Leveraging LinkedIn to grow your business

Fiona Caldecott, of 3Degrees Social, gave a presentation on how to create a powerful LinkedIn profile to members of the Midlands branch at the Great Barr Hotel near West Bromwich on 25 June 2019.

Fiona asked the group which of them have a LinkedIn profile – and how many of those considered themselves active or passive? Fiona suggested that a powerful LinkedIn profile will help you reach the right contacts (especially if you dread networking!) and, more importantly, help them reach you.

Start by using this 3-point strategy:

• Find (get found)
• Connect (and give value)
• Engage (with credibility)

As an indicator of how strong your profile is, try ‘Googling’ your name - is your LinkedIn profile at the top of the search results?

To improve your profile, make sure you include a good Photo, such as a professionally shot portrait, and don’t forget to add a banner – the photo at the top of your profile, with something you’ve worked on or are interested in, rather than leaving it as the default blue background.

Attendee Ram Singh, pictured with Fiona, said “I learnt to have a profile that tells people what you can do for them. Instead of just thinking it's an online CV.”

Tell people what you can do for them (not simply ‘Managing director’ etc), use the ‘About’ section (1,200 characters) to sell your service, using bullet points to make it easier to read quickly. To make your profile richer, try adding media such as videos and photos to the ‘About’ and ‘Experience’ sections.

Fiona outlined why ‘Recommendations’ are so powerful (tip - ask someone for just 1 thing you did well). Engaging with your contacts (offering free advice, for example) makes it personal. Make sure you respond to messages – this also creates trust.

Finally, when searching for contacts, be proactive (ACT – Actions Change Things) - use the very powerful search function (tip – save a search so that you don’t hit the connection limit all in one day!) to find connections.

Fiona answered many questions during the discussion and the event closed with members staying for food and networking.

This presentation can also be viewed on the APM Slideshare page.

Adrian Turner, APM Midlands branch volunteer