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.
Lewis, I just met you at Blog world Expo. Nice post! I will apply your suggestion. very practical and actionable. Thanks!
I see a lot of people that have not done the customization aspect mentioned in second point. I always suggest that they change the My Blog, My Website to something specific because someone may be scoping out their profile and not initially recognize them, but would if they saw the name to their website or business.
Answering questions is also good for generating leads – I don’t do it as much as I should, but every time I have, I made new connections and expanded my network. Great tips!
All of these are great Lewis, and this really points out to me that I need to get better about leveraging LinkedIn. I’ve decided that I’m going to work on #6 first and expand from there. 🙂
My favorite part of what you’ve listed is #10 – recommend others. When you do that, not only are you helping out your network, but you’re also being perceived as knowing WHO others should proactively contact. That helps develop expert status as well.
Anytime I read a post from Lewis it’s a reminder that I need to be more active on LinkedIn. My biggest takeaway from this was adding a “Welcome to my Profile” as well as video testimonials. That’s something I’ll need to get on STAT!
Awesome post Lewis. This is one getting saved to my favorites. I’m relatively new to LinkedIn and articles like this make it a lot easier to get to work on LI and to try to use it effectively. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Lewis, didn’t meet you at Blogworld but sat in on one of your presentations. I love to see fellow athletes succeed and I am an old point guard myself! I like your suggestion about starting your own group, especially if you focus on a niche. Hands down this has been one of the most effective marketing and relationship development strategies that I’ve utilized with regard to leveraging LinkedIn to grow influence.
Great post, your proactive approach is exactly on point. What works best for me is being responsive and initiating contact with a new connection almost immediately. Groups are great when you’re attending an event, I’ve connected with dozens of colleagues and one lead me to an offline networking group that has changed my life. Your insight is priceless! Thank you!
I thought I had it all figured out after reading your book. But I guess you have more LinkedIn tips and tricks in a storage. All 10 ponits are super important. Time is the only limiting factor. Great Post.
Thanks for posting this. I watched your webinar from SMS 2010 and implemented some of the items you recommended. Blogged about it here: http://www.digitalmarketingdepartment.com/2010/10/5-quick-ways-to-optimize-your-linkedin-profile-for-business/
Bottom line is that I got much better positioning from the simply keyword changes you recommended. Thanks!
This post is a real eye opener to just how terrible at LinkedIn I really am, and the sad part is that I should know better. I need to step things up on my YouTube Channel as well.
I will be looking at adding the auto-play video, that’s a homerun idea!
Great info! Gracias!! I’m off to do some work…
Great information! Gracias!! Off to do some work on my page…
Wow, I didn’t even realize you could add a video to your profile, I think I will do that – genius!
If I knew about that export contacts option, I would have started my campaign here (whether it’s an SEO or social media campaign). Thanks for the great tips Lewis! By the way, in your experience, do you get more leads here as compared to twitter?
Wow, thanks for the LinkedIn article. I never really understood what LinkedIn really was
Hi Lewis
This is a great synopsis of how to use LinkedIn for business. I got my first client in 2010 through LinkedIn due a response I gave to a question in a LinkedIn Group, so I can vouch for the effectiveness of combining your points 6 and 7 – by answering questions asked in a group thread.
To leverage your existing network of friends, I always recommend that my clients look first at the groups that their clients or customers are members of, and join those immediately. That is where you will find more prospective clients, with similar problems to your existing clients, who might need your services or products – and as you already know people here, you will have more credibility. You are more likely to be able to ask for introductions to people in these groups who you might be able to help, or who you would like to work with. And people you try to connect with are more likely to respond favorably when they see that you are already connected to people they know.
Thanks for the great article,
Kind regards,
Salvatore
Lewis, thanks for this–insightful and helpful. I’ve incorporated some of your ideas already.
Lewis, This is where I really need help. Thanks so much. I really want to improve my LinkedIn presence. Thanks, Amy
Great stuff, esp for newbies like me.
Hi Lewis,
I really like this page of yours, I am hoping now to be able to promote my site at http://getridofsmoking.org in Linkedin. Thanks
Kamrul
kochi97
From the big 3 social media players, LinkedIn is the number one platform that supplies us with the qualified IT sales leads that we needed. Agree to all the tips you have here Lewis!
I thought I had it all realized out after studying your book. But I think you have more LinkedIn guidelines in a storage space. All 10 ponits are extremely important. Time is the only restricting factor. Great Publish. http://hotbusiness.biz
Yes i had the experience of get contacted by people when they come to know that i am from that particular company and i might be able to help them any ways, Great post, Hats off! to Lewis Howes!
Oh man! Killer article Lewis! I would of loved to see our www.LinkedInMailer.com in there, would of fit perfectly. Along with all the other tips you’d have lead powerhouse in the end! Smashing stuff!
Great tips for leveraging LinkedIn. What if you don’t know what companies to contact in the first place? I made a tool - http://www.PerfectLeads.com to help you find your ideal clients. It lets you target based on industry and technology that any company uses.
Hi everyone,
I was made an offer to purchase “friendship connection” on linkedin with possibility to reach my targeted audience (people in Sweden, Finance inductry). The connection will open 500 2-level targeted connections (500 Swedish Financial professionals).
Which means I can contact them directly without InMail options. On the one hand it looks like saving my time doing this network building routine, on the other hand it costs 20 USD, and looks suspicious to me.
This guy plays against the rules by creating many accounts with pure targeted network. And then sells connection to the accounts people need.
I d like to have your opinion, would you use his service for this money?
This is a great guide, Lewis. It was a good starting point for me, but I eventually ran into challenges of being sales-y vs building real connections and connecting with people in a way that could lead to business relationships. I learned a lot through trial and error and it just wasn’t enough. I made a small investment and took a course on it and it really paid off. There is still some work involved but this saved me a ton of time and money, especially over hiring anyone to help. I got started quickly, and I grew a great pipeline of trusting potential clients very quickly. Here’s a video about the course for anyone who is interested – http://bit.ly/1NglN1q
I used this LinkedIn Training Program from Wall Street Journal best-selling author Josh Turner. I got started quickly, and I grew a great pipeline of trusting potential clients very quickly. Here’s a video about the course for anyone who is interested - http://bit.ly/1NglN1q There is still some work involved but this saved me a ton of time and money, especially over hiring anyone to help. If you want to see my profile just check it out here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniellarsen1
BarbaraMcKinney Hey Could you please help me? My email address is mobilepundits2@gmail.com
Awesome article for collecting leads through linkedin. We need to share more content related to our business. We need to join groups and share our views. http://www.ads2020.marketing/2015/10/how-to-generate-leads-through-linkedin.html
I learned the hard way that we need to be doing one stuff if we are supposed to succeed at it b/c though we may be capable of doing several things, that will reduce our productivity a lot. That is to say if we start getting leads from Linkedin then we should pursue that until we succeed at it. Focus is the one ingredient that makes the difference.
Not sure if this has anything better http://hcl.link/Linkedin
Thank you for a great article. But why you don’t write about services, which help to
do linkedin lead
generation in easy way. For example, I use https://getprospect.io to find emails of linkedin accounts.
Lewis, I just met you at Blog world Expo. Nice post! I will apply your suggestion. very practical and actionable. Thanks!
@LiveSimple101 sounds great, look forward to hearing about your results on LinkedIn!
I see a lot of people that have not done the customization aspect mentioned in second point. I always suggest that they change the My Blog, My Website to something specific because someone may be scoping out their profile and not initially recognize them, but would if they saw the name to their website or business.
Answering questions is also good for generating leads – I don’t do it as much as I should, but every time I have, I made new connections and expanded my network. Great tips!
All of these are great Lewis, and this really points out to me that I need to get better about leveraging LinkedIn. I’ve decided that I’m going to work on #6 first and expand from there. 🙂
@KristiHines It’s a simple thing people can do, and it works for sure. Answering questions is so powerful and I’m amazed by the leads I get when I answer questions, then follow up with a private message. Thanks for your comment!
@ChristySmith great idea, it’s simple and you can spend a few minutes a day and pick up major clients if you do it correctly. Look forward to hearing about your success with it.
@barbaraling recommending others is a lot of fun, and it’s def a way to give back to the community as opposed to asking for something all of the time. You are right, it’s also a great way to develop that expert status.
Anytime I read a post from Lewis it’s a reminder that I need to be more active on LinkedIn. My biggest takeaway from this was adding a “Welcome to my Profile” as well as video testimonials. That’s something I’ll need to get on STAT!
Awesome post Lewis. This is one getting saved to my favorites. I’m relatively new to LinkedIn and articles like this make it a lot easier to get to work on LI and to try to use it effectively. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Lewis, didn’t meet you at Blogworld but sat in on one of your presentations. I love to see fellow athletes succeed and I am an old point guard myself! I like your suggestion about starting your own group, especially if you focus on a niche. Hands down this has been one of the most effective marketing and relationship development strategies that I’ve utilized with regard to leveraging LinkedIn to grow influence.
Great post, your proactive approach is exactly on point. What works best for me is being responsive and initiating contact with a new connection almost immediately. Groups are great when you’re attending an event, I’ve connected with dozens of colleagues and one lead me to an offline networking group that has changed my life. Your insight is priceless! Thank you!
@korneluk glad you enjoyed it 🙂 I’ll be sure to add a “how to” welcome video post on here soon so you can get that all up the right way.
@JMattHicks Glad you are saving it to your favs my friend! I’ll be sure to post more content about LinkedIn in the future, and feel free to go through some older posts as well
@stephsammons thanks for attending my panel, and glad other athletes were in the room! Creating groups is huge, and I built two businesses based on the connections in LinkedIn groups.
@agquillinan thanks, I tell people has changed my life because of the connections I make from it… and it sounds like it has done the same for you. Don’t you think more people should be using LinkedIn as well? 🙂
I thought I had it all figured out after reading your book. But I guess you have more LinkedIn tips and tricks in a storage. All 10 ponits are super important. Time is the only limiting factor. Great Post.
@AskDrBurt If you can spend a little time to get leads like a champion and not have to pay for them… would you do it? 🙂 Glad you enjoyed the book and post Dr Burt… you are the man and I’m coming back to your office in San Fran for another treatment on my back when I make it out there 🙂
@LewisHowes I absolutely will and I’ll be keeping an eye out for new material. Thanks for the awesome content!
@LewisHowes Absolutely, more should. I love helping people I’ve met at offline networking functions to use LinkedIn, it’s become a new line of business for me.
Thanks for posting this. I watched your webinar from SMS 2010 and implemented some of the items you recommended. Blogged about it here: http://www.digitalmarketingdepartment.com/2010/10/5-quick-ways-to-optimize-your-linkedin-profile-for-business/
Bottom line is that I got much better positioning from the simply keyword changes you recommended. Thanks!
@DigitalMarketingDept Thanks my friend, glad you enjoyed my presentation during SMS10 (even though LinkedIn was down during that time 🙂 Thanks for posting to me in your article as well!
This post is a real eye opener to just how terrible at LinkedIn I really am, and the sad part is that I should know better. I need to step things up on my YouTube Channel as well.
I will be looking at adding the auto-play video, that’s a homerun idea!
@ExtremeJohn let me know when you get the video up and running, would love to see how it turns out.
Great info! Gracias!! I’m off to do some work…
Great information! Gracias!! Off to do some work on my page…
@SPLM let me know how the results turn out 🙂
Wow, I didn’t even realize you could add a video to your profile, I think I will do that – genius!
@innovativefox I’ll be posting a vid on how to do this on LinkedIn soon… stay tuned 🙂
If I knew about that export contacts option, I would have started my campaign here (whether it’s an SEO or social media campaign). Thanks for the great tips Lewis! By the way, in your experience, do you get more leads here as compared to twitter?
@SEOPhilippines well I built up about a 40,000 person email list from LinkedIn … havn’t done that much from Twitter yet 🙂
Wow, thanks for the LinkedIn article. I never really understood what LinkedIn really was
Hi Lewis
This is a great synopsis of how to use LinkedIn for business. I got my first client in 2010 through LinkedIn due a response I gave to a question in a LinkedIn Group, so I can vouch for the effectiveness of combining your points 6 and 7 – by answering questions asked in a group thread.
To leverage your existing network of friends, I always recommend that my clients look first at the groups that their clients or customers are members of, and join those immediately. That is where you will find more prospective clients, with similar problems to your existing clients, who might need your services or products – and as you already know people here, you will have more credibility. You are more likely to be able to ask for introductions to people in these groups who you might be able to help, or who you would like to work with. And people you try to connect with are more likely to respond favorably when they see that you are already connected to people they know.
Thanks for the great article,
Kind regards,
Salvatore
Lewis, thanks for this–insightful and helpful. I’ve incorporated some of your ideas already.
Lewis, This is where I really need help. Thanks so much. I really want to improve my LinkedIn presence. Thanks, Amy
Great stuff, esp for newbies like me.
Hi Lewis,
I really like this page of yours, I am hoping now to be able to promote my site at http://getridofsmoking.org in Linkedin. Thanks
Kamrul
kochi97
From the big 3 social media players, LinkedIn is the number one platform that supplies us with the qualified IT sales leads that we needed. Agree to all the tips you have here Lewis!
I thought I had it all realized out after studying your book. But I think you have more LinkedIn guidelines in a storage space. All 10 ponits are extremely important. Time is the only restricting factor. Great Publish. http://hotbusiness.biz
Yes i had the experience of get contacted by people when they come to know that i am from that particular company and i might be able to help them any ways, Great post, Hats off! to Lewis Howes!
Oh man! Killer article Lewis! I would of loved to see our www.LinkedInMailer.com in there, would of fit perfectly. Along with all the other tips you’d have lead powerhouse in the end! Smashing stuff!
I really like your post,by the way you can Increase Sales,Leads,Conversions and TrafficStop what you are doing right now and take a few minutes to watch this extremely important video on LinkedIn.http://sh.st/uSlehThis video explains why this often overlooked social networking site is delivering double the results over every other site.http://sh.st/uSlehMy friend Lewis Howes (the main guy when it comes to all things LinkedIn) put it together and I know it will add value to your business.Take my word for it and go watch it now!
Great tips for leveraging LinkedIn. What if you don’t know what companies to contact in the first place? I made a tool – http://www.perfectleads.com/ to help you find your ideal clients. It lets you target based on industry and technology that any company uses.
Hi everyone,
I was made an offer to purchase “friendship connection” on linkedin with possibility to reach my targeted audience (people in Sweden, Finance inductry). The connection will open 500 2-level targeted connections (500 Swedish Financial professionals).
Which means I can contact them directly without InMail options. On the one hand it looks like saving my time doing this network building routine, on the other hand it costs 20 USD, and looks suspicious to me.
This guy plays against the rules by creating many accounts with pure targeted network. And then sells connection to the accounts people need.
I d like to have your opinion, would you use his service for this money?
This is a great guide, Lewis. It was a good starting point for me, but I eventually ran into challenges of being sales-y vs building real connections and connecting with people in a way that could lead to business relationships. I learned a lot through trial and error and it just wasn’t enough. I made a small investment and took a course on it and it really paid off. There is still some work involved but this saved me a ton of time and money, especially over hiring anyone to help. I got started quickly, and I grew a great pipeline of trusting potential clients very quickly. Here’s a video about the course for anyone who is interested – http://bit.ly/1NglN1q
I used this LinkedIn Training Program from Wall Street Journal best-selling author Josh Turner. I got started quickly, and I grew a great pipeline of trusting potential clients very quickly. Here’s a video about the course for anyone who is interested – http://bit.ly/1NglN1q There is still some work involved but this saved me a ton of time and money, especially over hiring anyone to help. If you want to see my profile just check it out here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniellarsen1
Awesome article for collecting leads through linkedin. We need to share more content related to our business. We need to join groups and share our views. http://www.ads2020.marketing/2015/10/how-to-generate-leads-through-linkedin.html
I learned the hard way that we need to be doing one stuff if we are supposed to succeed at it b/c though we may be capable of doing several things, that will reduce our productivity a lot. That is to say if we start getting leads from Linkedin then we should pursue that until we succeed at it. Focus is the one ingredient that makes the difference.
Not sure if this has anything better http://hcl.link/Linkedin
Thank you for a great article. But why you don’t write about services, which help to
do linkedin lead
generation in easy way. For example, I use https://getprospect.io to find emails of linkedin accounts.
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