Entrepreneurialism is much more than running with an idea and creating a business; it’s about building a personal brand and leading and inspiring others in and around your industry. But how can you heighten your presence, elevate your brand, and begin to influence those around you?
Marketing is a great place to start. You do it for your businesses, so why not do it for yourself? LinkedIn is a great place to start, and here’s how it’s done by CEO of Fantastic Services - Rune Sovndahl.
Lure new talent
When running a business, gaining new and good talent is paramount to its success. Of course, LinkedIn is a great place to promote your business, but it can also give people an insight into what it would be like to work with you too. Ambitious people aren’t only attracted to jobs and great business ideas, they look into the business owners and key figures within the establishment. Having a voice on LinkedIn, where you promote your business and your personality, will help build a following. Not only that, it’ll give you the opportunity to see what talent is out there.
Expand your network
To use LinkedIn in its simplest form is relatively straightforward. You can post articles and like, comment and interact with others to raise your profile and seek out new talent. But there’s much more that can be done.
It’s an easy one to establish, but make sure that your LinkedIn profile is set to be visible to everyone. That way you’ll get the most exposure. Make valuable connections by connecting with people within your industry and those that will genuinely inspire you in your entrepreneurial journey. To give you a kick-start, you can import your address book to find out which of your contacts are already on LinkedIn. You can also create a LinkedIn Company Page so clients can ‘follow’ your company. Be sure to follow them back to show support for their business. Remember, like all social media, LinkedIn will only work for you if you work it.
Post valuable content
Valuable content is paramount to building your business, gaining genuine interest and seeking special talent. But that content doesn’t have to be exhaustive; your content can be hints, tips and updates, as well as long articles. Remember to follow the 80/20 rule with your updates – the 20% should be focused on your own business promotions. Too much focus on business updates can appear too salesy and will eventually turn people off.
LinkedIn has its dedicated publishing platform – Pulse. When you write an article on Pulse, everyone you're connected to will be notified of the new content. Make sure you keep the content original and give it some keywords for SEO juice.
Listen to your audience
It’s important that you interact with your audience. When they comment on your posts, make sure you reply to their comments. Ask them questions and spark discussions. It’ll show that you have a genuine interest in building a profile on LinkedIn.
Don’t forget, there are 61 million LinkedIn users who are considered senior-level influencers, and within those millions, there are decision-makers who have the authority not only to seek genuine interest in your business but literally buy into it.
Get leads and track conversion
As an entrepreneur, you’ll know the importance of lead generation. LinkedIn is perfect for B2B lead generation. To make sure you generate leads, you have to create content that people want to see. And in order to make sure you’re doing that, you can follow your LinkedIn page analytics to figure out what resonates with them the most and plan your content accordingly.
Join LinkedIn groups that your clients and customers are in. Learn from what they post and discover the common industry and general entrepreneur pain points. You can also use paid products to ensure your content reaches your intended audience.
When you attract new customers on LinkedIn, and they’re interested in your business, it’s likely they’ll research your company. If your marketing strategy isn’t up to scratch, you’ll risk losing the lead.
When it’s time to convert those leads, you need to make sure that your company sales strategy is aligned. Make a list of the senior-level figures you’ve connected with and the companies they’re associated with. Pass on the list to your company’s sales team and keep track of the success. After all, it’s reported that of all B2B leads coming from social media, LinkedIn is responsible for a huge 80%.
