Leveraging Your LinkedIn Brand

Presented by Parker Lees

It is the digital age.

You need to have a strong digital identify.

LinkedIn is a social networking platform.

Leverage LinkedIn to better network and reach your professional goals

How do you stand out from the crowd?

LinkedIn is more than just a digital

resume

It is your professional

brand

Social networking requires you

promote and sell yourself

Who are you?What value do you

offer?

Everything is for sale

Who is your target buyer? How do you sell to them?

Four Pillars of Social Networking

Create a professional brand Focus on the right prospects

Engage with insights Build trusted relationships

Find your voice and establish who you are

Build a voice that shows the value you offer

Become a trusted resource for future prospects

Differentiate your value proposition from others

• What am I passionate about?• What do I value?• What skills am I most proud of?• What do I have to offer that no one else does?

Create a Professional Brand1

LinkedIn is not your resume; it’s your online reputation. If your profile is lacking, it will drive your prospects away and into the pipeline of your competitors.

Your online professional brand is the foundation you need to prospect more effectively, build better relationships and ultimately close more deals.

Why a Professional Brand Matters1

Headline• Writing a compelling headline: Either add your current position

and current organization. Or create a tagline about how you help others. (e.g. “helping sales teams grow their business through social selling”)

Summary• Add a summary to tell your story. Share your vision as an

aspiring business leader. Not necessarily what you HAVE done, but what you WILL do.

Think about it from the perspective of someone trying to determine whether or not they want to do business with you. How can you add value? What unique insights can you bring to their business? What value have you brought to organizations that have already done business with you?

TIP 1: Catchy Headline & Summary1

TIP 2: Make Your Brand Searchable1

Show work samples. (variety of media such as videos, images, documents, links, and presentations). You’ll maximize your exposure on LinkedIn and better showcase your story.

TIP 3: Adding Media1

Get endorsed for your skills. Think quality, not quantity - and be authentic.

TIP 4: Getting Endorsed for Skills1

Make sure your recommendations enhance your virtual resume. The person writing your recommendation should actually speak to your skills, work ethic or experience.

• Keep it professional• Request specific details• Ask a teammate• Collect a variety of

recommendations• Look outside the workplace

TIP 5: Recommendations1

LinkedIn isn’t intended to replace face-to-face interactions, instead, it optimizes your ability to know more about people you’ve met or about to meet.

People are 5x more likely to engage with you if the outreach is through a mutual connection. See who within your network is connected to your 2nd or 3rd degree connections and request an introduction.

Focus on the Right Prospects2

TIP 1: Refining Your Search2

Engage With Insights

Discover and share valuable information to initiate or maintain a relationship

3

Share Helpful Resources• Helping your clients improves your reputation as a problem solver,

but it also helps to strengthen that personal connection.

Engage in Discussion Where Your Connections Are• Instead of insisting on a conversation on your terms, meet them on

theirs. Leave thoughtful, constructive comments on content they share.

Position Yourself as a Knowledgeable Resource• Not every potential prospect is ready to engage. By sharing relevant

content, you can position yourself as a valuable resource and stay top-of-mind.

Helpful Not

Pushy

Engaging With Insightful Content3

Beside your photo on the top left hand corner of your LinkedIn Home Page is aShare an update box that allows you to share articles and blog entries. Inaddition to providing links to the articles, you can comment on what you share.Avoid being too self-promotional and offer updates that prospects orcustomers will find insightful, useful, or provocative.

Share Updates3

Building Trusted Relationships

Build trust with prospects by sharing your perspectives and helping provide relevant information to common points. Have genuine conversations and focus on the needs of the prospect first, selling second.

4

Build a Solid Foundation• Always customize the request using

relevant information you have learned about the person.

Keep on Building• Once connected, stay up-to-date on your

prospect or client by following what they post, like and share. Then, use those insights during your next communication with the person.

Cultivate Multiple Relationships• In today’s sales landscape, there’s an

average of 5.4 decision makers per company. Which means that in order to land a deal, you need to reach more people.

Building Trusted Relationships4

“Going in cold is no longer a viable solution for professionals. Leveraging connections and existing relationships to get introduced to decision makers has proven to have a much higher success rate.”

- Koka Sexton, Senior Social Marketing Manager, LinkedIn

Being Prepared To Network4

Four Pillars of Social Networking

Create a professional brand

Focus on the right prospects

Engage with insights

Build Trusted Relationships

This may be the end…But you are just getting started!