On today’s episode of The Sales Evangelist, Rebecca Brizi, strategic consultant to small businesses and solopreneurs, talks about using social media to grow your business and how to use LinkedIn for inbound and developing process.
A place for business
When you enter LinkedIn, everyone knows why you’re there. There’s no ambiguity; it’s very specific.
People join LinkedIn because they want to connect with and network with people who are relevant to their businesses.
Rebecca’s husband is a great example of how LinkedIn can supplement your marketing efforts, especially for small businesses that don’t have a huge team of people.
Her husband doesn’t want to have to set up and run and manage a website, so he uses LinkedIn the way most people would use their business site. In fact, she said, he’s not asking people to visit an external site; he’s inviting them to find out about him in a place they’re already visiting.
LinkedIn can do everything for your business that websites can do. It can serve as an online brochure, an online messaging platform, and an online content platform.
Network with people
The best way to network with people is to help them know, like, and trust you. Once you’ve done that, you’re on your way to a solid relationship that can create great opportunities.
Treat LinkedIn the same way treat your face-to-face marketing. Start with a focus on what you can do for other people. Begin by discovering what you can do to help people.
- Who do they want to meet?
- What do they want to learn?
- What sort of information could be of interest to them?
Work to connect with people and stay transparent about who you are and why you want to connect with people.
You’ll be effective as long as you’re working to make your interactions positive for other people.
Great prospects
Once you’ve identified someone as a great prospect, consider trying to learn from him first. Determine whether you can make introductions that could be useful to him.
You have to know what your prospect wants in order to sell to him something. You have to understand what the prospect wants from life and how your product or service fits into that.
Effective sales is always about the buyer rather than the seller.
The Chet Holmes Buyer Pyramid says that at any given moment, only about three percent of your audience is actively looking to buy what you’re selling. Seven percent are open to whatever it is you’re selling.
The other 90 percent are split into thirds:
- 30 percent haven’t even thought about it
- 30 percent have thought about it but don’t think they need it
- 30 percent are never going to buy from you.
You begin with 70 percent maximum reach every time. So do you want to capture the 3 percent or the 70 percent?
Well-crafted pitch
There’s a certain amount of subjectivity in each relationship that helps you determine the right moment to make your pitch.
A well-crafted pitch is a little like a marriage proposal. You’ve built up to that point and you expect the answer to be yes.
Success is much more about the buildup than about the final pitch. Once you’re facing that moment, you know when the time is right. You have the right solution at a fair price, so the moment develops clearly.
Using LinkedIn
LinkedIn is somewhat self-promotional, and businesses should use it to publish articles, post PDFs, list services, and share recommendations. Additionally, you’ll interact with other people and their articles, you’ll comment, and you’ll ask questions.
Rebecca’s husband focused less on selling and focused more on helping his prospects buy. He crafted his website so that people could see themselves in the content on his profile.
Remember that people who are on LinkedIn are there because they want to network. They want to grow their businesses and learn for their businesses.
Start by getting on LinkedIn and emulate what you see other people doing.
Make sure your profile looks good and start small.
Determine which interactions give you the most value and replicate those tasks. Work LinkedIn into your natural flow and don’t let it interfere with other things you need to do for your work.
“Use LinkedIn for Inbound” episode resources
Connect with Rebecca on LinkedIn or at her website rgbrizi.com. All her contact information is there, so you can message her, email her, and ask questions or share experiences.
This episode is also brought to you in part by prospect.io, a powerful sales automation platform that allows you to build highly personalized, cold email campaigns. To learn more, go to prospect.io/tse. It will help you with your outbound to expand your outreach. Your prospecting will never ever be the same.
This episode is also brought to you byMaximizer CRM. If you aren’t sure you have the right CRM, Maximizer CRM is a personalized CRM that gives you the confidence to improve your business and increase profits. Get rid of the boring CRMs and customize to your team’s selling abilities.
Click on the link to get a free demo of what Maximizer CRM can do for you. It integrates your marketing campaign as well as your CRM.
Leave us a review on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or wherever you consume this content, and share it with someone else who might benefit from our message. It helps others find our message and improves our visibility.
If you haven’t already done so, subscribe to the podcast so you won’t miss a single episode.
Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS