The so-called gurus aren’t telling you the truth. They want you to believe that there is a system that can be put in place, left alone, and will work all on its own to funnel leads into your inbox.
If you’ve been proactively using LinkedIn for business development, you already know it’s not true. But if you’ve been banging your head against the wall wondering why you’re not generating leads and sales off of LinkedIn, this is for you.
1. Profile Optimization: Can Properly Placed Keywords Generate Business?
The answer is yes, sometimes. But it’s not a real strategy for consistent leads. It’s a once-in-a-while kind of thing. For that reason, you should do it. Put it in place and move on. But don’t expect that it will generate much. Maybe a lead or two a year, for most people.
Meanwhile, the “experts” are trying to convince you that there are people searching all the time for somebody just like you. All you need to do is litter your profile with keywords, and they’ll come rushing your way. It’s a half truth. People are looking for you, but it’s not a system for consistent results. Not even close.
2. Automated Status Updates: The Best Way to Bridge the Lead Gap?
Yes, you can use tools like Hootsuite to schedule status updates weeks in advance. You can program them to go out every day for the next 25 days, 5 times a day. Is this a bad thing? No, it’s a good thing. Will it generate consistent leads month-in and month-out? Not a chance.
Status updates are a good way to stay top-of-mind. And, it’s important to have them pumping out regularly so that you actually have a chance of being seen. But seldom will a connection of yours see one of your updates and be so impressed that they call you immediately. It’s basic blocking and tackling for having a solid foundation. It’s not going to get the phone ringing.
3. Company Pages – Targeting Followers with Custom Messages?
I love that I can target customized messages to different segments of followers. But we’re talking about company pages here. It’s a one way communication channel, not a great vehicle for engagement (like LinkedIn groups). And unless you’re the kind of company with thousands of followers, it’s hardly even worth the time to go through this kind of segmentation process.
But if you listen to the fanboys and fangirls, you might think it’s sliced bread itself. You’re likely getting the theme by now; this isn’t a strategy that yields consistent results.
So What Does Generate Consistent Leads?
There is no system for generating a consistent, predictable volume of leads that doesn’t take a consistent amount of effort. As with most things, the greater the input, the greater the output. The LinkedIn strategies that DO yield results require proactive prospecting and outreach. They require community building and engagement. They require leadership, and positioning your brand as an expert. More work? Yes. An effort that can generate a ton of new leads and sales? You bet.
For a detailed “tactics worksheet” including some of the most popular LinkedIn strategies along with their input/outputs, click here.
Josh Turner is the founder of Linked Selling, a B2B marketing firm that helps clients systematically build relationships with cold prospects, to turn them into warm leads. The tools they use to achieve this are LinkedIn, webinars, content and email. He is also the founder of LinkedUniversity.com , a leading online training program for business professionals who want to learn how to leverage LinkedIn for marketing and sales.
