RSS Feed (xml) There are 6 primary ways you can use LinkedIn to generate leads for your business.
1. LinkedIn Answers: This is one of the more useful (and under-utilized) tools on LinkedIn. It’s a section where people who want to ask questions about business go to get advice. And guess who’s giving the advice? You are, because you’re an industry-insider with a lot of helpful knowledge, right? We know someone who answered questions about marketing research on a regular basis. Over the course of one year, he generated more than $80,000 in new projects using this approach.
2. LinkedIn Applications: One of the more interesting places to visit on LinkedIn is the Applications area. This is where you can go to add new and interesting apps that will improve the experience people have on your LinkedIn page. If you’d like to add your blog posts to your LinkedIn page, it’s easy. Or, if you’d like to let people know what business books you’re reading, that’s easy, too. You can even set up simple polls to find out what’s on the minds of your customers and prospects.
3. LinkedIn Groups: As we mentioned earlier, you should definitely join several groups on LinkedIn. But the trick here isn’t just joining the obvious groups in your industry, it’s joining groups that are outside your industry that might help you grow your business. By stretching out a little bit, you’re expanding your reach, which is always good for business. So, for example, if you’re an accountant, you don’t want to just join accounting groups -- you’ll want to join groups for entrepreneurs, small business owners, restaurateurs and other groups outside of your immediate circle.
4. LinkedIn People: This is terrific for sales people, people looking for jobs and business-to-business owners who want to get their foot in the door at a large corporation. Just do a search in the upper-right-hand box for your target company. Click on the company. Now, on the right hand side, you’ll see a box that will show you your first connection (also known as a direct connection) and your second connections. Assuming you have no first or direct connections, click on the second connections link. This will bring up a list of names of people at your target company. At the bottom of the profile, you’ll see a list of your shared connections. From that point on, it’s a cakewalk -- just ask your friends to introduce you via LinkedIn to the people at your target company. Bingo, you’re in.
5. LinkedIn Direct Ads: LinkedIn has an advertising program that can be used to drive new prospects to your landing page, LinkedIn group or other destination. The ads work the same way Google paid search ads work. You simply write a headline, add some copy and create a destination link. Then you bid on how much you’ll pay LinkedIn every time someone clicks on the ad. If you pay $1 to LinkedIn for a clickthrough, and it takes 50 clicks before you convert a customer, then you’ve just spent $50 for 1 customer. If your product sells for $500 each, investing $50 to generate $500 is not a bad return-on-investment.
