
PS. Here is a link to my LinkedIn profile. Click to Connect!
– – – – – – – – – – – <Article Exceprt> – – – – – – – – – – – By Brian Carter @ SocialMedia Examiner Does your company sell to other businesses? Are you looking for leads? There’s likely more new business for you on LinkedIn than you’re currently tapping. LinkedIn now boasts 161 million members, including executives from each of the Fortune 500. No matter the job title of your best prospects, you can find them on LinkedIn. Here are seven ways to find new customers with LinkedIn.#1: Develop Connections and Meet Second-Degree Connections
The people you’ve connected to directly on LinkedIn are called first-degree connections. This is your immediate network. You can increase your network by clicking on “Add Connections” and giving LinkedIn temporary access to your email or by pasting your emails in.Automatically access your email contacts temporarily to invite them to connect with you on LinkedIn, or add emails manually.
Below is an example of how your LinkedIn network can help your business: Bill Waterhouse, a regional director for Technical Innovation, was the first person in the company to use LinkedIn. It paid off almost immediately. Shortly after using his email contact database to grow LinkedIn connections, he was messaged on LinkedIn by someone he’d tried—and failed—to prospect before. Bill Waterhouse of Technical Innovation caught a big fish with LinkedIn.
The person invited his response to a new RFP (request for proposal), which led to a $450,000 contract. Bill was only considered because he popped up on LinkedIn. One employee simply joining LinkedIn was a half-million-dollar payday for his company. The warmer your first-degree connections are, the more you can do with them. Here are some ways to progressively improve your LinkedIn connections:- Message them whenever you can (but don’t waste their time)
- Ask them an expertise-request question via InMail
- Create a LinkedIn Answers question and direct it to a number of the first-degree connections you want to develop relationships with
- Connect with them and interact with them on Twitter
- Meet up with them in person for lunch, coffee or drinks
- Get close enough to friend them on Facebook