On October 23, 2015, my special guest on the Marketing Blab with Debra, was my friend Viveka von Rosen. Known as the LinkedIn® Expert, the topic of conversation was of course, LinkedIn®.
We had a great time talking about the art of engaging and nurturing relationships on the social platform. One point Viveka brought up is that she considers LinkedIn a business or CRM tool, not a social media site.
Here are five key LinkedIn takeaways we covered during the Blab (which, because we were having such fun with each other and our guests, ran an hour and half in length):
1. Even with all the recent changes, LinkedIn is still an extremely powerful network. If you work it hard enough, they’re truly are ways you can find and engage almost anyone that you want to. You can certainly find, connect and engage with powerful influencers.
2. It always comes down to having a connection, taking it offline (as Viv said “URL to IRL”), getting on the phone if you can.
3. Don’t ignore invitations to connect on LinkedIn. If you don’t know the person sending you an invitation, check him/her out by visiting their profile. When you view their profile, they’ll know your active and if you’re actively using LinkedIn, it’s one of your touches in building the KLT Factor (know, like and trust).
3. Some criteria to consider before accepting a LinkedIn invitation from someone. You might want to accept the invite if that person is:
- A good prospect for you.
- A good prospect for your audience.
- An influencer.
- Someone who can be of service to you and vice versa (they might be a great vendor for you at some point in time or you might know a lot of people who need that person’s service/program/product).
In general, as long as there is a potential for business, whatever that may look like, then consider accepting the invitation.
4. Pet Peeve: If you send out an invitation and that person accepts your invite, remember that they are not opting in to your mailing list. Do NOT start sending them your newsletter. Instead, start providing value, send them good information and direct them to your web site where they have the option to opt in should they want to.
5. Establish yourself as an expert using LinkedIn Publisher. Published posts are searchable by keywords, so using LinkedIn Publisher (vs. posting updates) helps you establish yourself an authority/expert. Savvy social sellers/Linkedin users, will use the search function as a way to find experts/resources and when that happens, engagement begins!
For more takeaways from this engaging and fun Marketing Blab, watch the replay of the program below.
Have a LinkedIn tip, pet peeve or guideline you use for connecting and engaging with those who reach out to you on LinkedIn? Please share your thoughts in the comment section below because I’d love to hear from you. Thanks a million and here’s to your sweet success!
