linkedin: enhancing your profile, job seeking, sales prospecting & promoting your business

SEK&Co LinkedIn Training

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Useful LinkedIn Statistics

• Over 200 M users on LinkedIn worldwide

• Over 2.4 M “C” level executives

• Over 4.8 M business owners

• 70% of people follow links posted by

friends & family

Ivan Misner, founder of BNI,

espouses the “givers gain”

philosophy.

Growing Your Network,

helping promote YOU

Introduce people who haven’t had an

opportunity to meet on their own. You

can do this online just as easily as you

might do it at a chamber mixer.

Growing Your Network,

helping promote YOU

Helping promote You

• If you don’t have a profile photo, add one

• If you don’t like yours, get a new one

• Make sure it’s professional

• You’re leaving digital footprints

• Rule of thumb for posts…

Helping promote You,

Complete Your Profile

• Your profile shows a percentage of

completion

– Make sure it’s 100%

• This could take a while

• 60 minute split over several sessions should do it

• Think of this as your billboard on the web

• Certifications & accomplishments

Helping promote You,

Connect with Affinity Groups

QuickBooks® Certified ProAdvisors®

AICPA/MACPA/PICPA

AAM/PKF/AMA

You’ll get useful posts

You can also make useful posts

Helping promote You,

Connect with Your Co-workers

• Synergies

• Leveraging personal networks

• Multiplication: 200 * 150 = 30,000

– Intra-company N/W >= 30K people

– Who do you know…

– Prospects for Joel, Kristi, Steve L?

Helping promote You,

Follow Your Company Page

• Follow your old companies

• Follow thought leaders (Cos) in your sector

• Get your clients to follow your page

• More followers = > visibility for your firm

Connect with Your Clients (& Prospects)

• Great way of keeping them informed

• Tax, BV, TPA, regular updates keep them

engaged

• Easy channel to communicate tips, tricks &

FAQs

Follow Your Clients’ & Prospects’

Company Pages

• Learn more about them

• Research them before you engage them

• You may get information sooner thru this

channel than thru other sources

Connect with Former Colleagues

• They could be future clients

• They could be referral sources

• Keep them informed about what you’re

doing

Connect with Friends & Family

• Who has a greater interest in your

success?

• Their networks could yield valuable

connections or referrals

• They can be great cheerleaders

Connect with College Classmates

• Undergraduate

• Graduate school

• Professional development coursework

• “Leadership” programs

Ask for Endorsements

• You should begin cultivating endorsements

from clients

• The value of advertising is being eroded by

endorsements in the social media sphere

• Formal recommendations versus

endorsing particular skills

Target & Wish List Accounts

• Learn more about them

• Follow the page

• Gain insight on firm management

• Connect with folks to whom they’re

connected

Use LinkedIn for Research

• Competitors

• Prospects

• Industry segments, niches

• Who your clients are connected to

– Referral opportunities

Why LinkedIn can be great to

promote your business

• All your connections have an opportunity to follow

your business. Do they?

• If they follow the link to your company, will they find

something compelling?

• They’ll form an opinion. Will it be positive?

• Is there a reason you wouldn’t want to take

advantage of this opportunity?

Setting Up a Company Page

• Choose Product or Service

• Pick a Category

• Name Your Product or Service

• Add an Image of your Service

• Describe your Service

Setting Up a Company Page

• List Key Features

• Add a URL for the Service

• Add a Contact for Your Company

• Add a Promotion for the Service

• Add a YouTube Video

• Publish

Promoting a Company Page

• http://LinkedIn.com/ads

• Promote your co. page through ads

• PPC campaigns

• Pick who you want to reach

Promoting a Company Page

• Measure your results

• Follower Insights

• Page Insights

• Employee Insights

• Company Pages provide a forum for talking about

your firm’s products & services

• This is a great vehicle where prospects can learn

about your products and services

• More importantly – they can also learn what your

CUSTOMERS say about your products & services

Why LinkedIn can be great to

promote your business

• LinkedIn jobs appear in search results & on Twitter

• LinkedIn – its own search engine (for jobs & cos) –

• don’t use at your own peril

• It’s free – why not HELP your prospects, leads and

potential employees find you?

Why LinkedIn can be great to

promote your business

• LinkedIn updates on your company page reach all

your followers

• informational or promotional

• Updates can also involve calls to action

• Services/Products and include calls to action

• Services/Products can include client

recommendations & video testimonials

Why LinkedIn can be great to

promote your business

(Ed – this is your screen shot. I have the Basic account and you have Sales

Executive, so I don’t think I can get this on my screen)

LinkedIn for Job Search