business, it’s a good idea to create a professional profile. As with most sites, be sure to fill out all of your information completely and accurately. While you don’t want every word in your profile to be about your business (this will come off as spammy), you also don’t want it empty. Be sure that at least some of what is included relates to you as a person rather than just a business entity; no one wants someone who is only there for work purposes.
Optimize your LinkedIn page
If you want more people to notice your profile on LinkedIn, take a look at your profile picture. We’re not just talking about how it looks — are you even wearing one? Make sure that your profile picture is recent and professional; recruiters and potential clients want to feel like they can trust you with their business, so they should be able to recognize you in an instant. Next, make sure that all of your job titles are listed (and properly formatted). Recruiters will check out that part of your page first — if it doesn’t read well, you might as well start over. Also, don’t forget to link your social media accounts to your LinkedIn profile. It makes it easier for people who find you through those channels to learn more about you.
Add value to your network
One of the most common questions I’m asked is how to get clients from LinkedIn. Because it’s free, professional, and easy to use, people seem underwhelmed with what they’re finding when it comes to connecting with clients or closing deals on social media. But trust me: you need an active LinkedIn profile for your business—especially when starting. By adding value to your network in a handful of ways—and getting connected with people who can help you out in return—you can generate leads for your business and land your dream job or project (or eventually make money through selling products). How do you do that? Here are some strategies that will increase your visibility on one of today’s most important channels
You know it’s true: LinkedIn has over 400 million users worldwide. And let’s face it – if you want to hire someone, or find work online, sometimes your best bet is networking. So even if you already have plenty of contacts, why not use Linkedin as a way to both promote yourself professionally and connect with more people? It all starts by adding value; and building connections so others feel motivated to stay in touch with you. That doesn’t mean constantly sharing stuff about yourself!
Create a strategy to reach out
Think of your strategy as a plan of attack. A good first step is identifying all possible relevant audiences, defining why and how you want to engage with them, and compiling all their contact information. In other words, who are you trying to reach? What do they need and want? Where can you find them on LinkedIn? How will you get in touch with them once they’re on your radar? And so on. This kind of planning may seem tedious at first, but it’s essential for success—and helps prevent you from wasting time reaching out to people who aren’t interested or simply don’t have any budget for hiring new help. Once you’ve got a solid game plan, execute! Follow up immediately after connecting with someone (within 24 hours) and continue following up regularly until they respond or ask you not to contact them again. And if it doesn’t work out with one person or company, move on—it’s always better to try something else than nothing at all!
What message should you send?
Consider who you’re trying to reach and what they’re like. Where do they spend their time online? How will you get them to see your message? And how do you stand out from all of your competitors? Many people miss out on valuable opportunities because they send generic messages that could apply to anyone—and are quickly ignored. Take some time before you begin reaching out, and make sure your message is crafted for specific people, not just broadcasted into cyberspace. It’s better if it’s unique and relevant so that a hiring manager will pay attention. It’s also a good idea to pick someone in your target company or industry as a focus person, so when you come up with an idea for an outreach campaign, use that person as inspiration. Think about why he or she would want to work with you. This can help you write a personalized message tailored to your audience and increase its effectiveness. Don’t be afraid to show off your personality! If there’s something quirky about you that makes you memorable, show it off! Don’t feel like being serious all of the time is necessary. Showing off your interests or hobbies can give potential clients more insight into who you are and may help develop a relationship over time. You never know where those relationships might lead! Also keep in mind that these efforts may take months or even years; however long it takes, keep working at building relationships until you have a real connection. If things don’t work out one way, try another; perseverance pays off!
Analyze your results
If you want to know what results in your campaigns are getting, analyze them. Here’s how: In Google Analytics, go to Behavior > Site Content > Landing Pages. Sort landing pages by Bounce Rate. The landing page with the highest bounce rate is likely where people leave your site after clicking one of your ads; try improving that page and its content so that it attracts visitors who are more likely to turn into customers or leads. You can also look at which keywords are bringing in traffic from social media networks like Facebook and Twitter. Look for keywords that have a high click-through rate but low conversion rates (low percentage of clicks turning into actual sales). Then use those keywords as targeting criteria for future ad campaigns.
conclusion
Most recruiters and hiring managers, marketers, business owners, and freelancers are already using LinkedIn to hire talented people for their companies. By maintaining an active and well-put-together profile, you can easily be discovered by hiring managers looking for people with specific skills, experiences or qualifications. (conclusion source)