6 Basics for Using LinkedIn to Sell

Who Are These People Anyway?

Are you getting LinkedIn requests from people you don’t know?  

I get about 30 LinkedIn requests per month and about 80% are from people I don’t know and who are unfamiliar with the best way to utilize LinkedIn and make solid connections.  It’s time consuming for me to figure out who they are and how they know me.  I don’t want to connect to people I am not willing to build a business relationship with so I take time to figure out who each person is and how they are connected.  The most helpful thing would be if they put a note in the connection request telling me how they know me and why they would like to be connected.

I am wondering if that would be helpful for you too.

Typically once I connect, I send a message thanking them for connecting and offering my favorite tips for utilizing LinkedIn.  You may be able to use a few of these tips yourself and please feel free to pass them on or add others by commenting on this post.

6 Basics for Using LinkedIn

1. Complete your profile: Add your photo. It should be a head shot, so that professionals you may meet can recognize you – not a fun photo that you would put on Facebook.  Add past jobs, your education, and organizations you belong to.

2. Write an engaging headline and summary: The idea is to get the reader’s attention so they stay on your profile and read more. Make your headline a grabber.  Write a short and engaging summary that will make someone want to call you.

3. Make Connections with people you know: Start with friends, family, classmates and co-workers, then add clients and past clients, add people you meet networking and people in your professional organizations. Connecting with people you don’t know comes later. You will get the best results using LinkedIn once you have 500 connections.

4. Send a personal note: When making a connection request, always send a personalized note, even if you know the person well. Let them know why you are connecting. Remind the person how you know them or where you met.

5. Interact: Post your activity, your most recent blog post or an article you have read. Scan the activity feed to see what others are up to. Click “like” or make a quick comment.

6. Join groups: Look up the groups you are a member of and join them on LinkedIn. Search for groups that would be interesting for you to belong to. Then engage in the conversation. All of the groups you join will have ongoing discussions, join them or start your own.

LinkedIn is a great place to find resources, customers, employees and jobs. If you are trying to raise money through venture capital or crowdfunding you need LinkedIn.

Building Connections for the Future

But LinkedIn only works if you areconnected to people you know and continue to strengthen those relationships. Asking for an introduction to someone you don’t know through someone you don’t know, doesn’t work.  Having 500 connections to people you don’t know is as good as a cold call list.  Get connected to people you know and if people you don’t know ask to be connected, do a little research and figure out if you want to be connected and then reach out and build a relationship so you can utilize that connection when you need it in the future.

If you need more information on how to use LinkedIn effectively I can provide an online training for your team or a one to one session just for you.

Check out my upcoming online training: www.aliceheiman.com/events