Best Marketing & Sales Tips on LinkedIn
So many people write way too much about LinkedIn or any social network. Saavy business owners and their marketers just want you to get to the point. No one has time to read all of that nonsense that makes the author feel like an expert. Consider this the Reader’s Digest version. Things to do without all the fluff.
1. Get a 100+ referrals …
Use LinkedIn for referral selling. Not only request a “recommendation” from those you do business with but if you see a prospect in their connections that might benefit from what you are selling, ask them for a referral.
2. Answer (ask) questions…
In the LinkedIn header there is a menu option titled, “Answers”. Two of the options that can get you great visibility are to Ask a Question or Answer Questions.
3. Shout out to your network…
On your home page there is a field for you to shout out what you are working on, new product launches, etc. Think of it like your LinkedIn twitter/facebook wall thingy.
4. Create a company profile…
Again, returning to the header on LinkedIn, there is option titled “Companies”. First search for your company. If it is not there, add your company profile.
5. Mine for your ideal customer…
If you are like most businesses, the top 20% of your current customer base is probably generating 80% of your income. Look up your current customers. Search for those that are like them. Do your research and your profits can increase exponentially. I’m a big believer in being proactive and going after the customer rather than waiting for them to notice me.
6. In this economy - there is strength in numbers…
Form strategic alliances, meet new people, and contribute to a Group. Join groups where you can learn and contribute to your peers. Don’t forget to join those that hold your ideal customers as well. A group does you no good if you sit in silence. Start or participate in a Group Discussion.
7. Get in the news…
Submit your latest blog post, press release or other newsworthy item to your group(s).
Article written by Deb Murray, Founder, Soaring Interactive Media. You may republish under Creative Commons agreement, providing you provide full attribution to Soaring and this webpage.
Get Your Blog Linking! That’s “LinkedIn”
Don’t have time to wait for people to “find” your blog? Start creating your own blog visibility. Start adding your blog to social networks you belong to already, such as LinkedIn.
Follow these simple steps to getting your Wordpress blog added to your Linked in profile.
| Step 1 | Log into Linked in |
| Step 2 | Click on “Edit My Profile” |
| Step 3 | Scroll down on the page to Applications. Click on the +Add Application link. |
| Step 4 | In the featured application list, click on Wordpress |
| Step 5 | Enter the url for your blog. Select show all recent posts from your blog. OR Show only recent posts tagged LinkedIn. I selected, “show all recent posts from your blog.” Click the Save button. |
And WOW you are done!
If you don’t have a free wordpress blog, you can sign up for one right here.
Don’t have a LinkedIn account? Sign up here.
5 FREE Ways to Market Your eBooks
Many of our clients have a wealth of information to share but it is too long for a blog article. I suggest they create a simple 5-10 page white paper or eBook to virtually “hand out” to prospects and customers. By creating your great work in a word processing application such as Word and converting it into a pdf file**. Your eager readers can download the white paper with the click of a mouse.
Now that you have your shiny new white paper how can you market it? Don’t think because you have created this great book that people will just find you. You need to make them aware of it…even if it is FREE.
Method 1 |
Create a video that announces your great eBook. Yesterday, we told you about Spencer Tyler’s video on “7 Tips to Create Your Niche Market” and the free download at Create Your Niche. You can see that video on our blog, on his blog, on YouTube and throughout the internet. |
Method 2 |
Shout about it to your favorite groups. Tweet, Meet, Link and Yahoo from the mountain tops announcing your new “work of words”. We asked Spencer to send out a shout to his meetup group about his new campaign. Below is what he wrote to his Small Business Meet Up Group:
“As we love to provide you with great tools you can implement to grow your business - we just posted our 1st video blog on creating your niche market!! Check it out, take it for a spin!! Go to; http://worksmartla.com/ or you can also view it @ http://createyourniche.com/” |
Method 3 |
Bookmark it everywhere! When you ask your friends to bookmark your video and/or campaign landing page, make sure they bookmark your blog post or your landing page and NOT the video sharing site where it might be hosted. This is a common mistake even great marketer make.
You do not want to send people to YouTube or article directory service such as Ezine Articles where they might forget your call to action. You want to send people to your blog or campaign landing page so that they will download your ebook. While you are at it make it easy on your bookmarking friends by using a service such as Share This on your blog and websites. |
Method 4 |
Put your stamp on it! Add your campaign url to your email signature and every comment/post that you do on other people’s blogs. You want to push people to your campaign — then do not push them to your website. Push them to the campaign landing page and only that.
Create a tag line and use it everywhere. Create interest to drive people to your page. For Spencer’s campaign it might be something like: “Hot Profit Making Niche!! Are people saying that about your business? CreateYourNiche.com ” |
Method 5 |
Blog about it! Today everyone can have a free blog. Whether you are using wordpress, blogger, typepad or something in between. Write about your campaign. Teach others how to create a similar campaign. (Like we are doing here in this blog post)
Find other people’s blogs who have an audience similar to yours and comment on their blogs mentioning your campaign. |
Go check out Spencer’s campaign. Perhaps you will even learn how to “find your hot niche” and turn your business into a cash creation machine.
**A free pdf converter can be found at PrimoPDF
