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Businesses that have lots of partner relationships, or that sell to other businesses, spend much of their time figuring out who they should contact with search for new customers or opportunties. By using the LinkedIn website, you can find those key contacts easily by simply growing the size of your LinkedIn network, and learning a few search techniques.
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Powerful LinkedIn Strategies for Small Businesses
Maggie Barr Kat & Mouse Co www.KatandMouseCo.com
September 13, 2012
In This Presentation I Will Help You. . . • Learn a new way to “sell” to your
customers using social media that’s more effective
• Understand the difference between LinkedIn and other social media sites
• Build a strategy for who your LinkedIn site will target, and what goals will achieve
• Avoid wasting time on a generic LinkedIn site that is un-interesting and ineffective
Agenda
• Why use Social Media to market your business?
• LinkedIn vs. Other Social Media Sites
• Starting with LinkedIn – What’s Your Goal?
• How To Use LinkedIn to Find More Customers – Them Find You!
Why use Social Media to market your business?
• We are ALL selling something, ourselves, our products, our services, our time, etc.
• The OLD Way of Selling….
• High pressure tactics, cold calling, fear of rejection
• The NEW Way of Selling…
• Establish authority and thought leadership
• Provide Value and resources
• Display Social proof
LinkedIn vs. Other Social Media Sites?
LinkedIn vs. Other Social Media Sites
• Facebook – Used for individuals, and for promoting products to consumers
• Twitter – Used to communicate with highly engaged customers – not everyone
• YouTube – Great for posting video, but not for finding contacts
• Linked In – Best for finding business contacts and building valuable relationships!
What’s the difference?
LinkedIn is Best for Business Because…
Good for Individuals
Good for Posting a Business Profiles
Good for Finding
Consumers
Good for Finding
Business Customers
Good for Finding Channel Contacts
Good for Posting
Business Content
You Tube
Google+
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LinkedIn is Best for Business Because…
• ONLY FOR BUSINESS • Unlike with Facebook , there is no confusion about what is
business content and personal content on your profile, and your customers’ profiles
• THE BUSINESS MINDSET • Logging on at work, solving business problems, looking for
business opportunities
• NO PRIVACY CONCERNS • People you reach out to won’t be concerned about privacy
when you connect with them, like they might be on facebook
LinkedIn is Best for Business Because…
• SHOWCASE YOUR COMPANY • Unlike Twitter and YouTube, your LinkedIn profile can have a
written intro to your company and offerings, as well as a series of links to your website and other social media sites
• DIRECT 1:1 SELLING OK • Unlike FB, TW & YouTube, finding and contacting someone 1:1
to offer them something of value is easy, and more acceptable
• SPAM-FREE • Unlike Facebook & Twitter, you don’t get a ton of spam in your
news feed if you follow a company page
Before Starting with LinkedIn What’s Your Goal?
What is your LinkedIn campaign goal?
– Generate Leads?
– Get Hired By Existing Contacts?
– Promote Products or Services?
– Promote an Event?
– Get Hired?
• When you’re reaching out to people…. – Do you want to reach individual customers directly?
– Or do you want to target key influencers who will encourage others to check you out?
– Do you want to find channel partners to co-promote with?
Who do you want to reach with your LinkedIn campaign effort?
Your approach, message,
and offer will be different depending on this!
• Your core message
– Should only be one to avoid confusion, even though it’s tempting to try and fit in more
– What do you want these people to believe?
– Why are you better than your competitors?
What is Your CORE MESSAGE?
For example:
“We’re the largest supplier of high-end dental equipment in the US – please try us!”
• What’s your Call-to-Action? – Buy now!
– Try now - trial offer to get them interested
– Call us now for more info!
• What incentive are you offering to get them to take action? – Limited Time Offer – Whitepaper or Special price?
– Get access to industry-related content they need
– Watch a really cool video!
What Action do you Want the People you Contact to Take?
Try several different offers to see what works best!
• By how your LinkedIn page looks, compares to your competitors?
• By how many new connections you get?
• By how many new customers find you on LinkedIn?
How Will You Measure Your Success?
How To Use LinkedIn to Find More Customers . . .
Create a LinkedIn Presence That Stands
• Your Personal and Business Profiles needs to be targeted to your audience – not generic
• 3 Most important parts of your profile
– Headline
– Action Links
– Summary Section
• Your Company Page
• Should have the right wording that will attract your target customer -- who you REALLY want to see your site
• OK if it’s not interesting to people who aren’t your target!
Out!
Create a LinkedIn Presence That Stands Out …… to the right people
It’s OK if it’s not interesting to people who aren’t your target!
Our Target Customer
Actively Grow Your Network
• Import ALL your contacts
• Worse case, someone say’s “no”
• Accept ALL Invitations to connect
• Don’t worry about being “black-listed”
• When you meet someone in person, connect with them right away!
• Most Important . . . • Actively look for people to invite • Search by company, industry, and by connections to
people you know
Actively Grow Your Network
1. Post on your own profile page with status updates – have employees & partners do this too
2. Join Conversations that Engage Your Audience
3. Strategically join groups that your customers are in, and post there frequently
4. Be visible everywhere by being active weekly
5. Develop an on-going content strategy…. what can you post that is interesting next week?
6. Answer questions in the Q&A Section of LinkedIn
“Promote your company on LinkedIn and make it easy for potential customers and partners to find
you, learn about your offerings, and hear about other customers who like your product or service too!”
Leveraging LinkedIn to the Fullest
1. LinkedIn is one of several social media sites • They all have their plus’ and minus’ depending on what
you’re doing and who you want to reach
• LinkedIn is the best for finding business connections and opportunities
2. It is important to have specific goals in mind, and know who you’re targeting, what you want them to think, what you want them to do, and why they should do it
3. Create Your Killer Profile
• Include a thorough summary of who you are, who you serve, and what you offer……. and how they can find you
What We’ve Learned Today
Questions?
