How to Get Clients With LinkedIn – LinkedIn for Personal Branding

LinkedIn Fast Facts – 2019

With more than 575 million users and over 260 million monthly active users (MAUs), LinkedIn is the largest and most powerful platform for professionals looking to network and grow their business. In case it’s been a minute since you’ve checked in on the network’s astonishing growth and global presence, let’s get you up to speed with these 2019 facts about LinkedIn:

• 40% of LinkedIn’s MAUs visit the platform on a daily basis.
• Attention spans are short on LinkedIn; the average user spends only 17 minutes per month on the platform.
• Half of all college graduates in the U.S. are on LinkedIn, whereas only 9 percent of individuals whose formal education ended with a high school diploma are on the platform.
• 44% of LinkedIn users have an annual household income north of $75,000.
• LinkedIn is reported to be 277% more effective at generating leads than Facebook and Twitter.
  

How to Use LinkedIn for Personal Branding & Client Acquisition

If the average business owner had a rallying call for LinkedIn, it might go something like this…

“What do we want?”

“CLIENTS!”

“When do we want them?”

“NOW!”

“How will we get them?”

“...UMMM….”

Good thing you’re not average! You’re about to learn what most business owners never really figure out. And, as a result, those professionals miss out on huge networking opportunities. After all, just a few minutes a day on LinkedIn could open up more opportunities than the many hours spent networking in-person after work or at conferences around the country.

The truth is, many professionals with great people skills and excellent in-person networking abilities simply have no idea how to attract and acquire clients on LinkedIn. And who can blame them? Just as learning how to build relationships in the professional world is a skill that takes time to hone… so is learning how to get clients with LinkedIn.

In this post, we’re going to teach actionable strategies for discovering, nurturing, and closing leads on LinkedIn. Ready? Let’s go!

Let’s Start By Building Your Brand

In order to get clients with LinkedIn, you have to start by building your own personal brand. Perform an audit of your profile and ensure these items are complete:

• Profile Picture: Professional dress with face clearly visible. No vacation photos or cell phone shots from circa 2012!
• Background Image (Cover Photo): Make sure this is not the default photo from LinkedIn. This is a great spot for a company logo or image. Even better, use this space to upload a custom graphic with a tagline that explains who you are/what you do.
• Headline: Excellent opportunity for a niche description of your services. Don’t just write “Accountant.” Get specific and tell people exactly what you do: “Professional accounting services specializing in franchise growth/expansion.”
• Summary: Go deeper in describing the expertise and value that you bring to your ideal customer/client.
• Media: Have a recent slide deck? A talk that’s available on YouTube? A trifold showcasing your new product line? Upload it here.
• Articles & Activity: This section will display immediately above the Experience section. If you choose to post articles on LinkedIn, the most recent one will appear here. So, make sure the quality is consistently up to snuff, as your articles display prominently on your profile.
• Experience: Keep it concise with high-level summaries that focus on the big wins.
• Recommendations: Make a habit of writing recommendations for other people every one to two months. Then, ask those individuals for a recommendation on your profile. (And, it should go without saying: if you aren’t willing to give someone else a recommendation, you probably shouldn’t expect them to write one for you!)

Once your personal LinkedIn brand is fully built out and consistent, you’re ready to start pursuing leads and growing your business with LinkedIn.

How to Get Clients With LinkedIn

Identify

First, you need to identify your target. If you don’t already know your target client, start by creating a target profile that’s modeled after your current best clients. Consider factors such as…

●     Industry

●     The position/title of the purchase decision maker

●     Size of company

This is your target! Stick with it. You don’t need to reach out to anyone and everyone; you don’t need to create LinkedIn content for people outside the target. Know who you want to attract, and stay focused.

Search

Next, use LinkedIn’s advanced search feature to track down individuals who fit your target profile. You can also search within LinkedIn Groups.

Connect

Visit each target’s profile page and select ‘Connect’ to send a request to connect. It’s important to do this from the person’s profile page. Sending a connect request from the search results doesn’t allow you to personalize your message, which is a huge mistake when reaching out to cold leads!

Write a personal note, maximizing the 300 characters available to you, to create a warm, compelling message. When your new connection accepts your invitation, send a follow-up message to say “thanks” and build the relationship. At this stage, it’s all about giving. What free resources do you have that could help your lead? Perhaps you have a mini-course, a video, eBook, or some other asset that helps solve the problems your target client frequently faces?

Schedule A Consultation

Finally, it’s time to take your new relationship to the next level, transitioning from back-and-forth messaging to a free consultation. You can transition to this stage by regularly following up with interested prospects to discuss the free resources you’ve provided to them.

In order for this to work, your free resource must be genuinely helpful and the prospect must be interested in the material. If you find that no one is engaging, then you may wish to re-evaluate the material you’re offering (Is it too surface level? Too niche?) and the format in which it's delivered. (Would a video be better than a PDF?)

Ready to Grow Your Personal Brand With LinkedIn?

Twice Social is a social media agency in Nashville/NYC with experience helping business leaders develop strong personal brands with LinkedIn. Find out how we can help you get more clients and develop your personal brand on LinkedIn, the world’s most powerful professional social media network. Contact us for more information.