LinkedIn: The Darling of Business Social Networking

Linked In is World’s Largest Professional Network with 150 million+ members.  You can: Manage your professional identity. Build and engage with your professional network. Access knowledge, insights and opportunities.

Carlos “Los” Silva is a relationship marketing expert and the director of social development for Schmooz.me.  He built a successful lead generation business by finding clients on LinkedIn.

My motto is: The Real Currency is “Relationship Riches™”

Start by creating valuable business conversations, become part of a community, and develop one-to-one social prospecting on Linked in.

The go-to-guy to discover how to fine-tune your methods for greater business Relationship Riches is Los Silva.

#LikesUP – Join me http://www.linkedin.com/in/sherrierose

Here are a few actionable highlights, a “Cheat Sheet,” prepared by Sarah Brodsky. You can take Los’ full LinkedIn course here.

Tactic #1: Divide your LinkedIn contact list into segments.

When you sort your contacts into segments, you can target specific groups of people and focus your marketing. Read your contacts’ profiles and divide them into groups based on their jobs or interests. For example, Los used LinkedIn’s tag feature to sort his contacts into categories like “staffing” and “Web design,” and he invited certain groups to attend webinars.

Tactic #2: Send targeted surveys to your contacts.

If you send your contacts targeted surveys, you can test ideas and pre-sell products. Send one of your contact segments a message describing a product you’d like to sell and ask, “Do you want it?” For example, Los sent 100 real estate agents a message that he was thinking about creating a product to help them use social media and about 40 of them were interested.

Tactic #3: Join a LinkedIn group and offer to help the other members.

If you participate in LinkedIn groups, you’ll form relationships with other members and it will be easier to turn them into customers. Join a group, offer to help run the group or share useful information, and then ask the group owner to help promote your products. For example, Los volunteered to help groups by being a manager, and in most cases the group owners agreed to promote his webinars and offline events.

Tactic #4: Use videos to reach group members.

If you post videos, you’ll get a better click-through rate than if you post articles or text. Record a video of yourself speaking, include webinar slides when appropriate, and send the video to the other group members. For example, Los had a friend who found a job within a week of sending her video resume to relevant LinkedIn groups.

Tactic #5: Send prospective customers to a landing page or webinar.

When you send prospective customers to a landing page or webinar, you can learn about what they need and market to them directly. If any of your contacts ask about your services, invite them to sign up for a webinar or to visit a landing page and fill out a survey. For example, Los’s client directed people to a landing page with a survey about their executive coaching needs, and then the client called them to sell his coaching services.

Tactic #6: Use a rifle, not a shotgun.

If you focus your sales efforts on the right decision makers, you’ll increase your sales. Learn about the companies or people who could benefit from your products and make them offers tailored to their needs. For example, Los researched an upcoming event, found the people who were in charge of marketing it, and suggested that they hire him to do the event’s LinkedIn community building.

Tactic #7: Use Boolean logic when you search on LinkedIn.

If you use Boolean logic, which are techniques for refining searches, you’ll be able to zero in on the kinds of people you’re looking for. When you conduct a search, use Boolean symbols to include the keywords you want and exclude the ones you don’t want. For example, Los did a search for consultants and advisers, and he used the minus sign to exclude anyone with “social media” or “Internet marketing” in their title.

Note: If you use LinkedIn to research people on the internet, this article may be of interest to you.

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Sherrie Rose, The Liking Authority