LinkedIn and networking: the marketing 1-2 punch. The ONLE Networking Show ep28.

In this month’s ONLE Show, Kelly and James talk about networking and LinkedIn and why the combination is such an effective marketing 1-2 combo.

Plus we hear our members' take on their approach to business planning for 2024 business based on Denyse Whillier’s ONLE Talks topic. Tune in to hear why Alice in Wonderland's perspective on direction might help you manage your business priorities in 2024...

Listen/subscribe on Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/linkedin-and-networking-the-marketing-1-2-punch/id1500905335?i=1000642625804

Listen/subscribe on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/2GhSENXnNAmh9k73mO2vKS?si=967fedb1d58e4ee7

Show notes
LinkedIn and networking: the marketing 1-2 punch

In this episode Kelly and James discuss how they use LinkedIn to drive conversation and ultimately sales. Surprisingly the majority of these conversions come from inbound connection requests. It i important to respond to connection requests in order to understand whether a new connection is going to be supportive of you and your business rather than expanding your network with numbers over relationships. Neglecting this becomes apparent when you then go to make a post on LinkedIn and get little to no engagement as you have simply padded your network with people who don’t care about who you are and what you do.

Similarly, Kelly raises the point that referrals done on LinkedIn are a great time-saving exercise in comparison to via email. This is because the introductory message doesn’t require so much detail since a LinkedIn profile almost acts as a ‘personal website’. The caveat to this however, is that your profile must therefore be kept up to date in order for new connections to learn enough information about you to generate interest.

With regards to your networking workflow, LinkedIn should make up a significant part of your post-meeting and even pre-meeting routine. In order to be in the top 10% of networking performers who see consistent results from their networking activities, you must be connecting with those on the meeting attendance sheet with a friendly introduction message. Plus, if you really want to stand out from the crowd you can do this even before the meeting to introduce yourself ahead of time. Finally, if there is a valid reason for you to connect with them, have you ever considered messaging those who were absent?

But without the context of networking, making connections on LinkedIn in this way is effectively cold-calling and is often met with rejection and suspicion. During a networking meeting, you have already had an icebreaker with that individual where they seen you and learnt a little about what you do. This is a crucial step in order to speed up the process and dispel any sour first impressions common with cold-calling, thereby pushing past the point of suspicion.

Brian Hilliard’s says that our default position when meeting people is we take them at face value. LinkedIn and networking are best friends. Events give you the ice-breaker connections, and LinkedIn lets you continue developing the relationship. Don’t ruin it by going straight into the sale.

Though the focus on your online content is now always centred around engagement, do no underestimate the power of the lurker - those who don’t comment or like, but see your posts and will think of you when someone needs your services. However, are you making your posts easy for others to engage with? James recently conducted a study, the results of which you can access by clicking here, which revealed the key elements needed for a post to receive the result you are looking for. This important because engagement on a post means nothing if it doesn’t derive a result.

Plus, following on from Denyse Whillier’s ONLE Talks topic of business planning for 2024, it has never been more important to narrow your focus when it comes to planning ahead in your business? Everywhere you look there is a new and exciting course, technology or platform which promises to help you achieve the growth you may seek in your business. But are you getting distracting by these new ‘shinny’ things and falling down an online rabbit hole in place of making actionable, long-term goals which are going to set you on track for success?

Our members thoughts on this topic:
Jeremy Jacobs: “Don’t want a lifestyle business, I want a team”

Sam Sharma: “Don’t make decisions based on emotions, base them on data.”

Tom Perkins quoting the Cheshire Cat, Alice in Wonderland: “If you don’t know where you’re trying to get to, why are you worried about which door to walk through?”

Brian Hilliard: Trust the numbers. If you know you convert X number of sales calls, when you have a losing streak, trust that the wins will also bunch together.

Conclusion: Engagement on LinkedIn means nothing if it doesn’t derive a result.