Selling on LinkedIn

by Kathy Bernard

Are you maximizing LinkedIn to build your business? You are if you’re using it to generate leads for your products and services. Here are five ways to attract prospects:

1) Pack your 120-character profile headline with what you sell and why they should contact you. Example for a soundproofing company: “Sound Control Solutions-Interior Room Acoustics/Architectural Noise Separation/Industrial Noise Control/Vibration WBE.”

2) Pump up your summary’s 2,000 characters with compelling details about your products or services. Include your most important details, as well as your web address and contact information, in the first 300 characters so that they show above the “See more” link.

3) Change your 100-character job title in your experience entry from something vague, like “Owner,” to a title that tells people why they should contact you. Example: “Vice President-Sales/Marketing/Operations-Process Heat & Control Sales/Service/Support/Loaners MBE.”

4) Use the job description’s 2,000-character detail box to explain your company’s unique selling points and how prospects can benefit from doing business with you.

5) Add a free company page by clicking the Work icon and then “Create a company page.” Add detailed information about your business, an image banner and your company logo. Once you hit save, return to your profile, retype your company name into the Company name box and select your logo/company name from the list. Now your logo will show up next to your work entry and make your business look more impressive.

Pump your LinkedIn profile and start attracting prospects to your company!

Kathy Bernard (kathy@wiseru.com), CEO of WiserU.com, is a St. Louis-based LinkedIn expert/trainer who equips businesses to maximize LinkedIn for sales, marketing or fundraising.