FLO Fridays: A Practical Process to Use LinkedIn to Grow

By: Betsy Buckley

Posted on 11/01/2010 - 9:46am | From the Growth Strategy Blog

Every Friday afternoon at What Matters, we “do” social media. Think of my level of expertise as that of a second year piano student. I know most of the key’s names, I can play scales (even with both hands) and my repertoire has now probably reached the level of “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.”

That said, there’s no better way (at least for me) to learn than to do. And, doing it on Friday afternoons feels like the perfect time to open new possibilities. (Sometimes, there’s even a glass of wine to provide some additional motivation).

So this week, when we got a prospect from something I tweeted three days earlier, I thought--- inquiring minds, especially those who might have been treading lightly into this new frontier, might benefit from this beginner’s mind.

Hence, this post. FLO. Each social media Friday we try to:

• Find them (potential prospects)
• Learn about them (understand more about who they are, what they’re interested in)
• Offer opportunities (to share value and explore needs)

Practical tips about how you might apply this system using what I consider to be the business person’s most typical social media starting place: LinkedIn. (Note: If you’re a social media pro, this blog is probably not for you, unless you’re such a pro you can’t get colleagues on the bandwagon. Give this to them. They’ll get it.)

1. Find them. Go to people, click on advanced.

Here’s an example from my business. A segment of our ideal clients are Twin Cities regional public accountants. How’d I find prospects, easily? Clicked on people, advanced; input CPA; filled in location (used 10 mile radius of our office) and 2 degrees, as a way of seeing who might connect us to CPAs who want growth. Viola! 318 contacts.

Skimming through them, I found 17 people whom I’d known over the years that would remember me, and whose firms I believe I could serve. Next, I requested to be added to their network and included a personal note (vs. the auto populated and dry “I’d like to add you to my professional network”) asking for permission to connect and to add them to our Two Minute Tips e-newsletter.

If you haven’t used some of the advanced people searches, start playing with that. You can find entire lists of people from a given organization by simply putting in the company.

2.  Learn more about them
While it’s common now to use the Internet to get “all that’s public” background on individuals, social media offers so many added ways to learn about prospects. 

• First, research their LinkedIn profile: See what connections you have in common (2nd degree away), find out their alma maters, what they’re reading, or the groups they are in. You’ll quickly understand their interests.
• Digest their profile thoroughly, make sure to observe their status updates (as it shares what’s on their mind) and if they have a blog, read it.
• Check out their Twitter account (often listed on LinkedIn profiles) and Facebook page to find out their latest news, their interests and what’s important enough for them to share.  

 3. Offer opportunities
This is where the connecting comes in. When asking to be linked or sending a message, you want to offer opportunities that match who you are and how you work. It often works best to send something of value when asking for the connection. We often ask to add them to our Two Minute Tips e-newsletter because we believe they’ll enjoy the practical tips we share on growing businesses. Here’s some other examples:

• Send them a book, article or white paper that would be meaningful to them.
• Perhaps you have a survey that would help them better understand where they are in terms of specific challenges you address, e.g. How well does your organization bring in revenue?
• If you’re giving a public presentation on a topic of interest to them, invite them to be your guest.
• Find an event that you both would benefit from and invite them to go with you.
• Use the “Get introduced through a connection” feature to get introduced. Have the common connection explain why they are introducing you and why they’d benefit from knowing you.  Encourage your common connection to add links to your website and LinkedIn profile so the prospect gets to know you. AND, encourage your contact to invite the prospect to have coffee with the two of you.

The reality is, LinkedIn (and all social media) is fun to use, and a great tool to find and learn more about prospects. You can bring your creative, spontaneous self to the project, engage with people whom you know you could serve and offer something in return. What’s on your agenda for Friday afternoon? Sounds like an opportunity for your star to twinkle brightly.