Learning linkedin for Sales - presented by pathway2grow.co.uk

Learning LinkedIn
for Sales
A Practical Guide to Leveraging LinkedIn
© pathway2grow 2013

Contents
1. Introduction
2. How to get started and build yout LinkedIn foundation
- Stephanie Sammons, Smart Social Pro
3. How to build your LinkedIn network
- Jan Vermeiren, author of How to Really use LinkedIn
4. How to use LinkedIn to market your business
- Neal Schaffer, author of Windmill Networking
5. How to use LinkedIn to market yourself
- Lewis Howes, author of LinkedWorking
6. Measuring the ROI of your LinkedIn efforts
- Rebecca Corliss, HubSpot
1. Introduction
LinkedIn is the largest professional social network online today with an astounding 80
million users! These affluent, ambitious, and influential professionals and over 50% of
them represent some level of senior management. If you are a business professional and
you do not have a powerful presence on LinkedIn, you are undoubtedly missing valuable
opportunities to connect and grow your business.
The ability to see your immediate professional connections on LinkedIn as well as your
2nd and 3rd degree connections opens up a powerful network to you that you could
never replicate on your own. As your connections grow, your professional network grows
exponentially and so does your potential for new business opportunities. There are
infactmany individuals who rely solely on Linkedin for new business opportunities.
This ebook will walk you through the process of developing your presence and therefore
your business potential, building your network, marketing your business, marketing
yourself, and measuring your results. The content in this ebook is written by five LinkedIn
experts in the marketing space.
The ability to see your immediate professional connections on LinkedIn as well as your
2nd and 3rd degree connections opens up a powerful network to you that you could
never replicate on your own. As your connections grow, your professional network grows
you do not have a powerful presence on LinkedIn, you are undoubtedly missing valuable
1. Introduction
Measuring the ROI of your LinkedIn efforts

2. How to Get Started and Build Your LinkedIn Foundation
by Stephanie Sammons
Complete Your LinkedIn Profile 100%
Leveraging the power of LinkedIn begins with building a solid professional profile and
presence. As a professional, how do you stand out from the crowd on LinkedIn? How
do you differentiate yourself from the millions of professional users on the network?
What will make your profile visitors want to learn more about you and your business
to ultimately connect with you? You must first establish a foundation in order to begin
building your influence, generating introductions and referrals, and uncovering valuable
business opportunities.
LinkedIn suggests that having a completed profile provides you with a 40% greater
chance for networking success, and they make it easy for you to understand how to
achieve 100% completion. Having a completed profile is the most effective way to
showcase all of who you are through your talents, background, experience, passions,
interests, and areas of expertise. In addition, a completed profile is going to make you
appear to be a more competent user in the network.
For example, if I come across a professional that has very few connections but also has
a completed profile, I am likely to connect with that person. If the profile is incomplete,
I won’t bother. Without a completed profile, it could send the message that you are not
active on LinkedIn. Your profile should be a comprehensive snapshot of who you are as
a professional as well as serve as one of your most valuable, professional digital assets.
Checklist for Achieving a Powerful and Complete Profile:
Upload a professional image: This is your very best opportunity to make a great first
impression, and it is essential to attracting connections.
Create a compelling headline: You only have 120 characters at the top of your profile
to describe who you are and what you do for people. Use brief, descriptive, compelling
keywords so the right professionals on LinkedIn can discover you.
List your current position and at least two past positions: Use descriptive keywords
that you quoted in your headline if possible, and be sure to describe your role for each
position.
Complete the “Summary” section of your profile: This is your chance to really
describe who you are and how you help people. I recommend that you write your
summary in the third person. Otherwise, you’ll be using the letter “I” quite a bit, which
can be off-putting.
Complete the “Specialties” section of your profile: Utilize customer-focused
keywords, as these are the terms that will help you show up in search results within
LinkedIn. When thinking about these keywords, think about the words and phrases that
people in your target markets might search for to find someone with your background,
experience, and service offering.
Complete the “Summary” section of your profile:
describe who you are and how you help people. I recommend that you write your
summary in the third person. Otherwise, you’ll be using the letter “I” quite a bit, which
that you quoted in your headline if possible, and be sure to describe your role for each
Create a compelling headline:
Create a compelling headline: You only have 120 characters at the top of your profile
Upload a professional image: This is your very best opportunity to make a great first
active on LinkedIn. Your profile should be a comprehensive snapshot of who you are as
appear to be a more competent user in the network.
presence. As a professional, how do you stand out from the crowd on LinkedIn? How
do you differentiate yourself from the millions of professional users on the network?
What will make your profile visitors want to learn more about you and your business
to ultimately connect with you? You must first establish a foundation in order to begin

Give recommendations first: Then request recommendations that can be displayed
on your profile. The best way to receive recommendations is to first give them! Hint:
You will need at least three recommendations in order for LinkedIn to label your profile
“completed.”
Complete the “Interests” and “Groups and Associations” sections of your profile:
Each of these terms will be hyperlinked and will take you to other users in the network
who share these interests.
Optimize Your Profile to Get Found by Contacts
By now, you probably realize the importance of adding relevant keywords that your target
markets may search for to your headline, summary, and specialties sections of your
LinkedIn profile. Here are some pro tips to optimize your profile to get found by great new
contacts:
Edit your public LinkedIn URL: An example is my personal LinkedIn URL, http://www.
linkedin.com/in/stephaniesammons. This will optimize your LinkedIn profile to show up
in search results on major search engines when someone searches for your name. It
is important to claim those results for your name as they provide a gateway into your
personal brand.
Customize your “Website” listings: Under the websites section of your LinkedIn profile,
you can list up to three URLs. Choose the “other” option when setting up each of these
links and describe them with relevant terms. For example, rather than using the terms
“my website,” I use “Smart Social Pro Blog.” Not only is this more descriptive, but it also
gives me a better opportunity to rank for these keywords in search engines.
Include a link to your Twitter profile: You can have more than one Twitter account
listed, and you can also integrate Twitter into your LinkedIn profile in the “Settings”
section.
Best practice: Rather than sending all tweets, selectively send tweets to your LinkedIn
status update by adding #in to the end of specific tweets.
Make your LinkedIn profile publicly visible to everyone: You want other professionals
on LinkedIn to be able to find you and contact you anytime!
Get Plugged In With LinkedIn Applications
To build a truly vibrant and influential profile on LinkedIn, you will want to take advantage
of the applications that are available. My personal favorites are listed below, but feel free
to choose the applications that are the best fit for you!
My Travel and Events: Personally, I love these two applications because they give me the
opportunity to showcase the part of my schedule that mostly involves connecting! I want
my connections to see where I’m traveling and also the events I’m attending. Don’t miss
any opportunities to meet a LinkedIn connection face-to-face.
To build a truly vibrant and influential profile on LinkedIn, you will want to take advantage
of the applications that are available. My personal favorites are listed below, but feel free
Make your LinkedIn profile publicly visible to everyone:
on LinkedIn to be able to find you and contact you anytime!
Rather than sending all tweets, selectively send tweets to your LinkedIn
Make your LinkedIn profile publicly visible to everyone:
Rather than sending all tweets, selectively send tweets to your LinkedIn
Include a link to your Twitter profile:
listed, and you can also integrate Twitter into your LinkedIn profile in the “Settings”
You can have more than one Twitter account
Under the websites section of your LinkedIn profile,
is important to claim those results for your name as they provide a gateway into your
Under the websites section of your LinkedIn profile,
An example is my personal LinkedIn URL, http://www.
An example is my personal LinkedIn URL, http://www.

Reading List by Amazon: We are what we read. Don’t miss this opportunity to create
a window into your passions and interests by showcasing and reviewing your latest
reads. Alternatively, when you are searching through profiles on LinkedIn for potential
connections and introductions, you can glean the same insight about others if they have
this application installed.
SlideShare: I use this application to bring in presentations that I’ve uploaded to
SlideShare. It gives me a chance to show my expertise visually. Also, you can embed video
or audio into your SlideShare presentation that will automatically play when someone
visits your LinkedIn Profile! This can certainly be an effective way to make your profile
stickier. More than likely, if the visitor hears your voice, they will scroll down to this part of
your profile.
WordPress or Blog Link: With these applications, you can automatically pull blog posts
into your profile. If you are taking the time to create great content on your blog, you must
get it out into the world.
Polls: The LinkedIn Polls application allows you to essentially conduct your own research,
either simply within your own network or to a more targeted audience of professionals,
which is a paid resource. I have found polls to be an effective tool for understanding
my audience. You must make sure that your poll is simple to understand and that your
questions are compelling. Otherwise you may not get much response.
LinkedIn applications are essential in helping you develop a solid foundation. Many times,
your LinkedIn profile may be the first stop for a new introduction. With a solid foundation
and presence in LinkedIn, you will be well positioned to move to the next phase, where
you can truly begin growing your influence and building your business.
3. How to Build Your LinkedIn Network
by Jan Vermeiren
For me, the most powerful concept behind LinkedIn is that it helps you find valuable
people and informs you of the mutual connections you have with them, or your second
and third degree networks. This has tremendous value.
Why? Many people already have difficulty keeping track of their own first degree network.
It is impossible to know whom our network knows. LinkedIn keeps track of this for us.
Access to this information is extremely powerful.
Here are steps to building a valuable network for you and your business.
Getting Your Network Started
While true business opportunity is within your second degree network, you still need a
first degree network to be able to reach those second degree connections. Here are two
phases to build your first degree network effectively and in a timely manner.
Here are steps to building a valuable network for you and your business.
Getting Your Network Started
It is impossible to know whom our network knows. LinkedIn keeps track of this for us.
Access to this information is extremely powerful.
your LinkedIn profile may be the first stop for a new introduction. With a solid foundation
: The LinkedIn Polls application allows you to essentially conduct your own research,
which is a paid resource. I have found polls to be an effective tool for understanding
my audience. You must make sure that your poll is simple to understand and that your
questions are compelling. Otherwise you may not get much response.
: The LinkedIn Polls application allows you to essentially conduct your own research,
With these applications, you can automatically pull blog posts
With these applications, you can automatically pull blog posts
SlideShare. It gives me a chance to show my expertise visually. Also, you can embed video
or audio into your SlideShare presentation that will automatically play when someone
visits your LinkedIn Profile! This can certainly be an effective way to make your profile
stickier. More than likely, if the visitor hears your voice, they will scroll down to this part of

Phase One: Lay the Foundation of Your Network
1. Upload your contacts from Outlook, webmail like Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo, AOL, or other
address books. You can do this via the green “Add Connections” button in the menu on
the left on every page; then click on the “Import Contact” tab.
2. Look at the contacts, which are now available in “Imported Contacts” (under
“Contacts” in the menu on the left). The people who are already on LinkedIn have a small
blue icon with the letters “In.” Since they are already using LinkedIn, they will be open for
a connection with you. Select them.
3. Write a semi-personal message to them. First check “Add a personal note to your
invitation.” Then replace the standard “Hi, I’d like to add you to my network” message
with something related to how you know them. You can’t make it too personal when you
use this method because you have selected several people.
Phase Two: A Second Layer for Your Network
While you are waiting for people to accept the invitations you sent during Phase One, you
can add more people to your network. Again, first focus on the people who are already on
LinkedIn because they will be more open to accept your invitation.
Next, use the tools LinkedIn provides for retrieving colleagues and classmates. Since
LinkedIn works with the information in your profile, it is important that you already have
completed the information about the companies you have worked for and the schools and
universities you’ve attended.
Let’s start with adding current and past colleagues to your network:
1. Look up your current and past colleagues’ profiles on Linkedin. You can also do this
via the green “Add Connections” button in the menu on the left and then click on the
“Colleagues” tab. Here, you will see all the companies that you have listed on your profile,
as well as how many people from each company are already LinkedIn members.
2. Click on one of the companies listed. You will get a list of people. Select the people you
know.
3. Write a personal message to them if you are going to invite them one-by-one or write a
semi-personal message like the one in step three of Phase One.
4. Repeat steps two and three for every company.
5. Now do the same for the people with whom you went to school or college via the tab
“Classmates.”
How to Use LinkedIn to Fill Your Network With Valuable Connections for
Your Business
LinkedIn is a great tool to find new customers, suppliers, partnerships, experts, and other
people that would be valuable to add t o your network.
LinkedIn offers several ways to find specific types of people. But before being able to use
LinkedIn successfully, it is important to create a good definition of your target group(s).
Now do the same for the people with whom you went to school or college via the tab
“Classmates.”
How to Use LinkedIn to Fill Your Network With Valuable Connections for
. Repeat steps two and three for every company.
Now do the same for the people with whom you went to school or college via the tab
Write a personal message to them if you are going to invite them one-by-one or write a
Click on one of the companies listed. You will get a list of people. Select the people you
Write a personal message to them if you are going to invite them one-by-one or write a
Click on one of the companies listed. You will get a list of people. Select the people you
Look up your current and past colleagues’ profiles on Linkedin. You can also do this
Let’s start with adding current and past colleagues to your network:
Look up your current and past colleagues’ profiles on Linkedin. You can also do this
Next, use the tools LinkedIn provides for retrieving colleagues and classmates. Since
LinkedIn works with the information in your profile, it is important that you already have
completed the information about the companies you have worked for and the schools and
with something related to how you know them. You can’t make it too personal when you
blue icon with the letters “In.” Since they are already using LinkedIn, they will be open for
Write a semi-personal message to them. First check “Add a personal note to your

Once you have defined your targets, here are some strategies to help you find them:
1. Use the “advanced search” option to search for people who fit your definition above.
If you find someone with whom you’d like to connect, see if you share any mutual
connections. Ask that connection if he or she can make an introduction to the new
person. Please remember that what you are now doing is building a relationship. Don’t
sell at this stage.
2. Browse the networks of your immediate network. You can do this by visiting someone’s
profile and looking at their connections on the right-hand side. If you see someone
interesting, invite that person to connect.
3. Join groups that your target market joins. This will give you a genuine opportunity to
interact with individuals of those groups and will help you increase your visibility. People
will start to contact you.
4. Save your people searches and create an alert to be updated when it finds someone
new. LinkedIn will send you an email every week with new prospects.
5. Look at your network’s updates and watch who your contacts interact with. If someone
mentions someone interesting, ask for an introduction.
LinkedIn is a very powerful tool to help you meet new contacts, grow your business
network, and advance your career.
In the next section, you will learn how to use your network to begin marketing your
business.
4. How to Use LinkedIn to Market Your Business
By Neal Schaffer
By now, you probably understand that LinkedIn is the premier social networking site
devoted solely to professionals. Also, it’s said that LinkedIn’s 80 million members include
an executive from every Fortune 500 company. There is no other social networking site
where you have a greater chance of being able to interact with an influential decision
maker.
LinkedIn remains one of the best social networking sites to market your business-to-
business (B2B) products and services because of this special demographic. Even for
business-to-consumer (B2C) companies, LinkedIn is important: Not only are consumers
members of LinkedIn, but even B2C companies have B2B marketing activities with regard
to distributors, agents, and strategic alliances.
LinkedIn, to your business, is like a virtual trade show full of 24/7 networking.
Setting Up Your Company on LinkedIn
Inbound marketing on LinkedIn begins with ensuring that your company can be found
in the LinkedIn Companies directory. LinkedIn Companies was launched back in 2008
business-to-consumer (B2C) companies, LinkedIn is important: Not only are consumers
members of LinkedIn, but even B2C companies have B2B marketing activities with regard
to distributors, agents, and strategic alliances.
LinkedIn remains one of the best social networking sites to market your business-to-
Look at your network’s updates and watch who your contacts interact with. If someone
mentions someone interesting, ask for an introduction.
Save your people searches and create an alert to be updated when it finds someone
new. LinkedIn will send you an email every week with new prospects.
Look at your network’s updates and watch who your contacts interact with. If someone
Save your people searches and create an alert to be updated when it finds someone
Join groups that your target market joins. This will give you a genuine opportunity to
Browse the networks of your immediate network. You can do this by visiting someone’s
profile and looking at their connections on the right-hand side. If you see someone
Join groups that your target market joins. This will give you a genuine opportunity to

and is a database that is comprised of information that is primarily user-generated. The
information on company profiles is also extracted from information held by LinkedIn
partners, Capital IQ and BusinessWeek. With backing by these major firms, LinkedIn
Companies is quickly becoming an alternative free source of company information where
you should absolutely be present.
Should someone be searching for a company with your expertise, you want to ensure
that you are found. Follow these steps to be sure the best information is on display for
potential customers:
Edit the description of your Company Profile: Make sure it is in sync with your company
website.
Add keywords within the Specialty Section: There is also an opportunity to enter 256
characters under the Specialties section. Make sure that any keywords for which you
want your company to be found are here.
Industry: You can choose a main company industry. Make sure you choose the most
appropriate, as this is a field that may be used in a search to find your company.
Location: There is also a search field for location. LinkedIn gives you the opportunity to
enter up to five locations. Use this if your company is represented in multiple regions.
Blog RSS: Enter your corporate blog’s RSS feed to showcase your latest blog entries.
Corporate Twitter: If your company has a Twitter account, make sure you include your
username. Doing this will post your latest tweets on your page.
Getting found on LinkedIn Companies is only part of the picture. Since LinkedIn is a social
networking platform, many people seek out those with a specific expertise by doing a
keyword search under “People.” Every employee representing your company on LinkedIn
increases your chances that your company will get found. The more connected your
employees are to others, the easier it will be for people to contact any of your company
employees through the LinkedIn platform.
LinkedIn Groups Are Virtual Trade Show Breakout Rooms
The power of LinkedIn Groups cannot be underestimated. Since every profession and
discipline is represented at the virtual trade show that is LinkedIn, there is a need to
have breakout rooms or separate sessions so that those with similar interests can come
together for discussions and to share news on the topics that mutually interest them. At
the time I wrote this, there were more than 730,000 groups on LinkedIn, with the most
popular one having more than 320,000 members.
The Inbound Marketers Group for Marketing Professionals, started by HubSpot co-founder
Dharmesh Shah, is one of the top 50 most popular LinkedIn Groups, with membership
of almost 50,000. You can imagine the benefits to HubSpot of having a community of
50,000 people who are part of its target demographic that they can now engage with in a
variety of ways.
have breakout rooms or separate sessions so that those with similar interests can come
together for discussions and to share news on the topics that mutually interest them. At
the time I wrote this, there were more than 730,000 groups on LinkedIn, with the most
networking platform, many people seek out those with a specific expertise by doing a
If your company has a Twitter account, make sure you include your
Enter your corporate blog’s RSS feed to showcase your latest blog entries.
If your company has a Twitter account, make sure you include your
You can choose a main company industry. Make sure you choose the most
There is also a search field for location. LinkedIn gives you the opportunity to
Enter your corporate blog’s RSS feed to showcase your latest blog entries.
You can choose a main company industry. Make sure you choose the most
There is also an opportunity to enter 256
There is also an opportunity to enter 256
that you are found. Follow these steps to be sure the best information is on display for
Make sure it is in sync with your company

Functionality provided by LinkedIn Groups includes a discussions board, where it is
possible to post a link to a web article of interest or simply engage in conversation.
Through Groups, you can also do a member search and directly send a message to
someone, provided they are using the default setting LinkedIn provides. In other words,
by attracting your target demographic to your group, you can now directly engage with
them regardless of your connectivity status.
How to Create an Effective LinkedIn Group
Before you think about creating a LinkedIn Group, you first need to create a mission
statement that states who you’d like to attract and what your group will offer them.
Creating a LinkedIn Group is surprisingly simple, as is indicated by the sheer number of
groups that exist. That being said, there is one very important thing to consider that will
make or break your group: its name.
As a social networking site, no LinkedIn user wants to be sold to. Therefore, in the spirit
of inbound marketing, the name of your group should NOT be your company name. On
Facebook or Twitter, it is wise to have a page or username that represents your company.
On LinkedIn, however, you want to win the mindshare of your target audience and attract
them to become members of your group. You can only do so by naming your group
appropriately.
Once the name of your group is chosen, it is important to brand it in a way that will be
attractive to the target audience, while maintaining consistency with your established
look and feel. The Inbound Marketers Group logo prominently features the same orange
color that stands out on the HubSpot logo as well as the famous magnet image. If you
look at the LinkedIn Group I recently created, The Social Media Strategies for Business
Group, you will see that the typeface and color is identical to the logo of my company,
Windmills Marketing.
How Promote Your LinkedIn Group to Earn Membership
Once you start a LinkedIn Group, what do you do next? It’s all about promotion, and that
starts with introducing your community to relevant professionals in your own LinkedIn
network. This is where you are already at an advantage if many of your employees are
already established users with LinkedIn connections. Of course, your employees should
only be introducing your group to those that are in your target demographic and would
feel it is a valuable resource; otherwise, your innocent introduction of your group could
be perceived as spam.
Using Your Other Social Media Assets to Promote Your LinkedIn Group
Promotion doesn’t and shouldn’t stop with just LinkedIn members: Once you begin to
strategically engage in social media, you need to optimize your own website for social
media. For the LinkedIn Group, it can be as simple as posting a logo and a link to your
group in a prominent area of your website. In this way, your website visitors not only find
out about your community, but they can also easily join it. If you have an email newsletter,
don’t forget to feature your group’s logo there as well. An occasional tweet or Facebook
post introducing your LinkedIn Group is another way to efficiently utilize social media to
“advertise” your LinkedIn Group.
be perceived as spam.
Using Your Other Social Media Assets to Promote Your LinkedIn Group
Promotion doesn’t and shouldn’t stop with just LinkedIn members: Once you begin to
only be introducing your group to those that are in your target demographic and would
attractive to the target audience, while maintaining consistency with your established
them to become members of your group. You can only do so by naming your group
of inbound marketing, the name of your group should NOT be your company name. On
Before you think about creating a LinkedIn Group, you first need to create a mission

Keep LinkedIn Group Policies in Mind
If you have ever been a member of a LinkedIn Group, you will know that many are filled
with spammy link-building “discussions” that tarnish the atmosphere of the group and
14 potentially the brand of the company sponsoring it. Social media marketing is really
about relevance, so it is important to keep your group relevant by actively managing
and keeping the irrelevant information out. Your first step in doing this is by creating a
LinkedIn Group Policy.
This is a relatively new feature, but LinkedIn has provided group managers with the
ability to create a group policy under the title “Group Rules.” It is here where you can set
your expectations and rules for the group so that there are no misunderstandings with
members should you need to remove them for posting spam. It is also a way to show your
company’s professional approach to managing the group, so I would recommend taking
an extra step and customizing the template that LinkedIn provides you in welcoming new
members to either list the group rules or remind them to read them.
Create a LinkedIn Group Engagement Strategy
Similar to how those who engage with your Facebook Page will help get your news
noticed in each fan’s personal news feed, engagement in your LinkedIn Group will be
posted in members’ network updates. So how does one foster group engagement?
When starting a group, group managers need to assume leadership by proactively
starting conversations, posting relevant and timely news, and quickly reacting to the
discussions and questions of others. This can be done in a time-effective manner by
pre-scheduling some activities and utilizing LinkedIn’s new feature that allows group
managers to receive updates about new discussions and comments the moment they
happen. As membership grows, the discussions tend to become mostly self-generated,
but it’s still important to check the engagement volume on a regular basis and generate
new discussions as needed.
What discussions should one generate? There is no one-size-fits-all approach, but one
tactic used by some group managers is to take an interesting discussion from another
group. This could be completely repurposed if it is a general discussion, or, if it is a
discussion with unique content, could be accredited to the person who started the
discussion in a different group. A topic that generated a lot of discussion in a similar
group is bound to be similarly successful in one’s own group.
How to Use the LinkedIn Announcement Feature
LinkedIn Groups are powerful in that LinkedIn allows group managers to send out an
announcement to all of its members at most once a week. It should be noted that this
should not be used every week, nor should it be used for purely self-promotional means.
The LinkedIn community could perceive sending out announcements in this manner as
spam, and it could give people reason to leave your group.
When should you use the announcement feature? Only when there is a strategic “event”
that would be extremely relevant and timely to present to your target audience. For
instance, you could announce that you’ll be exhibiting at a (physical) industry trade
show and include a link that provides them a discount to attend. Have a free webinar or
resourceful whitepaper that you are giving away? This may be something you want to
announce as well. There is no one rule as to how often you should send announcements
should not be used every week, nor should it be used for purely self-promotional means.
The LinkedIn community could perceive sending out announcements in this manner as
spam, and it could give people reason to leave your group.
How to Use the LinkedIn Announcement Feature
LinkedIn Groups are powerful in that LinkedIn allows group managers to send out an
What discussions should one generate? There is no one-size-fits-all approach, but one
managers to receive updates about new discussions and comments the moment they
posted in members’ network updates. So how does one foster group engagement?
When starting a group, group managers need to assume leadership by proactively
starting conversations, posting relevant and timely news, and quickly reacting to the
members to either list the group rules or remind them to read them.
company’s professional approach to managing the group, so I would recommend taking
This is a relatively new feature, but LinkedIn has provided group managers with the
ability to create a group policy under the title “Group Rules.” It is here where you can set
your expectations and rules for the group so that there are no misunderstandings with

or what content should be included, but proper utilization of this feature can help your
business maintain mindshare and strengthen your brand awareness within LinkedIn.
That being said, obtaining thought leadership on LinkedIn means moving beyond your
own LinkedIn group audience and influencing members outside of your immediate reach.
Developing Thought Leadership on LinkedIn
Social media allows both the creators and curators of content to attain thought
leadership simply by being active contributors and sharers of information. LinkedIn is
no different. Imagine if all of your key management for sales, marketing, and business
development were all contributing to LinkedIn in any of the following ways? It could be a
powerful way to obtain mindshare and eventual thought leadership that could generate
revenue for your business.
Use the following tools to help you develop thought leadership:
Status Updates: Just as tweets can be a powerful way of sharing your knowledge, so
can the LinkedIn status update. While only your LinkedIn connections will see your status
update in their network updates, you can display your status update for public visibility
so that those who visit your profile can see what you are saying. Obviously, LinkedIn is
not Twitter and therefore it is not about quantity of updates but rather quality. Aim for
one update a day on information that you find compelling or noteworthy news about your
company that might be interesting to your target demographic.
LinkedIn Answers: LinkedIn Answers is a Q&A database that has more than 2 million
answers submitted by LinkedIn users. Many businesses with real problems are posing
questions on LinkedIn Answers because they know that answers will come from members
of the professional community with real profiles attached to their names, not anonymous
submissions from who-knows-who like on past internet Q&A sites. There are a total of
22 answer categories that cover most industries and disciplines, and some of these
categories have multiple sub-categories.
This is the forum for you and your company to display your expertise by responding
to questions that appear in the category(s) where your target audience is most likely
present. Not only do the answers you submit to LinkedIn Answers become part of your
profile (should you want them to be), they are also indexed by Google and thus may come
up in future search results. Furthermore, if the answer you provide is chosen as the “Best
Answer” by the person who submitted the question, you have the potential of being
listed as an “Expert” on the page of your target category and/or sub-category. LinkedIn
allows you to create a widget on your homepage where you can subscribe to an answers
category, or you can simply import the RSS feed into the reader of your 17 choice. All
it takes is a once-a-day check to stay on top of your category for chances for your
organization to display expertise.
Using LinkedIn to Make Direct Contact With Key People
While I refer to LinkedIn as a virtual trade show, there are those who attend industry
exhibitions but aren’t spending their time on the floor or in the breakout sessions. One
potential is that these are executives who registered for the show yet are spending their
time in their private VIP suites meeting with customers by invitation only.
allows you to create a widget on your homepage where you can subscribe to an answers
category, or you can simply import the RSS feed into the reader of your 17 choice. All
it takes is a once-a-day check to stay on top of your category for chances for your
organization to display expertise.
Answer” by the person who submitted the question, you have the potential of being
This is the forum for you and your company to display your expertise by responding
22 answer categories that cover most industries and disciplines, and some of these
categories have multiple sub-categories.
LinkedIn Answers is a Q&A database that has more than 2 million
not Twitter and therefore it is not about quantity of updates but rather quality. Aim for
one update a day on information that you find compelling or noteworthy news about your
Just as tweets can be a powerful way of sharing your knowledge, so
can the LinkedIn status update. While only your LinkedIn connections will see your status
Use the following tools to help you develop thought leadership:
Just as tweets can be a powerful way of sharing your knowledge, so
Social media allows both the creators and curators of content to attain thought
leadership simply by being active contributors and sharers of information. LinkedIn is
no different. Imagine if all of your key management for sales, marketing, and business
development were all contributing to LinkedIn in any of the following ways? It could be a

If your efforts until now have not helped you gain access to that key decision maker or
you need to directly approach a certain target, there are many ways where we can crawl
outside of our inbound marketing shell and see how to make direct contact utilizing
LinkedIn:
(LinkedIn) Introductions: You may find that the executive with whom you want to get
in touch may not be a member of any LinkedIn Group. This is where Introductions come
into play. However, rather than using the ones provided by LinkedIn, which are limited to
only five in a free account, why don’t you ask for an introduction the old fashioned way by
placing a call or sending an email to the person who connects you? Despite all of this talk
about social media marketing, business is still social!
InMail: Up until now, I have only spoken of functionality that is available for free to all
LinkedIn members. If there is one paid function that I believe has potential value in
helping you market your business, it is the InMail. The InMail feature is available to paid
subscribers and, in essence, is an email that is guaranteed to get to the inbox of anyone in
LinkedIn, regardless of connectivity status. Because of the guaranteed delivery and that
you need to pay in order to send one, LinkedIn says that InMails can help get a response
rate that is 30 times greater than traditional email methods.
The next section discusses how you can use LinkedIn features to market yourself.
5. How to Use LinkedIn to Market Yourself
By Lewis Howes
LinkedIn is one of the most powerful resources online in order to market yourself. Since
there are a number of goals and objectives individuals have in marketing themselves, I’m
going to explain a wide variety of tools everyone can use on LinkedIn. It doesn’t matter
if you are looking to become an influential person in your industry or niche, sell more
products, get more leads, drive traffic to your website, find a killer job, get more clients,
build your brand, sell tickets to an event, or receive funding—here is an overview of things
you should take advantage of while marketing yourself on LinkedIn.
Give Before Asking for Favours
This is important to do on any social networking site, but it’s particularly important to do
on LinkedIn when so many people are focused on receiving 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 the more
it will give them a refreshing feeling about you and the more 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 businesses and achieve their goals will give you two people willing to help you in
return, as opposed to one.
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 the more
it will give them a refreshing feeling about you and the more they’ll want to be helpful in
their business.
you should take advantage of while marketing yourself on LinkedIn.
going to explain a wide variety of tools everyone can use on LinkedIn. It doesn’t mattergoing to explain a wide variety of tools everyone can use on LinkedIn. It doesn’t matter
if you are looking to become an influential person in your industry or niche, sell more
products, get more leads, drive traffic to your website, find a killer job, get more clients,
going to explain a wide variety of tools everyone can use on LinkedIn. It doesn’t matter
The next section discusses how you can use LinkedIn features to market yourself.
Up until now, I have only spoken of functionality that is available for free to all
into play. However, rather than using the ones provided by LinkedIn, which are limited to
only five in a free account, why don’t you ask for an introduction the old fashioned way by
placing a call or sending an email to the person who connects you? Despite all of this talk

Connect With Everyone
It pains me to see when people only have fewer 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.
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 who
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.
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 you’re doing a good job marketing yourself.
Make Your Interactions 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, and who you help. Place this information throughout your headline,
summary, and the rest of your profile. Adding this will make others want to connect with
you instead of putting them to sleep with your boring resume.
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 to whom you wanted to market yourself? That would be pretty sweet,
huh?
That’s what I did a while back when I wanted to market myself and my sports industry
blog at www.sportsnetworker.com. To achieve accelerated marketing success, I started
the Sports Industry Network Group on LinkedIn. When people joined the group, they saw
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 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.
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
the Sports Industry Network Group on LinkedIn. When people joined the group, they saw
the exact people to whom you wanted to market yourself? That would be pretty sweet,
Start Your Own Community
Your profile should also include a personal element. Instead of making it look like a
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.
on a daily basis, then you know you’re doing a good job marketing yourself.
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 who
you talk to on a daily basis will be helping you connect with the same limited network. It’s

Use Advanced Applications to Promote Your Own Content
An earlier section of this ebook talked about how to use advanced applications to create
a full profile. They are also designed to help you market yourself better.
For example, are you an author? If so, use the Amazon application to showcase a picture
of your own book. When people click on the book, it takes them to the Amazon page
where they can buy it. Simple as that.
Do you have a blog? If so, use the WordPress or blog application to showcase your most
recent article on your profile. This will help you drive traffic back to your site. There
are other applications to help you showcase your creative design work, your slide show
presentations, whitepapers, tweets, and you can even set a video of yourself to 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 market yourself. Just start trying
them out, and see what fits your needs best.
Create a Call-to-Action
People need to be led in the right direction. You can’t just expect people to come to your
LinkedIn profile and learn about some of things you do 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.
One way to create a call-to-action is 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. Whatever your goal,
tell them to contact you or do something in a way that best meets your needs.
6. Measuring the ROI of Your LinkedIn Efforts
By Rebecca Corliss
After you’ve taken the time to grow your LinkedIn presence, market your business and
market yourself, it’s important to track your progress so you know your hard work is
paying off. The following are some of the ways you can measure your progress.
Measure Your LinkedIn Reach: As you’re interacting on LinkedIn, you’re also using it as
a tool to build your contact database and community. How is that community growing
over time? Be sure to track the growth of your personal LinkedIn network and perhaps
the networks of your employees.
Monitor the Interaction in Your LinkedIn Groups: Did you start a LinkedIn Group? How
is that growing over time? Are people discussing different topics and responding on their
market yourself, it’s important to track your progress so you know your hard work is
paying off. The following are some of the ways you can measure your progress.
Measure Your LinkedIn Reach:
By Rebecca Corliss
People need to be led in the right direction. You can’t just expect people to come to your
Do you have a blog? If so, use the WordPress or blog application to showcase your most
recent article on your profile. This will help you drive traffic back to your site. There
are other applications to help you showcase your creative design work, your slide show
presentations, whitepapers, tweets, and you can even set a video of yourself to auto

own? Creating a self-sustaining group that grows with a natural momentum would be a
great feat!
Track Your Developing Thought Leadership: Be able to report on your developing
thought leadership on LinkedIn. Are you giving and receiving multiple recommendations?
How many questions have you answered? How many of your responses were voted “Best
Answer”?
Compare Results Before and After Significant LinkedIn Activity or Events: If you plan
to develop and execute a specific LinkedIn campaign, be sure to take a snapshot of your
progress before and after your campaign so you can report on its effectiveness.
Measure Your Website Referral Traffic From LinkedIn: As you are growing your
LinkedIn presence, are you also driving profile visitors or group members back to your
personal or company website? Is that traffic growing over time?
Analyze Your Leads and Sales: Bottom line is bottom line! The best way to understand
if LinkedIn is working as a marketing tool is to measure its effectiveness at driving leads
and sales. Have you used LinkedIn to interact with a lead and close a deal? How much
business are you earning from LinkedIn?
Bottom line is bottom line! The best way to understand
if LinkedIn is working as a marketing tool is to measure its effectiveness at driving leads
personal or company website? Is that traffic growing over time?
Bottom line is bottom line! The best way to understand
As you are growing your
Compare Results Before and After Significant LinkedIn Activity or Events:
to develop and execute a specific LinkedIn campaign, be sure to take a snapshot of your
progress before and after your campaign so you can report on its effectiveness.
As you are growing your

Learning linkedin for Sales - presented by pathway2grow.co.uk

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