Linked in basic skillsebook
- 1. LinkedIn Basic Skills Some tips to get started
- 2. George Inch About George Inch George has a diverse thirty year business background, which includes senior positions in sales, marketing and operations in the Service and Manufacturing sectors. Once unconvinced but now an enthusiastic proponent of LinkedIn, he is passionate about helping business professionals learn how to combine their own previous experience and relationships with this powerful social media tool in order to successfully generate more leads and give themselves and their business sensational brand awareness.
- 3. If you have been overlooking LinkedIn all this time you had better hope your competition has too If youโve never paid any attention to LinkedIn and its potential benefits, you wouldnโt be alone. The fact of the matter is that both Facebook and Twitter have become woven into the fabric of modern culture while LinkedIn has flown under the radar. โTweetsโ and Facebook status updates have become essential in the sharing of information as well as networking as a whole. But what if there was an even more direct way of networking and promoting your business with other professionals? And what if you had been missing out on it this whole time? Well, donโt feel too bad. The truth is, LinkedIn has a reputation for being overlooked, which is exactly why now is the perfect time for you and your company to get to grips with LinkedIn.
- 4. LinkedIn for Logistics What is LinkedIn? LinkedIn is a social network with over 240 million users that enables you to network professionally, build thought leadership, generate leads using degrees of separation. LinkedIn is different from other social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter in that it focuses specifically on the world of work. The tone is serious, and the social media marketing potential is vast because people join to network. If you sell to a business audience of any kind LinkedIn can offer you a great focus group of interested members
- 5. LinkedIn for Logistics What is your LinkedIn Strategy If you donโt have an objective for using LinkedIn you could be wasting a lot of your time. Too many people who join LinkedIn end up as โconnection collectorsโ. When asked why they signed up they say, โI donโt know. Somebody suggested I do, but I donโt get the pointโ. Suggested objectives: โข Find new customers โข Professional networking โข Personal branding โข Generate leads โข Promote my company โข Build website traffic โข Find a new job
- 6. LinkedIn for Logistics Build Your Profile It is easy to join LinkedIn. All you need to sign up is an email address. Once signed up the most important thing to do is fully complete your personal profile. Make sure you complete ALL the questions asked by LinkedIn. It is important for you to be found. โข Use a professional photo โข Use the name people know you by โข Find your key words โข Weave the key words into your heading, summary, experience โข Demonstrate your strengths in what you do โข How do you add value for people? โข Complete the profile
- 7. LinkedIn for Logistics Build Your Connections Once you profile is set up, you now want to start building your connections. The more connections you have the more people you will be able to contact with using their connections. Make sure you only send an invitation to connect to people you know or people in the same Group as you or you may find yourself with a restricted account. Send invites to: โข Colleagues (past & present โข Clients โข Networkers (Old Business Cards) โข Trade association members โข Your Linked Groups
- 8. LinkedIn for Logistics Get Recommendations LinkedIn recommendations are very powerful social proof. They demonstrate through real people your professional experience and value This is where people who are interested in using your professional skills will get their comfort. They will be able to refer directly to the individual who recommended you. โข Givers get: why not send out recommendations to people you have worked with reports and reports-to. They may reciprocate. โข Ask current/previous clients to recommend for a service provided โข LinkedIn suggests 3 will complete your profile but keep getting as many as you can
- 9. LinkedIn for Logistics Join Groups Groups are one of the most powerful elements of LinkedIn. There are over 1 million groups on LinkedIn. They allow you to share space and ideas with likeminded professionals and are akin to online Industry Associations. Most importantly they allow you to invite fellow group members to connect even if you do not know them. An ideal networking environment โข You are allowed to join 50 groups. Do it!! โข Join a mix of like interest groups and target market groups โข Stick to getting weekly updates or you can be overwhelmed โข Make sure you contribute to conversations regularly
- 10. LinkedIn for Logistics Use Advanced Search If you want to benefit from LinkedIn in your business, it is important that you understand how to search for people, companies and groups. Searching works by filtering. The more specific you are the better. The trick is knowing how to find people and the a way to connect with them. โข Search by keywords and phrases โข Search by job titles โข Search by geography โข Search by referral partners. People who sell to the same market but are not in competition โข Search by company page. โข Search by groups โข All searches are governed by โBoolean Stringsโ, get to know them
- 11. LinkedIn for Logistics Categorise your Contacts by Tagging them The new version of LinkedIn Contacts makes it easy to โtag; your contacts or connections. Each person you know on LinkedIn as a 1st connection can be tagged, which means you can put an identifier against each connection to put them in a particular category. Once tagged into a category you can communicate with these groups depending on the message you wish to convey. You can tag by: โข Job title โข Clients โข Partners โข Leads โข Prospects โข Frequency of contact required
- 12. LinkedIn for Logistics Create a Company Page Linked has updated it Company Pages in the last year. Why create another profile? 1. Company Reach Without putting any efforts into building your company on LinkedIn the chances are you employees are updating their profile to show where they work. Take advantage of this in the hope that people connecting with them will seek out your company page thus promoting your company 2. Product Awareness LinkedIn allows you to add multiple products to your page so that each stands out. Not only are potential clients learning about your products or services they are able to see recommendations for them and who recommended them.
- 13. LinkedIn for Logistics Completing your Company Page 1. Include basic information by going to Admintools-Edit. LinkedIn will prompt you to fill out relevant information 2. Include products and services. As we have already discussed LinkedIn can showcase these very effectively Include them by going to the page and then edit. 3. Promote you company page. A LinkedIn ad campaign could help spread the word about your company as you build and integrate you marketing campaign. 4. Post Jobs on the Careers tab. This allows you to post openings at your company. Let people know your looking for fresh talent to help you build your company 5. Measure. The final tab on company pages is an analytics tab which will allow you to track page views and unique visitors.
- 14. LinkedIn for Logistics Final Word On LinkedIn Ther are a lot of new tools being added to the LinkedIn toolbox all the time. Keep following its progress, through personal use or follow me on Linked in at: http://uk.linkedin.com/in/georgeinch For a free review of your LinkedIn strategy and a critique of your profile or if you do not use LinkedIn and would like to see its potential for your business click on this address and register: www.seaforthmarketing.com or call 07798 500250 and talk to George