Ultimate Guide to LinkedIn for Business
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As the definitive social network for people doing business, entrepreneurs ignore LinkedIn at their own peril. Take the direct approach to reaching the movers and shakers by listening to what Ted has to say.
—JOEL COMM, NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF TWITTER POWER 3.0: HOW TO DOMINATE YOUR MARKET ONE TWEET AT A TIME
Ted Prodromou wrote THE book on LinkedIn. I used to say the real secret to success is to get out there and work like hell but The Ultimate Guide to LinkedIn for Business, Third Edition is full of actionable strategies that will impact your bottom line immediately so you don’t have to work as hard.
—FRANK KERN, ONE OF THE MOST SOUGHT AFTER DIRECT RESPONSE INTERNET MARKETING CONSULTANTS AND COPYWRITERS ON THE PLANET. WWW.FRANKKERN.COM
Are you looking for a handbook to cover all that’s possible with LinkedIn? Look no further than The Ultimate Guide to LinkedIn for Business, Third Edition. Filled with actionable insights you can use now, you’ll want to grab a copy of this book today, and you’ll hope your competitors don’t get it first.
—PHIL GERBYSHAK, SALES TRAINER AND COACH
Everyone knows it’s smart to connect with over 500 million business people on LinkedIn, but very few people know how to connect on LinkedIn profitably without wasting tons of time and money. If you want to know the behind-the-scenes, real-world strategies, you need to read this book filled with applicable tips and tricks to save you time and money, and to give you a roadmap to actually making money on LinkedIn.
—SCOTT KEFFER, BESTSELLING AUTHOR AND FOUNDER OF DOUBLE YOUR AFFLUENT CLIENTS®
Ted keeps his finger on the pulse of LinkedIn. When a LinkedIn feature changes, he’s one of the first to know about it. He teaches you how to connect in a way that’s genuine and well received.
—CEDRIC CRUMBLEY, BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF PROVEN SALES AND RECRUITING METHODS
When it comes to marketing, there are loads of marketers that talk a good game, but Ted is truly knowledgeable and always up to date on any social media platform changes. His strategies and ideas have given me an increase in business and helped streamline my processes. I recommend anyone looking for a marketer to read this book.
—CHRISINE VERHULP, WWW.VBSVIRTUAL.COM
The LinkedIn techniques Ted teaches in this book are remarkably effective and super simple to implement. Follow Ted’s lead, because I’ve seen firsthand how powerful it can be.
—ADAM FRANKLIN, BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF WEB MARKETING THAT WORKS
WOW—The Ultimate Guide to LinkedIn for Business, Third Edition is a must-read book that will guide you through how to become an influencer in your industry and how to connect effectively with other influencers. As usual, Ted Prodromou holds nothing back. His tips, strategies, and formulas for LinkedIn success are simple but powerful. The end results will help you attract the affluent clients you’ve been waiting for!
—RAVEN BLAIR GLOVER, PRESIDENT’S LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT HONOREE
After targeting my LinkedIn profile using just some of the techniques Ted teaches in this book, I received a LinkedIn Mail from an HR Director from Sherwin Williams to speak for one of their training events. Is doing business with a Fortune 500 company worth investing your time in your LinkedIn profile? YES!
—ELIZABETH MCCORMICK, INTERNATIONAL MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKER AND FORMER U.S. ARMY BLACKHAWK PILOT AT PILOTSPEAKER.COM
After meeting Ted and becoming aware of his LinkedIn knowledge, experience, and talent, I had the privilege to put his work into action by following the skill sets described in his bestselling books. The best is yet to come as we are already increasing our connections by several people a day! Thanks, Ted, for making LinkedIn easy to implement and fun to follow!
—ANDREA ADAMS-MILLER, CEO AND FOUNDER OF THE RED CARPET CONNECTION
Ted’s insights in this book and coaching have been instrumental to our efforts for building an effective LinkedIn presence with our high-profile clients. The breadth and depth of Ted’s expertise as well as his ability to patiently guide us through the LinkedIn maze has significantly impacted our bottom line. He is one of our most valued resources.
—SUSAN GATTON, EXECUTIVE COACH
I knew quite a bit about LinkedIn (so I thought), but gained so much more useful knowledge from The Ultimate Guide to LinkedIn for Business, Third Edition. It was one of the best investments I have made in my social media education.
—MAGGIE HOLBIK, BUSINESS AND SOCIAL MEDIA COACH
Ted is simply the master at communicating the best formulas for LinkedIn success. Ted helped me see that LinkedIn is so much more than the sum of its parts. He guided me through creating a synergy on LinkedIn that yielded a greater understanding and fast, solid results.
—MICHAEL FLINT, CEO OF SWEET SUCCESS & HISPANIC MARKETING SUCCESS
Ted provides an incredibly simple solution to understanding and using LinkedIn. I am looking forward to adding the latest edition of his book to my library.
—ANDY PETERSON, DIRECTOR OF CLIENT VICTORY, KAHUNA BUSINESS GROUP
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ebook ISBN: 978-1-61308-400-7
Contents
Acknowledgments
Foreword by Melonie Dodaro
Introduction
LinkedIn’s Evolution
My Personal LinkedIn Story
What You’ll Find in This Book
CHAPTER 1
Why LinkedIn?
The Demographic Gold Mine
Business Professional Search Engine
High-Value Professional Network
Conclusion
CHAPTER 2
Getting Started on LinkedIn
Why Choose LinkedIn?
Determine Your LinkedIn Objective
What About Other Networking Websites?
Conclusion
CHAPTER 3
Creating Your LinkedIn Account
Contact Information
Adding Your Social Media Accounts
Conclusion
CHAPTER 4
Supercharging Your LinkedIn Profile
Profile Headline
Profile Picture
Status Update
Experience
Education
Volunteer Experience
Skills and Endorsements
Recommendations
Accomplishments
Conclusion
CHAPTER 5
LinkedIn Privacy Settings
Public Profile
Account
Privacy
Ads
Communications
Conclusion
CHAPTER 6
A Tour of Your LinkedIn Homepage
LinkedIn Mobile App Homepage
Conclusion
CHAPTER 7
Components of a Company Profile
Company Status Updates
Creating Your Company Page
Conclusion
CHAPTER 8
LinkedIn Search
Why Use Search
Keywords Are Still King
LinkedIn Advanced Search
Using LinkedIn’s Advanced Search for Sales
Advanced Job Search
Conclusion
CHAPTER 9
Getting Found on LinkedIn
Keyword Selection
Competitive Analysis
LinkedIn Ranking Factors
LinkedIn Hashtag Communities
LinkedIn Topics
LinkedIn ProFinder
Conclusion
CHAPTER 10
Giving and Receiving LinkedIn Recommendations
How Can Social Proof Get You Hired in Today’s Economy?
What Are LinkedIn Recommendations?
Why Do I Need LinkedIn Recommendations?
How Many LinkedIn Recommendations Should I Have?
What Makes a LinkedIn Recommendation Great?
What to Say in Your Recommendations
Whom Should I Recommend?
How to Ask for Recommendations
LinkedIn Endorsements
Conclusion
CHAPTER 11
Connecting with Others
Strategic Networking
Open Networking
Are Your LinkedIn Connections Real People?
Connection Invitation Etiquette
Removing a Connection
Conclusion
CHAPTER 12
Using LinkedIn InMail to Reach Out
InMail vs. Introductions
What Is InMail?
Tips for Writing InMails to Increase Your Response Rates
Conclusion
CHAPTER 13
LinkedIn Groups
LinkedIn Groups Aren’t What They Used to Be
Finding Quality Groups
What Is the Best Way to Use Groups?
Communicating with Group Members
How to Start a Group
Managing the Group
Conclusion
CHAPTER 14
Managing Your LinkedIn Connections
Using Notifications to Engage Your Network
Syncing LinkedIn with Google Calendar and Contacts
Conclusion
CHAPTER 15
The Definitive Publishing Platform
Controlling Your Content
Status Updates
Articles
Who’s Viewed Your Updates
Native Video
Broadcasting Live Video
Conclusion
CHAPTER 16
LinkedIn Mobile
LinkedIn Mobile App
LinkedIn Job Search
LinkedIn SlideShare
LinkedIn Learning
Premium Apps
Conclusion
CHAPTER 17
Recruiting New Employees
Harness the Power of Your Search
Tips to Help Your Recruiting Effort
LinkedIn Recruiter
Finding a Job
LinkedIn Career Pages
Work With Us Ads
Conclusion
CHAPTER 18
LinkedIn for Sales and Marketing Professionals
Building Your LinkedIn Sales Network
Should You Go Anonymous?
Leveraging Your Company Page
Leveraging a Company Group
Prospecting on LinkedIn
LinkedIn Company Groups
Conclusion
CHAPTER 19
Sales Navigator
Engaging Your Leads and Connections
Discover New Leads and Accounts Automatically
Team Tools
Social Selling Index
Conclusion
CHAPTER 20
LinkedIn Advertising
Content Marketing
Advertising Options
Text Ads
Dynamic Ads
Feed Ads
Message Ads
Display Ads
LinkedIn Elevate
Data Tools
Website Demographics
Conclusion
CHAPTER 21
Creating LinkedIn Ads That Convert Like Crazy
Selling Through Ads on LinkedIn
Creating Laser-Focused Campaigns
Writing Effective Ads
LinkedIn Text Ads
Creating Attention-Grabbing Headlines
Factors That Generate Clicks
Brainstorming Headlines
The Old Magazine Rack Trick
Create a Swipe File
Writing Your Ad Copy
The Power of Images
Follow Advertising Guidelines
A/B Split Testing
Targeting Your Ads
Bidding
How to Measure Success and Improve Your Performance
Conclusion
CHAPTER 22
LinkedIn Success Stories
Growing Your Coaching Practice: Gary Barnes, The Breakthrough Business Mastery Coach
Selling the Dream on LinkedIn: Paige Collin, Franchise Owner
Paving the Way to a Successful Military Transition: Cedric Crumbley, Author and Marketing Consultant
Overcome Your Fear of Public Speaking: Doreen Hamilton, Public Speaking Coach
LinkedIn Native Video Success: Deborah Herman, Book Publishing Professional
Helping Women Sales Professionals Sell More Comfortably and Confidently: Natalie Klun, Sales Expert
The Accidental Entrepreneur: Linda Lovero-Waterhouse, Social Media and Online Marketing Coach
Cyber Security: Craig Petronella, The Petronella Technology Group
Financial Fitness for America: Keith Youngren, CPA and Financial Money Coach
CHAPTER 23
Commencement
Glossary
Index
Acknowledgments
This book is dedicated to my brother-in-law and best friend of 40 years, Dieter Schien. While Dieter wasn’t an avid LinkedIn user or entrepreneur, he was always supportive of my family and me. Dieter used to attend local marketing events and networking meetings with me. He liked tagging along to meet new people and to learn something new, even though he was disabled and couldn’t work for the last 15 years of his life. Dieter was a lot like Norm on Cheers. Everyone knew and liked Dieter because he was friendly, kind, helpful, and a lot of fun. When he entered a room, everyone would yell, “Dieter!”
I’m going to miss you, Dieter, and I love you.
Foreword
by Melonie Dodaro
Founder and CEO of Top Dog Social Media and the bestselling author of LinkedIn Unlocked and The LinkedIn Code
There is no question that LinkedIn is a gold mine for those who take the time to understand how to leverage it. The problem is that most don’t take that time. So many people are still collecting connections instead of building long-term relationships. Ted is one of those people who really understand how to build relationships, so when he asked me to write the foreword for his book, I accepted immediately.
When it comes to social tools, nothing can beat LinkedIn for business-to-business (B2B) lead generation. In fact, I tell my clients all the time that the highest ROI that I (or anyone else) can help them achieve with digital marketing is to train their team on how to use LinkedIn to generate leads and build relationships. In my company, 80 percent of the B2B leads generated from social media come from LinkedIn.
As the author of two LinkedIn books myself, I am attracted to the no-fluff style of LinkedIn as a business social network, as opposed to platforms such as Facebook and Instagram. I also enjoy Ted’s straightforward approach to LinkedIn in this third edition of the Ultimate Guide to LinkedIn for Business.
With the declining reach of Facebook and the social media fatigue that is setting in,
you cannot afford to ignore LinkedIn any longer. Now, more than ever, it’s vital that you tap into the LinkedIn gold mine—with more than half a billion professional members and growing—to build your personal brand.
Your personal brand is also more important than it’s ever been. You may not even realize that you already have one. If you are showing up in Google search results, you have a personal brand. The question is, are you proud of it? LinkedIn is the first place people will look to learn more about you professionally. Having a professional presence on LinkedIn is crucial to your personal brand.
Once you are proud of how your profile positions you and what you offer, the next step is to use LinkedIn’s incredible and robust advanced search function to find and connect with your perfect potential clients. You can proactively generate leads on LinkedIn, consistently and predictably.
These are only two of the many things you will learn by reading this book, but if you walk away with just those two, you will have made back your investment a hundred times over—providing, of course, that you implement what you learn.
LinkedIn continues to be the world’s largest business network, so if growing your business is important to you, don’t just read this book—put it into practice.
Introduction
Welcome to the third edition of Ultimate Guide to LinkedIn for Business. When I wrote the first edition of this book in 2012, I never imagined I would write a second edition, let alone a third. Our world has changed so much since I began writing the first edition in late 2011. The world was slowly recovering from the Great Recession caused by the devastating collapse of our real estate markets and financial system in late 2008. Businesses small and large were forced into bankruptcy. Millions of people lost their homes to foreclosure, their jobs, and their careers.
My story was no different. I lost most of my marketing agency clients in 2009, and I was really struggling. This was the second career reset for me in a decade, and I had lost all confidence in my ability to successfully provide for my family.
With one child in college and another about to enroll, I was fortunate to find a full-time job as an online marketing manager for a software company near my home. Jobs were few and far between, and they actually hired a 51-year-old to work alongside a team of twentysomething marketers.
I was back in the game!
This software company was in the right place at the right time. From 2009 through 2013, their profits quadrupled in the worst economic times since the Great Depression. Unfortunately for me, the company restructured after a venture capital investment, and most of the marketing department was let go in 2013.