by constructaquote - 7 September 2017
Using LinkedIn properly can help to promote your services as a consultant and win you more clients. Like all social networks, the busy chitter chatter and saturation of posts can distract you from your main goal – which in this case is winning more business. When it comes to LinkedIn, it’s important to have a strategy in place in order to get the best results from the time you spend on the platform. No one wants to spend hours and hours networking online when they can be doing great work for clients.
Here’s 5 ways to use LinkedIn effectively to win more clients…
When you get a prospects attention, naturally they will look at your profile and see what you’re about. Make sure it reads well and promotes your services clearly. Always have a profile picture of how you currently look, profiles without images have a much lower engagement rate. Your bio is likely to be the first thing people read on your profile so update it regularly to reflect what you’re doing and what you’re looking to achieve by using LinkedIn, for example: “I’m looking to connect with experienced professionals within the IT sector”.
Your profile is essentially what people will judge you on so make sure it includes all of the great things you’ve done, important qualifications and as many endorsements as possible.
You want your followers to perceive you as someone who is highly knowledgeable in your industry in order for them to want to do business with you. Writing your own content whether it be on a blog, website or status and sharing it regularly on LinkedIn will help to build your reputation as an expert in your field. You should also share other publications content on trending topics within your field as this can open up lines of conversation with your connections. Controversial content is great for starting a conversation and getting noticed.
People are drawn to other people that are successful. It’s how we’re wired as humans. Use your LinkedIn profile to update people on any positive things that are going on with your business or current clients. Whether its congratulating a clients’ great month of sales or celebrating 5 years in business, posting positive news will get peoples attention in news feeds. When you’re selling yourself on LinkedIn, make sure you’re doing it in a humble way and not bragging everyday, as this could have the opposite effect and push people away.
As well as sharing content, take the time to engage on people’s posts and make the effort to actually talk to people – don’t just fade into the background. Endorsing connections is a great way to feed their ego and also get you noticed too. Most people you endorse will take the time to endorse you in return which will help to boost your profile further. You should also suss out the people and companies that would be great to do business with. Connecting with the right people will attract more high quality connections to your profile.
Do not auto DM (direct message) your connections. Sending messages to new connections is a great way to reach out to them and say hello, but make sure they are personal and not generic ones you paste to everyone. Even if you’ve written something specifically for them, make sure it doesn’t read like a generic message you could have sent anyone. Make your message personal, short and sweet and don’t waste time reaching out to everyone. If you’ve connected with someone you really want to do business with and they don’t reply, check back in with them a few days later and so they keep you in mind.
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