The company you keep... Connections on LinkedIn - Pt 4

Seven ways to connect

Once you’re happy to have people in your precious network you have 7 ways to connect

People you know

1. Use the green ‘connect’ button at the foot of the left-hand vertical button

When your LinkedIn program is linked to Outlook you can click on the LinkedIn button on Outlook

People you would like to know

2. If you are a 2nd degree connection you can send a message reminding them how you have been previously connected
3. If you share a group, you can send a direct message requesting to connect.
4. If you share a connection, you can request an introduction
5. If someone responds to your questions, answers, discussion posts, you can send them a message
6. If you pay for an account, you can send them a direct "Inmail" requesting to connect.

The company you keep... Connections on LinkedIn - Pt 3

There are people out there who appear to be going for the world record of how many people they can link in with. They are called LIONS- LinkedIn Open Networkers. Search me why they do it!

When people request to link in with me and I know for certain we have never met I always click either 4 or 5. I am reliably informed this information goes back to LinkedIn headquarters who decide to cancel these spammer’s (oops sorry people’s) profile on LinkedIn. I believe this does not happen where people announce to the world they are a LION in their profile.

The company you keep... Connections on LinkedIn - Pt 2

Take care who you link in with

You have 5 choices to make when someone invites you to join their network

1. Accept but always send a personal message immediately thanking them for inviting you to join their network
2. If you’re not sure about this person click the ‘reply’ button and send them a message asking them to remind you where you met or why they want to link in with you
3. Archive the request …and hope they forget and won’t ask you again!
4. Click the button ‘I don’t know this person’
5. Click the button ‘flag as spam’

The company you keep... Connections on LinkedIn - Pt 1

You’re judged by the company you keep

When my teenage kids went out with friends, within reason, I wasn’t too worried where they went, or at what time they got home. As parents, we were more concerned about the people with whom our children were spending their time. As long as we were satisfied their friends were from ‘good stock’, well behaved and trustworthy, we felt comfortable with the situation

Birds of a Feather

‘Birds of a feather flock together’ emphasises the point I wish to make. People join clubs where they feel relaxed with others and we all have friends we feel at ease with.

This is the same with the professional connections we make on LinkedIn. When I see people I know who are linked in with people I don’t like I hesitate for a moment and question my contacts judgment. Maybe it’s just me but when I see people I have little time for I always find something to say or think negative about them. I won’t like what they say, how they look, if I see something they write I will find fault in their words. I do everything I can to avoid these people

I’m pleased to say there are a tiny percentage of people I don’t like!

Using LinkedIn to double your business through cross-selling! pt2

Proposal for integrated marketing (i.e. cross- selling) using LinkedIn

If you’re on LinkedIn, start to link in with others within your company; this should start with people in your department then moving to others in other disciplines. I generally discourage linking in with people you don’t know but on this occasion I think it is acceptable. After all, you all work under one banner, they may be a stranger to you but at some stage someone has employed them or made them your fellow partner or director!

Action

So what next? You notice Sam works in your company in a different department; you invite him into your network then start checking his contacts. “Within his contacts there’s the CEO of a company you’d like to meet.”

Then I want you to do something quaint and old-fashioned- pick up the phone and start talking (yes I know it’s going out of fashion but worth a try) and get to know Sam. Meet for a beer or a glass of wine and at the same time ask him to check your contacts to see if there’s anyone he’d like you to introduce him to. This is called networking offline and is what we used to do and in fact still do to get more business by being proactive. Networking i.e. building relationships has a first principle – give first, be generous. ‘What can I do for you?’; ‘Who would you like me to introduce you to?’ is the key to long term solid relationships When you start to build your relationship with Sam and you get to know and like each other it’s a sure-fire way you’re going to want to help each other grow your respective client bases all for the common good of your business.

Using LinkedIn to double your business through cross-selling! pt1

Cross-selling – the problem

Multidisciplinary firms and companies, generally the larger ones, tend to work in deep, dark silos with little or no contact between them. In accountancy companies, law firms, property consultancies and major financial institutions there are many service lines departments and experts. When people don’t communicate, the wasted knowledge and the lost opportunities slows down the growth of business dramatically. Even when management encourage and use resources educating everybody about what services are provided, there is often a reluctance to recommend other departments. The interdepartmental culture, generally, is zero and the reason for this is simple;  it’s to do with relationships. When we build relationships we need to go through 3 key steps - knowing, liking, and trusting.

Where people are physically apart, whether it’s in the same building or a different town, colleagues often don’t know each other.

Let’s look at an example.  Suppose you’re a lawyer in the corporate finance department and your friend Janice has an employment law issue. Your firm has a department handling these issues but you’ve never actually met anybody from that section.

.... Next week - the proposed solution using LinkedIn!

Where can you use testimonials & recommendations?

So you've got your glowing testimonial or recommendation - so what next?  Don't just leave them on your LinkedIn profile - broadcast it!

1.    Frame them for reception and office
2.    Use on packaging
3.    Direct mail campaigns
4.    In your welcome pack
5.    Photocopy on to coloured paper and send to your support network
6.    Extract bits for sales letters
7.    Use on your web site
8.    Place in a folder to show potential clients
9.    Add photos to testimonial
10.    Use for audio and video to place on audio and website
11.    Read them when you are feeling down