You Can’t Afford to Let Your LinkedIn Profile Become Stale

It’s important to have an accurate, updated LinkedIn profile. Here’s why.

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Did you know that Forbes did a recent study that said 64% of social media traffic driven to websites is driven through LinkedIn? Did you also know that when people Google you, there’s a 70% chance that your LinkedIn profile shows up on the first page of results?

Ask yourself if your LinkedIn profile tells people who you are, what you do, and how to reach you. You should also have a third-party validation in the form of studies and testimonials.

LinkedIn is the social media site that professionals use when they want to learn about somebody. It’s a great opportunity for you to let people know the important things about you. It also gives you the opportunity to make sure you have your privacy settings set up in a way that prohibits you from sending people to your competition.

If you aren’t LinkedIn, you might be left out.

Most people put lots of time and effort into their websites. While that’s important for consistent branding, LinkedIn is certainly not something to be ignored. If you haven’t taken the time to give your profile a checkup, now is the time to do it. Make sure you’ve got a banner, professional headshot, succinct summary, and a full profile in general.

Don’t let the business slip away from you just because your impression on LinkedIn didn’t make the grade. If you aren’t LinkedIn, you might just be left out. If you have any questions in the meantime or would like me to take a look at your profile to let you know the updates you need to make, give me a call or send me an email. I'd be happy to help you.

Get More Appointments and Referrals From Your LinkedIn Profile

What can you do to get more referrals and appointments through LinkedIn? I have a few tips for you today.

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There are a few things you can do to get more appointments and referrals from LinkedIn. Did you know that one of the most valuable pieces of real estate on LinkedIn is your headline? Most people simply enter their job title: president, real estate broker, executive coach, etc. What you really want to put in your headline are the words that you want to be found for when someone does a search. For example, if geography is important to you and you want to work in Orange County, California, you’ll want to put that in your headline. You also want to let people know what problem you solve. Do you make people best-selling authors? Do you do leadership and executive coaching? Use symbols like the star, asterisk, or checkmark to make this stand out.

Add important keywords to your headline so you show up in the search results you want.

Another important section of your profile is the first three lines after your summary. After those first three lines, people will decide if they want to click to see more.

In those first three lines, address your audience. Tell them who you are speaking to, whether it’s a referral partner or a client. Let them know enough so that they want to keep reading.

Here are a few examples:

• Do you want to be a best-selling author and don’t know where to start?
• Is your LinkedIn profile not bringing clients to you?
• Have you just been promoted and have no idea how to do your job effectively? If so, keep reading.

Starting your summary this way will encourage more people to keep reading.

These are just a few things you can do to get more referrals and appointments from LinkedIn. If you are interested in a free 30-minute conversation about your LinkedIn profile with me, you can set an appointment here or send me an email.

As always, if you have any questions, just give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you!

Why You Should Always Be Making Connections

Making more connections on LinkedIn is easy. Here’s how you can use those connections to your advantage.

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How often do you receive connection requests on LinkedIn from people who do exactly what you do? You probably have a lot of questions about them. You might ignore most of them.

However, I want you to keep in mind that not everybody is the right fit for every client. I think it’s smart to connect with others who do what you do. Why not be in the position to give these people referrals? Maybe they will return the favor.

If you don’t want people seeing your connections, you can simply go into your privacy settings and change your connection settings to “only you.”

I think it’s smart to connect with these people.

In the end, it’s a personal choice. In my opinion, connecting with those in the same industry is always a good idea. You never know when you’ll meet someone who is a good fit for someone else, or vice versa.

If you’re really wanting to increase your number of connections, I recommend LinkedIn premium. I am a big proponent of using it because it gives you a ton of additional tools, including the ability to see all the people who view your profile even if they don’t send a connection request. You can then send a connection request back to them.

If we haven’t connected yet on LinkedIn, please don’t hesitate to send me a request. If you have any other questions for me, give me a call or send me an email. Make sure you are LinkedIn so you don’t get left out!

How to Connect With Someone Over the Phone on LinkedIn

If you want someone to return your calls and open up a dialogue with you, you have to come from a place of service.

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How many times have you come across a LinkedIn profile and wanted to pick up the phone and talk to that person but were afraid of making them think you were selling them something or finding out that their calls are screened?

Well, let me tell you a secret: I call people all the time on LinkedIn, and this is what I say:

“Hi (name), my name is Rhonda Sher. I found you on LinkedIn and I just sent you an invitation to connect. The reason I’m calling you is I’m not selling anything, but I looked at your profile and I think I know someone who would be a great resource for you and I wanted to learn a little more about your business to see if an introduction might be something that would be beneficial for both of you.”

It always starts with giving.

You would be amazed at how using those words ”I’m not selling anything” opens the door to getting people to return your calls and open up a dialogue with you. You have to come from a place of service—a place where you genuinely want to help somebody.

Oftentimes, you’ll see headings on people’s profiles telling you that they’re hiring or they have a specific need. If you know somebody who would be a good referral for them or a resource that could benefit them, pick up the phone. Sure, you could send a message, but those can get lost in a sea of other messages. You don’t know if that person is a part of the 40% of people who are active on LinkedIn or the 60% who are, as I like to say, in “long-term parking.”

My challenge to you is to find one person every single day you can call who either is a connection or will be one and think of how you can be of service to them. Open up the dialogue and see where it goes. Remember, it always starts with giving!

If you have any questions opening up a dialogue with someone on LinkedIn, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I’d love to help you.

How to Turn Daily Events Into Networking Opportunities

Networking doesn’t have to be done at an event. Face-to-face interactions you have every day can be turned into networking opportunities.

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Since the introduction of LinkedIn, Facebook, and other social media sites, face-to-face networking has become less popular over time. However, it is still important and very powerful.

Making a positive first impression in-person doesn’t have to happen at an event or networking conference.  Networking can happen absolutely anywhere.

If you go the same place every day for lunch, go to your children’s ball games, or have any other places you frequent, you can turn these routines into networking opportunities.

I read somewhere recently that it is much more important to be interested in other people than it is to be interesting. Whether it is at the gym, on the golf course, or at your child’s school, it is never a bad time to show genuine interest in the people that you meet on a daily basis.

Meeting new people and asking them simple questions is a powerful networking tool. Perhaps they’re wearing a shirt with a logo or have something interesting on. Whatever the case, start a conversation.

If it is appropriate, you can then ask them what they do for business. At that point you can send them a LinkedIn request and become a resource to each other.

Networking is not about selling, it’s about serving.

How big would your pipeline be if you set a goal of meeting three new people each day? Putting these new people into your network could be incredibly powerful. Networking is not about selling, it’s about serving.

A good rule of thumb in life is to treat celebrities like regular people and treat regular people like celebrities. This will always get you far. People may not always remember what you say or do, but they remember how you make them feel.

Think about all the people you see in a day who you could impact by simply giving them a compliment. Even a smile or a conversation can go a long way. You don’t need to have your business card, you just need to get their information. After you do, follow up with them.

If you remain constantly interested in other people, you will always only be two minutes and two people away from your next referral.

If you would like a complimentary copy of my book “52 Ways to Boost Business with Your Business Card,” send me an email at LinkedInDiva@gmail.com and put “FreeBook” in your message.

If you have any other questions or would like more information, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

How to Turn Your LinkedIn Relationships Into Revenue

So what’s the best way to build your network on LinkedIn? I’ve laid it all out for you today.

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Did you know that only 40% of the people on LinkedIn actually use the site? It’s true. So what happens when you send out invitations and they’re never accepted? Do you keep sending out invitations or even take that lost invitation personally?

Here’s a way to find out if the people you want to connect with are part of the 40% that are actually active on LinkedIn: Upgrade to the Premium Business Solution or Sales Navigator. I’m a fan of both. Go out and look at the profiles of the people that you want to connect with.

These may be potentially great referral partners or clients that you want to work with, or might even be first-level connections that you haven’t spoken with in awhile. Chances are, if they also have a paid subscription to LinkedIn, they’re gonna look back at you.

What does that mean? It gives you an opportunity to note who’s looking at your profile and send them a message. There is a very cool Chrome extension called “Auto-text expander” that allows you to send a message to multiple people without having to retype it each time.

LinkedIn is one of the best tools out there.

Send each person a message that says something along the lines of, “Hi, I noticed that you looked at my profile and we share a lot in common. I would love to know more about your business and how we might network for our mutual benefit.” Personalize that message to that person and send it off. You can do this from your phone, and not just your computer.

They’ll take notice as you start congratulating your connections on work anniversaries, promotions, and birthdays. Don’t be afraid to start endorsing people for the skills that they have. An important thing to note is that the more people endorse you for your skills, the higher you get in the search engines.

Another tip is to go out and look at profiles, but don’t send an invitation right away. Send only to those who look back at your profile. You are only given 3,000 invitations that you can send, and if you send all 3,000 and only 300 are accepted, then you may be flagged for spamming. So why not wait and see if someone extends that invitation to you?

Remember, LinkedIn is one of the best tools out there, but only if you use it properly. If we’re connected on LinkedIn and we haven’t spoken in awhile, send me a message and let me know what I can do to help you. I look forward to speaking with you in the future.