LinkedIn has gained much deserved attention as its user-base has grown well over 100 million. Meanwhile LinkedIn’s IPO gained international attention and jumped 109% in one day.

Despite this fast growth however, the percentage of people using LinkedIn is incredibly low, especially in the Midwest. A state-by-state analysis of LinkedIn shows its growth in states with a larger urban population while rural states, like South Dakota, have a lower percentage of users.

These results make more sense when looking at the largest industry for LinkedIn users. Infotech and higher ed dominate the list with a touch of health care and automotive still topping the chart in Michigan.

What this means for LinkedIn users is opportunity. 

Instead of wading through the noise of Twitter or Facebook, on LinkedIn you can quickly connect with the decision-makers and employees of innovative and cutting-edge companies. Relevant results mean quick connections with leaders in the state or industry.

This is also an opportunity for people living in rural areas. Very quickly you can optimize your profile and become an industry leader with little competition from other rural businesses or industries.

Additional help from a tool like Lewis Howes’ LinkedInfluence can further jump-start your efforts. With a large potential audience and little competition, LinkedIn may well be the best place for small, rural businesses to make valuable connections that convert to real business results.

Take a look at the statistics on LinkedIn users in the Midwest in this Infographic below. Any surprises for you?

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Scott D. Meyer is the Chief Outreach Officer of 9 Clouds, a digital education firm that teachers businesses to effectively use digital media through one-on-one trainings, company-wide workshops and the online digital media learning site: Sandbox. Contact 9 Clouds to improve your digital literacy.

My favorite social networking site finally reached 100 million members.

Congratulations LinkedIn!

They recently announced they will be going public, opened up their LinkedIn ads from beta, and continues to add new features to the site.

All in all, LinkedIn rocks and it’s time you take notice.

Facebook what?

Twitter who?

LinkedIn continues to make impressive strides and if you want to advance your career, receive more targeted leads, generate more sales, and build your business… then you better start spending more time on LinkedIn over every other social networking site.

Of course I still use the other sites, and they all serve a purpose, but if you want to take your business to the next level then it’s time to start taking LinkedIn much more seriously.

Check out this slide show that shares some interesting statistics about the LinkedIn site and user base:

If you are one of the millions that has a weak profile, then please take a few minutes right now and give yourself a face lift with these  tips.

You have a choice where you want to spend your time and what sites you use to get results from.

If you aren’t getting the results you want, then stop using other sites that waste your time.

My friend Albert Einstein once defined insanity as,

doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

Time to move your attention to LinkedIn more and start getting the different results you desire.

Enough talk, make it happen, and I’ll see you on LinkedIn.

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I’m coming out with a complete new training course that will help people get the job they want, receive more qualified leads in their business, and ultimately get more sales.  I’ve been doing this and helping others do this on LinkedIn for the past three years, and I think you will love the way I show you how to do it as well.  Make sure to go HERE to sign up and get notified when I announce it.

Video is becoming an online content powerhouse.

And as video becomes more of the norm in terms of consuming content online, it’s important to stay up to date with using video on your blog, your social networking sites, and of course on my favorite social site for business… LinkedIn.

Why Video and LinkedIn

If you read this blog, then you know I’m a huge believer in the power of using LinkedIn to build your business or professional goals.  So what does adding video to your profile have to do with this? 

Think about it for a second.  When you search on LinkedIn and browse various profiles, what do 99% of them have in common?

They all look the same!

For the most part, all of the profiles look pretty boring.  Of course people say different things, and some format their profiles better than others, but all in all, most lack character.

Stand Out From The Crowd

LinkedIn is currently one of the top 25 websites in the world according to the Alexa Top 500, and as it’s growth continues to increase, you need to do what you can to have every advantage over your competitors.  This is where adding a video to your profile helps.

Here is a step by step video explanation on how to add a video to your LinkedIn profile, what video you should add, and why it will help you improve your value on LinkedIn.

It’s fun to know you stand out from the rest of your competition, and video definitely helps you achieve this on LinkedIn.

Step 1.  Create SlideShare.net Account and add application on LinkedIn
Step 2.  Upload a video to YouTube
Step 3.  Upload a presentation to your SlideShare account
Step 4.  Insert your YouTube link in the first slide of your presentation
Step 5.  Publish the SlideShare presentation on your profile

It’s amazing the reaction I receive from people who come to my profile and are amazed that they hear a voice and see a video when it’s totally unexpected (thanks again to Jim Kukral for providing the video recommendation for me).

I’d love to see you take the “LinkedIn video challenge” by uploading a video on your profile.  Take action today and get this set up and you will be far ahead of your competition.  Once completed, enter your profile link in the comments section below so everyone can see what video you added to your profile.

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Did you find this post helpful?  If so, please share this article on Twitter and Facebook and sign up to via email to be notified each time I publish a new article Here.  Also, want to get more from your LinkedIn experience?  Make sure to get the entire LinkedIn training course at www.linkedinfluence.com.  I look forward to reaching your comments below.

Other related posts you might enjoy:

• 7 Ways To Market Yourself On LinkedIn
• Top 10 LinkedIn Marketing Tips
• 10 Powerful LinkedIn Tips

Image credit: Racum

The perceived value of your brand and your database are your most valuable assets.

At least this seems to be the case for most entrepreneurs and business professionals I know.

Generating success on LinkedIn has everything to do with enhancing your personal brand and expanding your database. In fact, Gary Vaynerchuck talks about the importance of building your brand equity within the social media landscape during this video below (even if you have already seen this, it’s always fun to revisit)

Powerful LinkedIn Tips

Without an identity on LinkedIn, your personal brand will suffer tremendously.

LinkedIn is also the only major social networking site where you can build a large database of highly targeted leads and access that database at any time (by exporting your connections emails).

Since LinkedIn is without a doubt the # 1 business social networking site, it’s important you put the energy and effort into getting the most out of your LinkedIn marketing.  Here are my top 10 LinkedIn tips to achieve this.

1.  Control Your Brand

This is the most important aspect for me, and why I included the video with Gary.   The best way to take control of your personal brand on LinkedIn is to fill out your entire profile and write concise, compelling, value driven copy.

For most, when you search for your name on Google, your LinkedIn profile is one of the top five results that show up. Control what others view about you by completing your profile 100%, and making it stand out from the rest.

2.  Join Groups In Your Niche

There are thousands of groups on LinkedIn.  Connect with the ones that fit your interest or industry.  Each group has a job board, a discussion area and forum, and a place to ask questions.  Get active in groups as it’s a powerful way to interact and find like minded professionals.

3.  Connect With Everyone

This is something I debate with people often.   I believe this is a limiting mindset when you don’t allow others to introduce themselves by reaching out to connect with you.  How do you expect others to want to hire you or do business with you if you shun them away?  Connecting with everyone on LinkedIn not only opens up new possibilities and opportunities, it also increases and expands your 2nd and 3rd degree connections, allowing for more people to find you, contact you and work with you.  Simple as that. 

4.  Ask Compelling Questions

That’s right.   Actually get on LinkedIn and ask a few questions every now and then… is that so hard?   I asked two questions that took me five minutes of my time and received over 50 helpful answers in return.   Just make sure you ask the right questions and tag it in the places where your target audience is searching.

5.  Become An Expert

A great way to share your expertise is to answer questions.  One of my connections told me he spends 15 minutes a day, 3 days per week answering questions related to his topic.  He says in brings in around 3-5 new clients each month after he follows up with each person (this results in $3,000-$5,000 more each month for him).  If leads are your concern, then answering questions could quite possible be your answer.

6.  Host Your Own Event

You would not believe the energy and enthusiasm created by hosting a live LinkedIn networking event.  I’ve hosted over 20 live events and promoted them all through the LinkedIn events section.  One event had over 1,000 RSVP’s and the average event had around 350 paying attendees.  It allows you to connect with those online connections… offline, and make powerful face to face relationships.  Learn about the benefits of hosting your own LinkedIn event here.

7.  Say Thank You

In the real world, people love it when you say “Thank you”.   It seems to solve a lot of problems in general.  Be sure to say those two important words every time someone does anything for you, such as makes a recommendation, makes an introduction, or answers your questions.  Saying “Thank You” is another thing Gary recommends, in fact it is the entire topic of his new book The Thank You Economy.

8.  Become Transparent

It seems as though the only way to be successful online these days is to become completely transparent. The more you try to hide something, or stay generic, people will move on to the next thing.  Seth Godin says that being remarkable is nothing more than having others remark about you. Take this advice into account as you go along your LinkedIn ways.

9.  Create a LinkedIn Group

I can’t say enough about LinkedIn groups and what they have done for my business.  They give you more credibility, help you get more leads, and more sales.  Here are my top 10 reasons to start a LinkedIn group and other thoughts on how to create a profitable business from your LinkedIn group.

10.  Make Recommendations

Chris Brogan has a great post on LinkedIn recommendation tips, and I suggest you check it out before you give any.  Of course it looks good to have a lot of recommendations on your profile (Chris has almost 150 of them here) but I always recommend giving them first before you ask for any.  Most likely if you give a great recommendation, that person would be happy to return the favor.

(Bonus Tip)  Use LinkedIn Applications

LinkedIn does a great job of adding more and more advanced applications to their tool belt.  It’s a great way to enhance your profile and stick out from the rest.  You can add a video to your profile, showcase your blog or your graphic design work, include your presentations, put up a picture of your book from Amazon, run a poll for your connections, and more.

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I hope you learned something new with these LinkedIn tips and you use them in your own profile.  If you want to learn about how to get more from LinkedIn to increase leads or sales, then make sure to sign up at www.linkedinfluence.com.

Did you enjoy this post?  If so, feel free to share this article on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn and also sign up to be notified each time I come out with another post like this one.  Go ahead an subscribe via email here (it’s free!)

image by Nan Palmero

Did you know you can create a business from nothing with LinkedIn?

It’s true.

In fact, I tried to see if I could create a business from scratch using just a LinkedIn group so see if I could generate enough sales to consider it a respectable business.  I officially launched the “paid” part of that business model about 9 months ago and the results have been pretty cool.

Here’s what I did:

Step 1- Created a LinkedIn Group Around the Sports Industry.

I decided early on that I wanted to start a LinkedIn group in order to connect with others that worked in the sports industry.  (hint, most people try to create a group around their company, and this doesn’t work well unless you are a massive company.  Instead, create a group around a topic, niche, or idea you can build a tribe around).

Step 2: Created a Sports Marketing Blog Outside of the Group.

With this blog I posted daily content providing sports business tips, advice, “how to’s”, live networking events, webinars, and other ways for members to advance their career and goals in the sports industry.

Step 3: Delivered a Weekly Newsletter:

Some may not think this is important, but for me “top of mind awareness” is huge.  The more I stay in front of my audience with great content, the more willing they are to take action with an offer.  I created a simple newsletter template that featured the top articles of the week, a featured sports professional or “All-Star” of the week, and a brief recap of my thoughts on the week.  Collecting emails was a huge part of my success with the paid model, so the newsletter gave me a reason to capture emails.

Step 4:  Launched Partner Site and Paid Association:

I knew there was a big need for advanced education and training in the sports industry, and I didn’t think “normal” universities were doing the best job possible, nor did I believe you should pay that much for a piece of paper.  So I launched the Sports Executives Association where I feature interviews with some of the biggest names in sports (Bill Rasmussen, founder of ESPN for example) and members get inside insights, networking, and resources they can’t teach in school.

Creating a Business With LinkedIn

The results have been fun.

I now have close to 350 paying members from 15 different countries, and the membership continues to grow on a monthly basis.

This isn’t thousands of members yet, but it’s a good start to something I do part time on the side from my other business.

At this point, you may have a number of questions or some concerns (cough… excuses).

Lewis.  I see the power of your LinkedIn group, but my industry wouldn’t work the same as yours and they don’t have any money to spend.

Well you were only able to do this because you have a group with 33,000 members, and I don’t know how to grow a group that large.

Doesn’t this take a lot of time to manage a group?

How do I create a site like yours in the first place?

All of your questions about this can be answered (and if you have any, please post them in the comments section).  For the moment, however, let me share with you the system or flow of my process for generating leads on LinkedIn, driving traffic to my site, and getting members to sign up.

(Note- there are a number of things you need to do before this process, and I talk about them in both of my LinkedIn marketing books, so make sure you do them first before you jump right in)

The LinkedIn Group – To Profit Flow

• New member joins your LinkedIn group
• Member gets auto welcome message instantly to their email from you (the group)
• Member is asked to join your newsletter
• Member goes to your site, joins newsletter, browses articles
• Member receives 1 newsletter per week with more free content
• Paid site is mentioned in newsletter and on site, but no “hard pitch” yet
• Member receives 1 groups message per week with a download, or different content
• Member continues to read content often, and joins daily email RSS feed
• Member begins to share your content on her social networks- driving traffic back to your site
• Member gets 1 email per month with info on the paid model “Content of the Month” and is intrigued
• Member checks out paid model site, and joins.
• (If member does not join, she repeats the process, mixed with live events, free webinars and more until she finally joins)

That’s the main system (in a simplified nutshell).

It’s pretty simple when you think about it, and the hardest part is growing your group and creating the content.

Good thing for you is that LinkedIn is so viral that when a member join your group they automatically promote it to their entire network as it shows up on their home wall feed.

The content was hard for me to create at first until I saw how Brian Clark was growing his massive site with CopyBlogger by letting other experts guest post to the point where he was a minority blogger on his own site.

I realized if I wanted my site to grow and if I wanted to keep up with the content I needed to expose more of my members and let them share their expertise.

That turned out to be the right decision for all parties involved.  Here is a brief video that breaks down what I’ve been talking about above, and how I turned my group into a profitable business.

I know some of you may want to get more out of LinkedIn.  Right?  Well, a LinkedIn group is just one way to help you start or grow your business, but there are many other advanced LinkedIn tips and strategies to help you get more leads, traffic, and sales.

I’ll be posting more ways to build your business using LinkedIn here on my site, but I’m also coming out with a new course that covers this, and everything you could possibly want to help you achieve your business goals, all by using LinkedIn.

I’ll have more info on that soon, but in the meantime, I’d love to hear your feedback on this post.  Did you get a lot out of it?  Can you see yourself creating your own profitable business from a LinkedIn group?  Or do you think it’s not possible in your line of business?

Let me know by posting in the comments below.  Thanks.

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If you enjoyed this post, please feel free to sign up to my RSS feed via email HERE to get these types of articles sent directly to your inbox when they come out.  Also, I’ve got four detailed LinkedIn marketing videos I offer for free, go ahead and sign up on the top right hand corner of this blog, and you will have instant access.

LinkedIn is the sexiest thing since Justin Timberlake’s song “Bringing Sexy Back”.

It’s so sexy, and such a useful business marketing resource that it has more than doubled its membership in the last year and now grows at a person every second.

If I were forced to choose between using only one social networking site for my business, from Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and other social networking sites, I would choose LinkedIn, hands down.  I still love these other social networking sites, but LinkedIn is by far the most powerful for your business and career.

It’s that sexy!

Why LinkedIn Is #1

With the average household income per user hitting $109,000, which is much higher than Twitter, Facebook, and the other social networking power houses, you know you are dealing with people who mean business.

Being that it is the largest business networking site in the world, there is a mindset shift when users log on to LinkedIn compared to logging on their cousin sites, Twitter or Facebook.

The mood changes, the messages are more professional. Conversations are geared toward partnerships and transactions, as opposed to how funny you looked in your birthday pictures, and everything is centered around advancing careers or building businesses.

LinkedIn Means Business

Everyone talks about the power of Facebook ads (I’m not discounting how dynamic they can be; in fact, I’ve had great success using them myself), but the LinkedIn ad platform is even more powerful considering the demographic is made up of decision makers.

My point being, if you aren’t using this powerful site to market your business yet, then it’s time to start taking it more seriously and step your game up.

There are a number of ways to market yourself and your business online, but here are 10 LinkedIn tips that will drastically increase your marketing potential:

1.  Complete Your Profile

Your profile is the heart and soul of your online business brand.  It usually ranks in the top 5 of Google search results for “Your First and Last Name”.  When others do a search for your name to learn about your product, service, company, or previous work experience, then you’d better have a rock solid profile or that first impression could drastically tarnish your value.  Make sure you fill out your profile 100% for starters, then go on from there to make it sexier.

2.  Connect With Everyone

A number of LinkedIn newbies or purists will say, “You should only connect with those you already know and trust, so you can make recommendations to others when they want an introduction.”  Believe me, I understand where these users are coming from, but how do you expect to expand your opportunities and options when you shut off communication to the rest of the 85 million plus members on LinkedIn?

Think about it, you already know all of the opportunities that your closest connections can share since you talk to them more frequently.  It’s time to use LinkedIn like a live networking event and introduce yourself to others, make new friends, and start helping more people connect.  Also, start accepting invitations to others who add you, as the more connections you have, the larger your expanded network grows which helps create more opportunities in the long run.  Here are six other reasons you should connect with everyone on LinkedIn.

3.  Customize Your Websites

This is a basic thing that everyone should do.  It’s simple.  Creating a call to action attracts more attention then having a generic link that says “My website”.  Make it look and sound sexier so when people come to your profile they feel inspired to click on your links and go back to your website.

4.  Be Compelling

I have a huge knot on my forehead from falling asleep on my desk in mid-browse when looking at LinkedIn profiles.  Most of them are extremely boring and showcase zero personality or compelling attributes.  Add an interesting story in your summary, have a video recommendation pop up in the first few seconds, or at the least tell people who you are, who you help, and how you help them so there is some direction for people when they land on your profile.  Whatever you do, liven it up a little so the bump on my forehead can go away

5.  Recommend Others

I’m a firm believer in giving and helping others succeed as much as you possibly can.  The more you give, the more you will receive.  Recommending others without them asking you to is a great way to help increase the social proof on their profile, which could be the difference between an OK year, and a great year for them.

6.  Join Targeted Groups

LinkedIn groups, LinkedIn groups, LinkedIn groups!  It doesn’t matter what industry or business you are in, this the part of LinkedIn you should be focusing the most.  There are benefits to both joining and being a part of niche-related groups, and also being the owner of them.

I feel blessed to be the owner of many powerful groups.  Many have over 10,000 members, and one more than 32,000 members.  Think of them as independent social networks where you can spread your message, connect with key partners, and take your business to another level.  Want more? Here are my top 10 reasons to start a LinkedIn group.

7.  Connect With Twitter

I sometimes find that I get more comments and interaction on LinkedIn from the same update I published on Twitter.  The updates (even when synced from Twitter) seem to “stay on top” longer than they would in your Twitter stream.  The more interaction you get, the more others see it as well (it’s similar to Facebook in this regard).

Make sure to connect your Twitter account to LinkedIn.  Others talk about why this is bad because a lot of your messaging won’t be targeted for your LinkedIn audience (especially when you use “@” symbols and hashtags), but for the most part, my message is staying at the top of mind for my connections on LinkedIn and for me that’s a powerful thing.  Want to clean things up?  Just use the #in with a Twitter update and it will sync to your LinkedIn account when there is a specific message you want members to see.

8.  Add Your Company Profile

LinkedIn is constantly enhancing its platform and one of the things that has been lagging, until recently, was the company page section.  Now, it allows you to add a video, share more information about your products and services, and give more insights about your company and the people working there.

9.  Optimize Your Search Ranking

People are constantly searching for others on LinkedIn.  They are looking for employee candidates, freelancers, industry experts, and so on.  Why not optimize your profile to help you be found and contacted by more people looking for what you specialize in?  Wouldn’t it be nice to get a flood of people emailing or calling you to sign up for your services or products?  Make sure you increase your ranking on LinkedIn by following these 5 steps.

10.  Add Advanced Applications

I love the fact that LinkedIn has rolled out a number of applications to help you promote your business or your personal work better.  It doesn’t matter what industry you are in, there is an application for everyone that can help you get your message across better, and improve the overall experience of your LinkedIn profile.  Go to the applications section on your profile to see which ones you could start using today, and make the most out of the new ones that come out in the future.

How Sexy Are You?

Better yet, how sexy do you want to be?

LinkedIn gives you the opportunity to make your body of work sexy. Unfortunately, it also gives you the opportunity to make your work look sub par if you don’t implement these LinkedIn tips.

You have the choice to receive a flood of inbound opportunities for your business and career, or to take the easy way out and not put much energy to improving your profile.

How bad do you want to bring sexy back?

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Image Credit: jose_7640

What is the one tip you received from this post that you think will impact your business the most?  Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.  Also, there are many more business marketing tips out there, and I’d love your input below as to what YOUR most powerful LinkedIn tip is.

Looking to take things to the next level on LinkedIn?  Make sure to grab a copy of LinkedWorking or LinkedIn Master Strategies today.

Marketing Yourself On LinkedIn

1.  Give

This is important to do on any social networking site, not just LinkedIn, but it’s particularly important to do on LinkedIn when so many people are focused on wanting to receive something for themselves or their business.

The best way to give to others would be to make recommendations.  I see a lot of people asking for recommendations from people all the time, when they haven’t written any for others first.  The more you recommend others without asking for one in return, it will give them a refreshing feeling about you and they’ll want to be helpful in return.

Making introductions is also a great way to give.  If you are trying to make a name for yourself then connecting two people together who you think could help each other build their business and achieve their goals will give you two people willing to help you in return, as opposed to one.

2.  Complete It 100%

Your profile.  It needs to be completed 100% in order to properly market yourself.

Most people do background checks on others whenever we want to buy something from them, bring them in to speak, or do anything with them.  We Google people to do our research.

LinkedIn is usually one of the top five search results that pops up for anyone’s name.  First impressions leave lasting perceptions about people, and you don’t want someone to come to your profile and realize that you make spelling mistakes, you don’t have a picture, no one has recommended you, there is no personal story in your summary, and so on.  You need to make sure you complete it 100% and have your profile make you look like a rock star.  Doing so will ensure your maximizing your marketing opportunities.

3.  Connect With Everyone

It pains me to see when people only have less than 100 connections and they think that having a “small trusted network” is the way to go.  That’s a joke, and those with that mindset are going to be asking themselves why their message isn’t spreading to the world and why they haven’t achieved their marketing goals.

Connect with everyone on LinkedIn.

You never know where an opportunity, or big breakthrough can come from.  If you only share ideas with those you know and don’t branch out to connect with new people, then you will only know about a limited amount of opportunities, and the same people that you talk to on a daily basis will be helping you connect with the same limited network.  It’s a never ending circle of limitations, and it’s time you break through that mindset if you haven’t already.

The best way to start connecting with everyone is to import your entire contact list and ask them all to connect with you, start adding your personal LinkedIn link to your email signature, on other social networking sites, on your business cards, and anywhere else you think would help inspire others to connect with you.  Once you start receiving 10-20 inbound invitations to connect on a daily basis, then you know your doing a good job marketing yourself.

4.  Make It Personal

In general, people love human interaction.  We don’t want to connect with a business, we want to have relationships with others who we know, like, and trust.

Every time you send an invitation to connect with someone, make it personal.  Take out anything generic and make it as personal as possible.

Your profile should also include a personal element.  Instead of making it look like a boring resume with a bunch of bullet point achievements, share your personal voice.  Tell people who you are, who you help, and how you help them throughout your headline, summary and the rest of your profile.  Adding this will make others want to connect with you instead of put them to sleep with your boring resume.

5.  Start Your Own Community

I like to make things easy, don’t you?  Wouldn’t it be fun if you could lead a community of the exact people you wanted to market yourself to?  That would be pretty sweet, huh?

That’s what I did a while back when I wanted to market myself and my sports business blog.  To achieve accelerated marketing success I started the “Sports Industry Network” group on LinkedIn.  When people join the group they see my name as the creator of the group, and my website as the primary website.

There is a built in discussion forum, job opportunity section, and you can send a message to all of the members of the group once a week.  My group currently has over 30,000 of the top sports professionals from every major sports company in the world.  It’s the largest sports related group on LinkedIn and on any other major social networking site.  This gives me a platform to market myself and share valuable content with the network.  Creating a LinkedIn group may be one of the best ways to get your message out there and the most powerful way to leverage LinkedIn for a number of reasons.

6.  Create A Call To Action

People need to be lead in the right direction.  You can’t just expect people to come to your LinkedIn profile, learn about some of things you do and how you help people without telling them what to do next.  If you don’t create a call to action, then you are guaranteed to get less than what you desire.

You can create a call to action by customizing your website links.  LinkedIn lets you post three links, and instead of having them say “my blog”, make it say “Contact Me Here” or “ Download My Free Report”.  The more direct you can be the better.

Also, in your summary, after you tell people who you are, who you help, and how you can help them, tell them how they can and should get in touch with you or what they should do next.  If you want more leads and sales then tell people to email you, or call your personal number.  Whatever you desire, just tell them to contact you or do something in a way that best meets your needs.

7.  Use Advanced Applications

The advanced applications are designed to help you market yourself better.  You an author?  If so, there is an Amazon app that you can put on your profile and showcase a picture of your own book.  When people click on the book, it’s takes them to Amazon where they can buy it.

Simple as that.

Do you have a blog?  If so, the wordpress or blog app allows you to showcase your most recent article on your profile to help you drive traffic back to your site.  There are other applications to help you showcase your creative design work, your slide show presentations, white papers, Tweets, and you can even have a video of yourself auto play when someone lands on your profile using the slideshare or google document application.

If you are looking to promote an event, then use the events application to help you spread your event in a viral way throughout the entire LinkedIn community.  There are a number of applications you can use to help you market yourself, just start trying them out and see what fits your needs best.

LinkedIn Marketing Tips

I’m only scratching the surface here with these seven points on how to market yourself on LinkedIn.  Once you start to maximize each point, you will start to realize how powerful LinkedIn really is and how big your personal brand will take off once you use it aggressively.  It was the launchpad for me to build a large network and get my message out there to the world, and if you follow my steps the right way it could be yours as well.

How else do you personal use LinkedIn to market yourself?  I’d love to hear your tips in the comments section below.  Also, are we connected on LinkedIn yet?  If not, feel free to send me a personal invitation here.

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This post is featured on Hubspot.com as they recently launched a new ebook on LinkedIn.  Download the free copy here.

Image Credit: tychay

Image Credit: brianjmatis

Imagine how your business would look if you received an ongoing flood of highly-targeted, industry-specific leads on a daily basis.

It would feel pretty amazing, wouldn’t it?

You may even feel like an All-Star or a champion with all of those leads.

What if I told you there is a place on the internet that you could spend some dedicated time each week, and those highly-targeted leads would show up and it would no longer be part of your imagination?

It would be even sweeter, wouldn’t it?

Luckily for you, there is such a place and it’s called LinkedIn.

LinkedIn is the most powerful business networking site on the planet.  With the highest average household income over any other major social networking site, and nearly 45% of users being business decision makers, it’s the number one place you should be spending your time when wanting to attract the best leads for your business.

Although there are many more ways to attract leads on LinkedIn, here are 10 things you can implement today to start seeing results:

1.  Be Specific

Specificity is a key ingredient to getting more leads on LinkedIn.  If you don’t tell people who you are, who you help, and how you help them in the most basic of terms, then you will confuse those who land on your profile.  Be specific with the principle features first: your headline, current and past work experiences, summary, and specialties. This will ensure others know exactly what you do and how you can help them.

2.  Add Websites

I see people who have been on LinkedIn for more than three years that still have not customized their website section.  You can add three links to your LinkedIn profile (that are hyper linked anyways) but you want to make sure you customize what they links say.  Instead of “My Website”, rename it “Best Marketing Tips” or “Download My Marketing Guide” as this will increase the viewers’ curiosity and make them want to learn more about how they can get what you are offering.

3.  Be Creative

Here’s a hint: Almost every LinkedIn profile sucks or is extremely bland.  If you want to separate yours from the other 80 million boring profiles, it won’t be that hard.  The best way to stand out it to add a video that automatically plays when people land on your profile.  You can add a “Welcome to My Profile” video, or even add a video of one of your clients who praises your business and gives you a great testimony.

4.  Ask to Connect

Want more leads?  Believe it or not, you can just ask for them.  That’s right, when someone lands on your profile you don’t want them to leave because you haven’t given them a call to action and they got bored.  Let them know in your summary or in your video that you would love to connect on LinkedIn.  You should also reach out and connect with everyone.  Here are six reasons why you should connect with everyone on LinkedIn.

5.  Add Contact Info

It’s great to connect on LinkedIn, especially being that it is the only major social networking site that actually allows you to export your connections (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Myspace and others don’t).  It’s even better to connect via email or over the phone.  In your summary, make sure to direct people to the contact page on your website, or add your direct phone line to have them reach you in real time.  Offer up a free 15-minute phone consultation and you will be amazed from the boost in leads that will start flooding in.

6.  Answer Questions

One of my connections is so busy working on his own business that he doesn’t have time to manage all of his social media marketing efforts.  He started spending about 15 minutes a day a few times a week simply answering questions on LinkedIn that were related to his niche.  He told me that he would give the most informative answer he could, add a lot of value, and try to be a resource for the person asking the question.  Then he would send a private follow-up message letting them know he would be happy to get on the phone to give them some brief help and see if he could be of assistance for anything else.  This strategy got him around three new clients per month, bringing an extra $5,000 a month to his business.  Answer questions, and you will see what I mean.  If you have any questions about LinkedIn, ask them here.

7.  Discuss in Groups

If you haven’t figured it out by now, you can build a business around Groups on LinkedIn.  Some groups have hundreds of thousands of highly-targeted business decision makers for your industry.  The more you add compelling topics, and offer your expertise in the various conversations, the more people will become aware of who you are, who you help, and what you have to offer.  Another (amazing) thing you could do would be to start your own group.  Here are ten reason to start your own LinkedIn group.

8.  Create an Event on LinkedIn

Want to take the conversation offline and meet more people face to face?  Create a business networking event in your local area and use the Events application to promote it.  You can partner with group owners who have large groups in your area or niche, and make it a free event or charge a small entry fee.  Being the host and organizer of an event gives you more power and opportunities to meet others than just simply attending.  Just make sure you shake everyone’s hand when they enter the event, collect their business cards, and connect as many people together as possible.  This is a great way to get face-to-face leads!

9.  Introduce Others

Referrals are a great way to get quality leads.  Frank Agin talks about this in The Champion, and John Jantsch does as well in The Referral Engine (both great reads on increasing your business through referrals).  As you build your 1st degree connections on LinkedIn, start sending introductions to those you are connected with who you see could mutually benefit each others businesses now or in the future.  Reciprocity is an amazing thing.  The more you help and give to others, the more they will want to help you get leads in return.

10.  Recommend Others

When someone has a great product or service and you get a lot of results from it, make sure to write a nice recommendation.  The more recommendations that a person has on his profile, the more likely others will be interested in buying from him as well.  This goes back to the reciprocity factor; the more recommendations you give, the more you will receive as well.  By helping others get leads, you are helping yourself get more leads as well, and quality recommendations on your profile could be the decision someone makes to contact you or not.

Increasing Leads On LinkedIn

It doesn’t matter what your business is, LinkedIn is the best way to attract leads when it comes to customers, investors, business partners, sponsors, affiliates, and more.  Spend twenty minutes implementing at least three of these points above, and you will be amazed with the results in no time.

Have you had success getting leads or customers from LinkedIn?  If so, please type in the specific thing you did to get those leads or new customers as your success story will be helping others that read this post.

I’m a big fan of LinkedIn (if you didn’t already know) and I get asked a ton of LinkedIn questions.  I also receive a number personal emails from professionals who see a tremendous amount of success while on the worlds largest professional networking website.

However, most of these success stories come through email and I’d like these stories to be shared with the world.

This is your opportunity to showcase how successful you have been on LinkedIn, or share one instance where LinkedIn has helped your career or business.

Please take a moment to write in the comments below what your biggest success story is on LinkedIn.

If you got a job, generated more leads, made a huge sale, got a referral, sold tickets to an event, drove traffic to your site, built a big LinkedIn group, or did anything else on LinkedIn to help you in your business or career then please share.

I look forward to hearing about your success stories so please take a moment to share them below so others may see how great of a site LinkedIn really is.