Presentation for "Getting Linked In" for entrepreneurs

1. Getting “LinkedIn”
Using LinkedIn to its fullest
potential

2. © Sparrey Consulting, 2010
Why LinkedIn night?
Ensure
you have
the
“basics”
down
Apply
advanced
concepts to
your
business

3. LinkedIn has been getting business
owners real results
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
New clients Uncertain
No new clients
60% of respondents to informal survey indicated they build
new client relationships because of LinkedIn!
“A recent status update on LinkedIn
reminded my network of what I do and
created a couple of valuable referrals.”
“I use TripIt regularly. One of my contacts
noticed that I was traveling to Boston.
Although she didn’t live there herself, she
suggested someone else that I should meet
who did. My new contact ended up
becoming a paid client.”
“Clients can connect with ME. I essentially
become personable and in reach so to
speak. People only do business with my
business after they know me.”

4. © Sparrey Consulting, 2010
What is LinkedIn for?
To benefit from trusted
relationships
You
Your connections
Their connections
Their connections
1
2
3

5. © Sparrey Consulting, 2010
Create or improve your personal
profile
• Brainstorm what to include on your profile
▫ Summary statement
▫ Most relevant job experiences
▫ Education
▫ Link to website
▫ Affiliation with groups (professional
organizations)
• Review profile details now!

6. © Sparrey Consulting, 2010
Summary statement brainstorming
My current summary statement
My revised summary statement
What I want people to know about me:

7. © Sparrey Consulting, 2010
Determine who you want to accept
invitations from
“LinkedIn has been most valuable to me when I am
open to new people and ideas. I am willing to
connect with anyone, but I also manage my
connections actively. If it’s unclear to me why
someone is connecting, I clarify.”
“I only accept connection requests from people who I
know well. My network is valuable and I don’t want
to open it up to just anyone.”

8. © Sparrey Consulting, 2010
Update your personal profile:
Making sure the basics are right!
Item Requires
update
Update
completed
Make sure location is right
Ensure current job title is accurate
Link Twitter account (a professional account)
Add company website (as “other” website)
Update website link to your company name
Include only relevant past roles
Streamline public profile link
Only one profile
Ensure each job is only listed once
Include accomplishments with roles

9. © Sparrey Consulting, 2010
Should you create a company profile?
• If you are the only employee, consider the time/effort it will require to
manage your company page
▫ Will you realize good returns on search efforts?
▫ What would you include about your company?
▫ Best to simply link to your web page for the time being?
• As an owner with employees, manage who has control over content
▫ If you don’t yet have a company account, the next person to add the position with
that company name will be prompted to create the company
▫ Any person who works at the company can create or edit the company profile
(note: they would have to click a button indicating that they are the official
representative)
▫ To set-up or “fix” a company profile, ensure that the company name in your
profile is the same as the profile online (updates need to be made through
LinkedIn)
• You have 2000 characters to describe your company, use them well
• Audit employees listed in your company
▫ If someone is incorrectly claiming to be an employee, you can report them at
abuse@LinkedIn.com

10. © Sparrey Consulting, 2010
Identify five new connections today
• Who should you invite?
▫ Consider people that you know in the real world!
▫ Review contacts your Outlook address book and
connected to them through LinkedIn
▫ Connect with people at current and former employers
▫ Follow-up on suggested connections from LinkedIn
and re-connect with people who you would be willing
to help in the future
▫ People you volunteer with
▫ Review group members that you are a part of within
Linked In. Connect with people that you’ve met
discussing topics online
▫ Easiest to invite people to connect through main add
connections screen
The Goal:
10X your age in
contacts

11. © Sparrey Consulting, 2010
Update your LinkedIn profile to remain
top-of-mind for contacts
Potential updates Valuable updates to share
Update your profile status • Include links to recent work
Answer questions • Show competence in a particular area
Add new positions within the
same company
• Show promotions directly
Join new groups • Find potential clients, review profiles of interesting
people to find out what groups they belong to
Update with accomplishments • Track accomplishments actively and share in short
bullets so that prospective clients can see your
impact
Notify people of travel using
TripIt
• Get a list of people in your network who may be in
the city you’re traveling to
Provide valuable information via
SlideShare
• Relevant to the work you’re doing
• Broad appeal

12. © Sparrey Consulting, 2010
Before we move on… some other
“quick hits”
Potential updates Valuable updates to share
Add new contacts • Makes you more relevant to others too!
Review WordPress links • Make sure it’s a blog you keep current
• Ensure it is related to your business if included
Remove old information • Limit details for very old jobs, especially if unrelated
Interests • Focus on those related to the business first
Consider awards & associations
that could go with your work
• Consider associations that may give you credibility
Reconnect with 2-3 contacts • If everything else is updated, use the opportunity to
reconnect with 2-3 contacts you haven’t heard from
in a while!

13. © Sparrey Consulting, 2010
Why LinkedIn night?
Ensure you
have the
“basics”
down
Apply
advanced
concepts
to your
business


14. © Sparrey Consulting, 2010
How entrepreneurs can use LinkedIn to
build their business
Find new customers
Build
credibility
Generate
publicity
Establish expertise
Update
existing
customers
Find new
suppliers
Create events Conduct
research

15. © Sparrey Consulting, 2010
Identify new customers
• Who are your best customers?
▫ Organizations, roles,
demographics
• Are there specific positions /
people that would be most
relevant?
• Do you know anyone there?
• Is there anyone in your
network there?
• Use the advanced search feature
to locate people in your
network. Plan to contact people
through others and ask for
introductions.
Consider LinkedIn ads to identify new
customers
“I’ve really liked how LinkedIn ads
can be targeted by geography,
market, position level (seniority)
and only deliver my ad when
appropriate. Although I have
only had a few leads, they are
generally higher quality that we
receive from Google and, measured
from a conversion perspective, are
about a third of the Google
cost.”
Use your own network to identify new
customers

16. © Sparrey Consulting, 2010
Find new customers
Join relevant groups
• Find relevant industry groups
• Peers and advisors sharing relevant information
• Follow discussions for specific groups
• Some groups are valuable to allow you to connect with people
• Discussion boards (unless well moderated) can be filled with spam
• Other groups have great discussion features (usually groups associated with
a specific industry)
• Think about where potential customers are going to be
• Parent groups?
• Local networking groups?
• Specific trade associations?
• GROUP QUESTION: What are the most valuable groups for you?
• Lets pause and find a group to add
Job seeker tip: hide
potentially contentious
groups

17. © Sparrey Consulting, 2010
Conduct valuable research about
prospects using “follow company”
• Use the follow company feature on LinkedIn to find out the following helpful
information:
▫ Common career paths before and after the company
▫ Where employees are most connected
▫ Departments & levels for new hires
▫ Former employees and where they have departed to
▫ Recent promotions and changes
Job seeker tip: use “follow
company” feature!

18. © Sparrey Consulting, 2010
Maintain contact with existing customers
as a way to find new customers!
• Determine overall strategy
▫ Connect via company page OR through personal page
• Make a point of staying in touch
▫ Set goals for weekly / monthly connections
▫ Track who you’re in touch with
• Find out who has been following you!
• Tools to make managing contacts easier
▫ XOBNI
▫ Outlook toolbar
▫ Browser toolbar
▫ Gist

19. © Sparrey Consulting, 2010
Position yourself as an expert
• Include URL links in your summary or descriptions to
sample work
▫ Thanks to Margot from The Word Factory for the tip
• Ask questions to build credibility
▫ Rate answers to thank respondents
▫ If one stood out, select that as the “best” answer
• Include answers application on your main profile page
▫ Identify categories where you may be an expert
▫ Review questions (put 30 minutes on your calendar on a
weekly basis)
▫ Research person asking question to offer a personal
response based on their LinkedIn profile
▫ Provide valuable tips in your response, including website
links or introductions to experts
▫ Request “best answer” rating if appropriate

20. © Sparrey Consulting, 2010
Build credibility through
recommendations
Who should you ask?
Should you have recommendations?
(Personal or business)?
How should you ask them?

21. © Sparrey Consulting, 2010
Build credibility through
recommendations
• Giving recommendations to others can be a powerful
tool
▫ Be thoughtful in what you promote / say about others,
provide specific examples where you can
▫ Talk specifically about what you know and be careful not to
address what you don’t!
▫ Read other recommendations to see what ones impress
you!
• Don’t be shy about asking for recommendations
▫ In a group setting, if you’re doing feedback surveys, you
could suggest that they follow-up with a LinkedIn
recommendation
▫ If someone is writing a recommendation and asks about
characteristics you want highlighted, be prepared
• Save your recommendations in a standalone PDF file
▫ Look up Wally Feigenson’s blog for more information:

22. © Sparrey Consulting, 2010
Generate publicity:
Create your own groups
• Add keywords in the description of your group
to increase group rankings
• Add keywords in group title to be found on
Google
• Add company website / blog to drive traffic to
your site
• Add blog RSS feed to group so every new article
is posted to the group
• Send a weekly message to the group that adds
value and drives traffic to site
• Connect people in the group who could do
business with each other

23. © Sparrey Consulting, 2010
Create valuable LinkedIn events
• Great viral marketing: When someone
RSVPs to an event, shows up in their weekly
update to all of their contacts
• Ensure you have people attending your events
• Lets practice adding an event

24. © Sparrey Consulting, 2010
Finding suppliers
Real business owners have found this
useful in their supplier search
Figure out what suppliers you need
and ask a related question
“It was very useful as I looked for
an IT professional to solve a
computer issue.”
•Technology support
•Graphics / design
•Writers
•Coaches
•Marketing specialists
•Admin / outsourcing support
•Organization help (anyone w/a
home office)?!

25. © Sparrey Consulting, 2010
Review questions pertaining to any of
the topics covered tonight!
Ensure
you have
the
“basics”
down
Apply
advanced
concepts to
your
business
