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LinkedIn is the most powerful online resource of our time for Professionals, business owners, entrepreneurs, and executives. The world’s largest professional network has nearly 300 million members worldwide who are active, engaged, and affluent. Building an influential presence on LinkedIn can help you take your personal brand and your business to the next level! Here is a Great Starter Guide for Building LinkedIn Influence written by Stephanie Sammons and shared by James Lee. James Lee is a single resource of reliable business solutions covering a variety of areas. Contact James Lee for Free Online Class Schedule at 1-917-930-3945 Free Training & More resources are available at http://bit.ly/self-marketing-Guide.
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Hi! This is James Lee-Your LinkedIn Connection. I found a great value on LinkedIn marketing guide So share with you.
Invite you join B2B Referral Networking Group On LinkedIn
Invite you join B2B Referral Networking Group On LinkedIn
Build LinkedIn Influence
A Starter Guide for Building LinkedIn Influence
By: Stephanie Sammons http://www.stephaniesammons.com
More Resource: http://bit.ly/self-marketing-Guide
For Free Consultation, Contact James Lee at 1-917-930-3945
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LinkedIn is the most powerful online resource of our time for
professionals, business owners, entrepreneurs, and executives. The
world’s largest professional network has nearly 300 million members
worldwide who are active, engaged, and affluent.
Building an influential presence on LinkedIn can help you take your
personal brand and your business to the next level!
To ultimately reap the benefits that LinkedIn can bring to your
personal brand and your business, you first need to build a
foundation and create a strategy plan that will position you as an
influencer.
Unfortunately many people miss this point. When you focus on
building online influence, you don’t have to overtly market or
sell.
LinkedIn members are active, engaged, and affluent.
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For Free Consultation, Contact James Lee at 1-917-930-3945
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Although building LinkedIn influence is a longer-term approach, it is the
right way to leverage social networking, and it's also good business!
Remember, your professional reputation is at stake. Do you want
people to like you and trust you? Or do you want them to hide your
updates and mute you from their social streams. Do you want to be
viewed as an authority, expert, and resource in your industry and by
your existing and prospective clients? Or do you want to allow your
competitors to take that position?
Focus on building LinkedIn influence and you will build a loyal
following, attract new clients into your business, and develop
advocates who send you introductions and referrals.
Don’t market and sell, build influence on LinkedIn to
attract new clients and customers.
More Resource: http://bit.ly/self-marketing-Guide
For Free Consultation, Contact James Lee at 1-917-930-3945
3 Steps for Building LinkedIn Influence
Below are 3 first steps that are essential for creating an influential presence on LinkedIn. If you follow the fundamental steps that I cover in this guide, you will have a strong foundation to build upon and create amazing personal and professional growth opportunities.
#1)Optimize your LinkedIn Profile
Your LinkedIn profile, by default, is your professional online identity. You can either neglect it, or take control of it and turn it into a powerful online reputation asset.
Not only will your LinkedIn profile rank well in Google search results for your name, but many times, it’s a first stop for potential clients and professional connections to learn more about you. If your profile isn't credible, you’re potentially going to blow that first impression!
Your LinkedIn profile is a dynamic and evolving digital asset. You will need to be constantly updating and improving it.
Remember, as you grow your presence on LinkedIn, your profile will be exposed to new viewers and potential connections each and every day!
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LinkedIn is continuously adding new profile features, and they do a fairly
good job of alerting you about these updates. Make sure thatyou keep
up!
Add Some Visual Appeal to Your LinkedIn Profile
LinkedIn enables you to upload visual files to your profileusing
supported services. You can display videos, images,
slidepresentations, and even audio/podcast files on your profile.
Add rich media content to your LinkedIn profile
Your LinkedIn profile is not a “set it and forget” it
digital asset.
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Add visual appeal to your profile and utilize video and audio assets to
make a more emotional connection with those who view your profile.
Make Your LinkedIn Profile Memorable
Your LinkedIn profile headshot and your professional headline are by far
the two most important components of your LinkedIn profile.
Why? These are the profile components that follow you across the entire
network wherever you engage and participate.
Whether you are commenting, sharing, posting, or publishing on LinkedIn,
your profile image and headline summary will be seen by any LinkedIn
members you interact with.
Having a professional headshot will help you make a great first impression and
make you more memorable across the network. If you can afford to invest in a
professional photographer for your headshot, do it!
With your LinkedIn headline summary, don't try to get creative
and fancy.
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Instead, be as clear as possible about what you do, who you help, and how
you help. Avoid industry jargon and avoid using symbols.
You are limited to 120 characters for your headline summary, so
experiment with this on paper prior to adjusting it on LinkedIn.
I tend to experiment frequently with my headline to see how it affects my
profile views and how often I appear in LinkedIn searches. (Any
keywords you include in your headline will potentially be picked up in
LinkedIn searches, so you will want to think about which keywords make
sense for you)
Be concise and clear with your LinkedIn professional headline
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Complete your profile as close to 100% as possible.
Craft a compelling summary, add your skills (for endorsements), add your
website and blog urls, contact information, specialties (use keywords
for this section), projects, volunteer work, publications, interests and
presentations.
Completing your entire LinkedIn profile is your chance to effectively tell
your story and showcase your professional insights for everyone to see.
(You will also get discovered by those LinkedIn members your profile is
designed to attract).
When you add your skills to your LinkedIn profile, your connections will
be prompted to give you endorsements each time they visit your profile.
Make sure to choose accurate terms and phrases regarding your skills for
this section of your profile. Not only can you benefit from LinkedIn
search results based upon the skills you list, but collecting endorsements
is a nice form of “social proof”.
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Your LinkedIn connections can boost your social proof through endorsements!
Your Profile Info Determines Your Search Performance
Did you know that there were nearly 6 billion people searches on
LinkedIn in 2012? If you don’t have a robust profile, you don’t have any
chance to show up in search results.
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LinkedIn’s search algorithm is extremely powerful and
relevant.
You can show up for searches based on your location, work
experience, education, skills and expertise, and your network
connections. To that extent, sprinkling relevant keywords about what
you do and whom you help is critical for getting found by the potential
clients and customers you want to attract.
Also, growing an intelligent LinkedIn network will help you
show up in the right search results. For example, when a 3rd
degree connection is conducting a LinkedIn search, you might show up
based on how the two of you are indirectly connected! Do not discount
the power of LinkedIn search.
Profile views lead to business opportunities, and, they are
measurable.
When someone views your profile and they find you to be an
interesting and credible person, good things will happen.
Profile views are not only measurable (check your LinkedIn home page),
but they can generate new connections, website or blog visits, lead
captures (if you embed calls-to-action in your profile), sharing of
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your LinkedIn published posts, engagement, 1-on-1 interaction (via
LinkedIn messaging), introductions, and more.
Can you see how your LinkedIn profile is key for getting found by the
right people, making new connections, and driving business
opportunities passively?
#2)Build a Robust, Intelligent Network
One of the keys to becoming an influencer on LinkedIn is building an
expanded network of connections. Not only should you focus on the
quality of your network (depth), but you should also strive to
expand your quantity of connections (breadth).
This doesn’t mean your should connect with any random person on
LinkedIn. You will want to use discretion to make sure that you are
making intelligent connections. Don’t limit your connections. If you
limit your connections, you limit your growth potential.
The depth and breadth of your LinkedIn network drives
your growth potential.
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Think outside of your immediate network as you consider who to
connect with. Do you live in the same community? Do you share
common hobbies or interests? Do you work in the same industry? Do your
backgrounds overlap? Do your share common connections or groups?
You never know who can lead to a new client or referral opportunity
within your network.
Every new LinkedIn connection is an opportunity to create a
valued relationship and grow your visibility.
Making new connections on LinkedIn is an opportunity to expand
your visibility through gaining exposure to the networks of others.
When you make a new connection, you can also gather valuable
insights about that person and find creative ways to go deeper with the
relationship.
Growing your connections on LinkedIn will lay the
groundwork for spreading your insights and ideas more
widely.
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Having a robust network on LinkedIn will also help to establish you
as an influencer. LinkedIn members like to connect with the “moversand
shakers”! By creating the perception that you are well-connected,you will
attract even more connections.
Your network can lead to all kinds of business opportunities, butmore
importantly, you can create opportunities for your
networkconnections and trigger the rule of reciprocity.
You will be in a position to creatively connect members of your
network together, make meaningful introductions, and promote themabove
and beyond what they might be able to do on their own.
People want to connect with the influencers on LinkedIn. Strive to getto
500 connections as quickly as you can. As you expand your network,
soon you will no longer have to proactively send invitationsto connect
because your inbox will be flooded with them.
The rule of reciprocity is a powerful tool for
building influence.
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Your LinkedIn network is a very important piece of your LinkedIn
strategy. Work every day to make new connections. Help and promote
your existing connections. When you do this, the members of your
network will be more receptive to what you share.
#3)Become an Influential LinkedIn Networker
To become an influential networker on LinkedIn, you must spend 10-
15 minutes a day on the network engaging in high impact
activities.
LinkedIn activity drives visibility, network growth, and
traffic to your website or blog.
If you’re not active on LinkedIn, you won’t get profile views. Studies show
that sharing 20 or more pieces of valuable content each month can
significantly increase your profile views. I’ve seen this work for me so I
know it can also work for you!
Increasing your LinkedIn profile views will lead to website or blog
traffic, business opportunities, introductions, and engagement with your
network.
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Jump-start your activity on LinkedIn.
To activate your LinkedIn presence, share a valuable and relevant piece
of content as a “status update” at least once a day.
Point your network to reputable sources of online information.
Include an image when possible with your updates. (updates with
images tend to get better visibility and engagement on LinkedIn).
Tip: Consider uploading an image and placing the link within the text-
this will make your image stand out more in the newsfeed.
Not Sure What to Share on LinkedIn?
Share interesting, helpful, and relevant content on LinkedIn that can help
your connections solve a problem, get smarter, or achieve more.
The more clearly you can understand and define what value means for
your target audience, the better you will become at knowing exactly
“what” to share.
Listen and observe your connections to determine what is
important to them.
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What are the members of your network sharing? What content are they
engaging with inside and outside of LinkedIn?
Positioning yourself as a reputable expert and go-to resource on
LinkedIn for your industry will create value for your connections and help
you build influence with them over time. They will begin to realize that
YOU are the person they need to be tuned into.
Avoid Pitching Paid Products and Services on LinkedIn.
The only exception regarding pitching any products or services on
LinkedIn is if you are offering something of value that is FREE, such as
an ebook or webinar.
The truth is, most people don’t buy products and services directly via
social networks. Instead, you should offer a complimentary piece of
content that your network members can take advantage of to “start” the
process of educating them further about your services.
Gather intelligence on your connections to determine
“what” to share with them.
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Remember, when you’re building influence, you don’t have to
sell.
If you cultivate the relationship with an interested prospect over time and
lead them through a process, eventually they will be ready to buy when you
do present your offer, whether it be a product or service.
Promote Your Own Content on LinkedIn (thoughtfully and
strategically)
People ask me all the time if promoting their own blog content on
LinkedIn is acceptable. The answer is yes, if you do so thoughtfully and
strategically with an influence-mindset!
Make sure the content of your own that you promote is informative,
relevant, educational and helpfulÉnot promotional. Also, ask for
feedback when you post a piece of content to encourage engagement from
your network.
The few LinkedIn members who do a great job with promoting their own
content succeed because that content helps the members of their network
solve a problem, get smarter, and achieve more!
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You might also consider publishing your content using LinkedIn’s
Publisher Platform which will eventually be made available to all
members. This is a great way to position yourself as an influencer and
add value to your network. Many times, I simply update and republish
some of my better performing posts from my blog on this platform. This
strategy has worked very well! Over time, your posts can continue to
get views and engagement.
Tip: Make sure you include a short bio and a call-to-action when you
publish posts directly to LinkedIn
Become a “Smarter Networker” on LinkedIn
If you truly want to build influence on LinkedIn, you will need to
become a smarter networker. How exactly can you do this?
Here are 7 quick tips to get you started:
1)Promote the content posted by your connections by sharing it with
your network
2)Introduce and connect others within your network when it makes
sense to do so
3)Leave comments on what your connections share
4)Thank someone for sharing your updates
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5)"Mention" LinkedIn members to praise, promote, acknowledge, or
congratulate them publicly
6)Start and participate in group discussions and comment threads
7)Send personalized LinkedIn invitations and thank-you’s to the
people you connect with
Comments trump “likes” and “shares” on LinkedIn because they start
conversations. Investing in dialogue is the most valuable form of social
networking. Conversations have the potential to get more people who
are inside AND outside of your network engaged with you.
With the LinkedIn “mentions” feature, you actually have the ability to “tag”
your 1st degree connections in your status updates. Make sure to use
mentions wisely, as they can be a great source for thanking,
congratulating, and promoting others.
The person you "mention" will also be notified via email. By
mentioning a connection on LinkedIn, you are helping them gain
exposure to your network. (Mentions also flow through to Twitter!)
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Promote your LinkedIn connections in status updates by “mentioning” them!
If you have the mentality that the majority of your time spent on
LinkedIn is to serve others and help them grow, you will become a
powerful influencer. Many people will want to connect and engage with
you, and you will drive more personal and professional
opportunities for yourself.
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If you focus on the 3 steps I’ve outlined in this guide for
building LinkedIn influence, the following will happen for
you:
You will show up in more LinkedIn search results
You will gain visibility in the networks of your connections
You will increase your number of connections
You will increase your inbound invitations to connect
You will increase your profile views
You will increase traffic to your website or blog
Get Started Now!
Building a powerful LinkedIn presence is an ongoing commitment to
positioning yourself as an influencer and growing your network. Simply
creating a profile is not enough. Focus on the steps in this guide
continuously if you want to get results from your efforts!
Are you willing to make the commitment to building influence first in order
to reap the business benefits later?
I hope the steps outlined in this report will help you build an effective
LinkedIn strategy.
More Resource: http://bit.ly/self-marketing-Guide
For Free Consultation, Contact James Lee at 1-917-930-3945
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To learn more about how to build influence on LinkedIn and generate leads
for your business, you can check out my interview with Mike Stelzner on
the Social Media Marketing Podcast.
You can also connect with me on the following social media
channels:
LinkedIn (view my posts on LinkedIn and follow me to be alerted
when new ones are published!)
Facebook (come and join my Facebook community!) Twitter
(follow me on Twitter to stay up-to-date on LinkedIn)
More Resource: http://bit.ly/self-marketing-Guide
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