How to use LinkedIn to grow your business

LinkedIn is "the market" for professionals. This is where entrepreneurs, consultants, freelancers, real estate agencies, and real estate brokers find their clients. It’s on LinkedIn that recruiters find future employees and consultants to hire.

There are 120 LinkedIn accounts created every minute worldwide! There are more than 400 million active accounts, and the number is continually growing.

How to use LinkedIn to get known and grow your business?

Start with your profile!

Indeed, on LinkedIn, everything starts with your personal profile!

Therefore, the first step is to create a great personal profile, as this is the foundation on LinkedIn.

When a visitor looks at your profile, they form an impression of you (and your business), and the first few seconds are truly decisive!

They will instantly know whether they want to do business with you. Your personal/professional profile is thus very important.

What are the essential elements?

Your profile (degrees and experience), your photo, your headline, and your summary.

1- Start by creating your profile. Note that it's not necessary to include everything in your profile. It's not your resume. However, preferably have a profile completed to 100%.

- Name, photo

- Summary

- Basic contact information: email address, phone number, your company's website, etc.

- Positions held

- Recommendations (ask for them!)

- Training attended

- Additional information

- Your URL (modify it on LinkedIn to better represent yourself)

2- Have a professional photo, meaning a clear, high-quality photo where you are alone, looking forward, and smiling.

3- What is your headline? The "professional headline" box is right under your name. Use your title, but add keywords that people search for. If you're looking for a job, check job listings on "Indeed" or "Monster" for ideas.

4- Use the summary wisely. Fill your summary intelligently so that the information is easy to understand and appeals to users.

5- Connect with your contact list, your friends, and people you have studied with.

6- Don't forget to include basic contact information: your email address, your phone number, Twitter account, company website, blog, etc... People should be able to find you!

7- Be visible Some tips for your profile:

Use only simple and clear terms to describe what you do. Be precise and unambiguous; otherwise, few people will understand your profile. Avoid any technical jargon.

Add to your title your sector and the location of your workplace, as location remains the primary search criterion in the field, for example: Real Estate Broker in Montreal.

Make yourself known as a "person"; you are indeed "more" than your job, so also talk about your interests and the charitable organizations you're part of or causes you advocate for.

A big mistake people often make is excluding from LinkedIn their experiences not related to their job.

If you belong to various interest groups, professional associations, are on other social networks, or if you blog, let people know! This way, LinkedIn could link you to these social networks so that professionals or potential clients can find you,

Write articles, regularly share relevant information in your field (do it in moderation though).

Next, use LinkedIn to develop your business

How to use LinkedIn to develop business? First, there's lead generation or prospect list. LinkedIn is a perfect tool for doing this.

Here are 4 tips for generating leads through LinkedIn:

1- Sign up and participate in discussion groups

Your prospects and clients are likely to be registered in these groups. By being active, you can showcase your expertise and easily make contacts.

2- Talk to people who visit your profile

Someone who has viewed your LinkedIn page is potentially a prospect. Do not hesitate to ask if they came with a specific purpose or after a keyword search. You will learn more about their intentions.

3- Take advantage of networking opportunities

Rather than contacting prospects without a reference,

you can use LinkedIn's "structural jumps" by asking one of your contacts to introduce you. This increases your chances of getting a response.

4- Optimize your searches

Like Google, you can use Boolean operators in your search on LinkedIn (AND, OR, NOT) as well as quotation marks to search for exact terms. This allows you to more precisely find people or organizations that match your targets.

Not sure where to start?

Why not deal with an expert to start your LinkedIn experience? The services offered can go up to the turnkey realization of your professional LinkedIn page and its management. If you want to learn more, you can contact us...

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About the author

Fabienne Fayad

Fabienne Fayad has been an IT consultant for over 25 years. She is co-founder and partner of EDGN Consultants. She holds an engineering degree from École Polytechnique de Montréal and an Executive Management Diploma from McGill University. Fabienne is the author of several books and offers consulting and training in e-commerce, LinkedIn and social networking. She is also a blogger on entrepreneuses.org, a site for women entrepreneurs.