LinkedIn expert, Wayne Breitbarth, is back with more excellent insight into LinkedIn strategies to promote and grow your manufacturing business! Jim and Jason ask the hard questions about the worth of a premium account, when and how to say no to offending taggers and salesmen, and when, where, and how to post the good stuff. Be sure to listen the whole way through for all the tips and tricks to boost your business and put you on the leading edge of the manufacturing industry!
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Is a premium account worth the cash? Wayne shares a helpful gauge to determine if it’s time for you or your business to bite the bullet for premium benefits. If you are running into what Wayne calls the “free wall,” then it’s time to pay. If trying to keep up with who has been viewing your profile is taking up all your spare time, then you may want to consider going premium. With the upgraded account, you can see the past 90 days of profile “stalkers.” Being able to go back and see who has been visiting your profile will help you determine who to reach out to and build relationship with.
Another way to tell if it’s time for that premium account is if you are maxing out your search allowance for the month. A premium account will give you a wider berth for searching out the perfect people to build your business and professional alliances. Wayne suggests the “Sales Navigator/Professional” premium setting as the perfect “rocket-ship” to carry your profile to the next level.
Jim and Wayne both get frustrated and feel offended when someone tags them in posts that have nothing to do with them. Some people use tagging as a sales tactic to take advantage of others’ many followers. Wayne suggests that if this happens to you, untag yourself from the post. If it happens again with the same instigator, direct message that person, and politely - but firmly - ask them to stop. If it still continues, disconnect with that person.
How do you respond when someone sends a connection request and within minutes of you accepting, direct messages you trying to sell you something? If there isn’t any effort being made to build relationship with you first, Wayne suggests disconnecting with that person. Learn why building relationship is important in establishing credibility before a sale and why pre-canned, automated systems aren’t the best tactic by listening to the whole episode!
Earlier in LinkedIn’s history, one could post an article, and all of that person’s connections would be notified that an article had been posted. Articles, however, aren’t as profound as they used to be. Wayne explains that the tactic originally worked because LinkedIn was trying to garner quality material within its platform. Over time, however, people began cutting corners on the quality of their articles and began only posting a sentence from a blog post or a small paragraph. LinkedIn pulled back from the promotion of articles as the material deteriorated in quality.
While it is important to include your latest blog posts and articles on your profile, make sure that your writing is of high quality. People viewing your profile will want to see professionalism throughout your material - including your writing. Excellent writing builds credibility. Wayne encourages the strategy of re-sharing articles that may be a month old and didn’t receive the attention it deserved.
What does a view or impression mean? Unfortunately, they aren’t as big of a deal as some might wish. Wayne explains that an impression or view is essentially someone sweeping by your post but not actually looking at it. The activity to get excited about is comments. Making sure you are active on your posts and promoting conversation is also helpful. A response to others on your own post still counts as activity that will help broadcast your post to even more connections.
Personal pages are often more powerful than company pages because of the greater number of connections often found on personal pages. While posting on both will help generate greater activity, Wayne encourages users to focus their energy on their personal page. For more insight and tips on how to create the best content and broadcast it to the greatest number of connections, listen to the whole episode! Growing your business through LinkedIn isn’t as hard as you think.
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Gaining LinkedIn success is not as difficult as some may think. Utilizing the world’s largest database of professionals is key to marketing your manufacturing business and rising as a leader in the industry. Guest speaker, Wayne Breitbarth, is a LinkedIn trainer and shares his strategies and insights into the powerhouse of LinkedIn and how manufacturing leaders can effectively connect with other leaders, share their businesses, and expand their reach.
Connect with us:www.MakingChips.com/contact
LinkedIn is the largest database of professionals and business leaders that is available. As business leaders, LinkedIn is a powerful tool that can be used to market businesses, find competent employees, and connect with other influential industry leaders. An exuberant amount of time isn’t needed to establish yourself and your business on LinkedIn. Wayne explains that it is all about strategizing the processes and systems available on the platform and focusing on what matters to you and your company.
The essence of LinkedIn is not only found in the opportunities of such a large database but in the opportunity to form relationships. Relationships are the foundation of any successful business venture. Wayne describes what your relationship status may look like on LinkedIn depending on the size and purpose of your company. Sometimes more is truly more, and sometimes it’s not. If you are selling a book or trying to reach a wide audience with a new podcast release, then you may want to accept all those connections with people you may not know. If your business belongs in a more niche atmosphere, then your number of connections may be smaller - and that’s okay. It is important to understand, however, that the search engine algorithms that rule LinkedIn like to see a large connection base. Wayne suggests creating a social media atmosphere on LinkedIn that is saturated with the people of your industry, whether that be followers, customers, or other leading manufacturers. To learn more about how to create and maintain effective relationships, listen to the whole episode!
Succeeding with your LinkedIn profile can be achieved through strategizing the tools that LinkedIn offers. Keyword optimization is a large part of making yourself known and finding the people you need to help grow your business. Include specific terminology in your headline, stories, and description. Stay away from broad terms such as “strategy” in your skill-set and include specified terms such as “Podcast Host.” Show off your unique professionalism and offerings.
Your skill-set can be utilized through endorsements and recommendations. Search engines love using your list of skills as keywords. Make sure they reflect what you want to be known for. Wayne explains that recommendations and endorsements are gifts to you. Use them in business proposals and when sharing your business with others.
Posting can be a confusing tool, but Wayne explains that success in posting is all about velocity. Tagging relevant people in your post will expand its reach. Be careful to not “spam” others with overabundant tagging, but instead talk with the people you plan to tag and explain that it is a strategy to help promote and grow the business. Velocity is gained through initializing and promoting activity on your posts. Use hashtags and comment on a post that someone else tags you in to begin a conversation. LinkedIn algorithms look for how fast your post is being responded to and how much activity is being generated by your post. The more activity the better.
Beginning a profile or revamping a stagnant one isn’t hard! Begin by understanding your audience. Who are you writing and creating your profile for? Headlines should be short but descriptive. If you have five jobs, then list all of them in your headline and title. Create stories that are relevant and captivating when describing your job positions. Ask yourself, “How can my job experiences benefit others?” Promote your strengths and don’t be shy about creating an eye-catching profile. For more insight into what makes a great LinkedIn profile, listen to the entire episode!
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