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In the world that we live in today, networking holds the key to your professional/ business success. As Robert Kiyosaki says, “The richest people in the world look for and build networks, everyone else looks for work.” We have been provided with a perfect platform, LinkedIn to explore and grow our network. With over 690 million users today, it is the most sought-after platform for professionals and businesses for networking. But one needs to know how best to create your LinkedIn profile to your advantage. To do just that I had the opportunity to attend a webinar hosted by ONLY webinars, featuring Neeraj Shah with the focus on “How to win high-value business on LinkedIn.”

Neeraj Shah is a LinkedIn expert & a social selling strategist. With 16 years of experience in working with entrepreneurs to use and grow business networks to multiply their influence, income, and impact, he has helped over 10,000 entrepreneurs of BNI India generate US$ 450million in revenue. Founder of Titan Masterminds, an online entrepreneurship development company, he helps entrepreneurs get confidence, clarity and tools needed to win at business and be successful. A contributing author to the #1 Wall Street Journal Bestseller- Master of Success and a co-author of BNI Handy Guide, Neeraj has an abundance of experience and knowledge that he brought to the webinar with the focus on

Why LinkedIn?

When LinkedIn was launched in the year 2003, it was used as a platform to search for jobs and talent online. That is no longer the case. The platform has transitioned and become a powerful business network where you can get new leads, grow your brand, and thought leadership. If we were to look at some numbers, it has 690 million users, 4 out of 5 people on the platform are decision-makers and 41 per cent are millionaires. This clearly shows the quality of people present on the network. A hyper-targeted network, it can search for people very specific data like city, pin code apart from other parameters. A study conducted by HubSpot of 5000 companies showed that LinkedIn contributed 278 per cent for lead generation for B2B and B2C as compared to Facebook and Twitter. It clearly shows the potential that the platform holds for businesses.

What stops people from using LinkedIn?

1. People do not know how to be visible on LinkedIn.
2. They do not know how to approach other people.
3. They don’t know how to turn connections into clients.

To overcome all these obstacles, let us focus on each one of them separately

1. To be more visible on LinkedIn you need to have a Killer Profile– It is very essential to focus on your profile on LinkedIn as it is super optimized which means if anyone looks you up on Google, they will be directed to your profile. For conducting business, it is seen that 67 per cent of B2B buyers will check your profile before going further. This makes it essential to focus on

• Profile photo-It is the first thing that people see when they visit your profile.It should be professional, likeable and clicked with a neutral background
• Profile banner– It is the most underutilized aspect of a LinkedIn profile as it provides a great opportunity to brand yourself. It should never be left blank and should be updated regularly using key search terms to amplify your authority, credibility, and expertise.
• Profile headline– It is one of the most visible parts of the profile and a major factor in the LinkedIn search algorithm. It has a character count of 220 which should be used wisely to elevate your pitch with the use of key search terms. Care should be taken to not use your title, industry jargon, or any abbreviation that may be misunderstood.
• About section-Is what people look at when they are serious about working with you. It should be optimally used as a sales page explaining what you do, how you do it, who do you help, and the services you provide. Care should be taken to phrase the above in short paragraphs with bullet points, using keywords and there should always be a call to action. Remember that “About Section “should amplify your authority, credibility and expertise for your target audience.
• LinkedIn Recommendations– Use social proof to let others know that you are good. Ask credible people from the past and present clients to write a recommendation for you. Be specific about what you would want them to write.

2. They do not know how to approach other people. How should you find prospects and engage them?

• Search- Identify the target audience and use the search in the right manner to be able to find prospects.
• Visit their profile- Gather their intelligence to get to know them.
• Engage with the posts- This way you become visible to them. You can like/comment on their post and later connect with them.

It is very important to remember that engaging with your prospects through likes, comments, and profile visits are the first step before connecting with them. Try and read the articles written by them, leave meaningful comments, join the groups that they are a part of to get to know them better before sending out a personalized connection request. Do not make the mistake of trying to sell yourself as soon as you connect. The focus should be on building relationships where people know you, like you and trust you. Rather than taking a broad-brush approach and widening your network have a Return on Relationships (ROR) approach.

3. They do not know how to turn connections into clients – People do business with people that they know, like or trust. Start with becoming visible to your connections by posting content on LinkedIn regularly. Then show them you are someone who knows their problems and focuses on offering solutions to those problems and use results of previous engagements with other connections to demonstrate your credibility. The best approach is to follow the 6 steps – start with a meaningful conversation, share value, build trust, demonstrate expertise, develop relationships, and post results to generate new business. The key here is consistency.

With networking being the key today for professionals and business, LinkedIn should be used to its full potential to grow your network and your business. The highlights of the webinar can be viewed online.