You don’t have to be very old to remember that there was a time when almost no business networking happened online. The social media phenomenon was in its infancy and was largely just that – social. Keeping up with friends and family, not making business connections.
In fact, back then most business people would have seen it as rather superficial, vulnerable to misuse or just plain lazy compared with the effort it takes to set up face to face meetings.
Now, though, if you’re not online, to your customers and prospects you don’t exist.
Of course your company’s website is important with a blog for your business is a fantastic tool for sharing information to help your target customers. But it’s not enough.
For business owners the place to be found is on LinkedIn. That’s where your customers, your staff and your competitors are building their networks, generating leads and creating connections that will close deals. You don’t want to get left behind.
The main difference between LinkedIn and just about every other social media platform is its professional tone and character. It’s all about business, not cat videos and funny memes.
The main difference between LinkedIn and face to face networking is about reach and speed. There are well over 750 million profiles, you can have up to 30,000 first level connections and you don’t have to physically go anywhere to reach them.
Now, before you get too excited about those numbers, we’d never recommend the spammy tactics that you see some people using. Their goal is to just add people to their network without any thought about relevance and mutual value.
Don’t be one of them!
Take a long game view of this. You’ll find a small but consistent investment of time to create and publish content that is relevant and helpful will lay the foundation for starting great new business relationships.
As you build an authoritative presence on LinkedIn people will naturally want to connect with you. If you’ve established clear common ground and genuine value, when you do reach out to someone to invite them to connect the chances of a positive response are exponentially better than a cold, generic message.
Sounds like we’re saying you should stick to LinkedIn and forget about the in-person stuff?
Not at all!
The true power of LinkedIn is that you can build credibility and trust incredibly efficiently in a fairly short period without the hassle and expense of heaps of business prospecting trips. You can even engage people through events and webinars.
But that is just the door-opener to the real relationship. The magic happens when you’ve built enough traction to take those relationships off-platform. When the client is open to a Zoom call, a phone catch-up or a meeting in your office or a cafe, all the groundwork is already done and you have a well qualified, very warm prospect.
So, LinkedIn versus the Real World? We don’t actually think there’s a distinction. LinkedIn is an essential part of your real world networking strategy and it delivers handsomely when you integrate it with face-to-face contact.
If you’re not sure how to go about making that work for your business don’t panic.
Here are 5 ways we can help you accelerate your Lead Generation results:
1. Grab our free 4-Week LinkedIn Profile Optimisation Course
It’s the road map to positioning your profile in the top 5% of the 750+ million LinkedIn members – Click Here
2. Join our FREE LinkedIn Group and connect with entrepreneurs who are scaling too
It’s our Facebook community where smart entrepreneurs learn to get more leads and smart ways to scale using LinkedIn — Click Here
3. Register for our FREE LinkedIn update webinar
Every 10-Weeks you can join us for a free update on all the latest news, ninja tips and outline of new features released by LinkedIn – Click Here
4. Join our LinkedIn Inner Circle Solo Program on our Free Trial Click Here for more details
5. Work with our team privately
You might be surprised to know what exactly we do, it’s a little different to what you may expect. Watch this short video that outline the 3 outcomes you will achieve working with us – CLICK Here