relationship marketing 101
How the Next Generation of Networking Can Work For You LIVE EVENT
November 10, 2014
Jan 8th — Webcast: Social Selling – Convert LinkedIn Connections to New Sales
December 4, 2014

It’s always funny when we coach people on their LinkedIn Profile and they always want to know what the most powerful parts of their profile are. So we thought we would put this into the perspective of sales or as we say “social selling.”

When we teach our Social Selling class we break the effective selling profile into seven main parts.

Part One – Settings

There are key settings which can lock down a profile or open up a profile for optimal settings. For the ones that are most critical, see the highlighted diagram below.

social selling

Part Two – Keywords

Think about how you want to get found, pick 8-10 keyword phrases and use them in the various content areas in the next few parts. Pick phrases that people would use to type into Google to find you and use these throughout your profile. If you sell insurance, what type, for who, any distinctions, and use any key geographic areas. Think about how people search you and claim those phrases.

Part Three – Photo

Everyone, even you, needs a photo. LinkedIn is a networking event, and you certainly want to be social at a networking event, so please have a professional photo. Use a picture or shot that would emulate how you look on a sales appointment.

Part Four – Headline

This is where you get 120 characters to best describe you. Think about those keywords and determine which ones attract you the most prospects. Remember when people see this they basically get a few short seconds to pick you or the next professional in their network. So be clear on what you do!

 

social selling

 

Part Five – Summary

This is your very first conversation with your audience. They get to your profile and you have 2,000 keyword driven precious characters to get them to talk back. Remember to include your best qualities, success stories, your elevator pitch and anything else you might use when getting someone to respond in a conversation. I always recommend to use first person and make it a conversation. Don’t be afraid to change this up and test your conversation online as well as in person. Once you dial it in, keep testing! Also, new this last year was adding visual attachments and links to your Summary and other areas, make sure if you have PowerPoint or PDF files, check out this feature. This along with the previous should start inbound inquiries!

 

 social selling

Part Six – Experience and Education

There are more areas that each have 2,000 characters available for you to use those powerful keywords. Pack that experience as far back as can defend your current story and skills. Don’t leave gaps and remember to build on the story. Don’t skimp anywhere here, if no human reads it, rest assured that LinkedIn and Google will read it!

Part Seven – Recommendations, Skills and other areas

I would pick these in this order. The more you can pack into a profile the better, however Recommendations are where people have taken time to write about you in front of their network and you network, and these are powerful testimonials. Then next would be skills, while they don’t; seem to hold much water with many based on how they were rolled out, they still help in search and inbound requests, so don’t over discount them. If you can take the time, check out the other areas like Projects, Volunteer Section, Publications, etc.

These are just the sacred seven social selling profile areas, we always recommend as much as you can, however start with these and you are guaranteed some new action. Best of luck and give us your feedback.

 

About Dean DeLisle:

For over 30 years, Dean has demonstrated his ability to accelerate companies, stimulate business development, and make operations more efficient. He has harnessed the ever-evolving power of technology, paired with his consulting, coaching, and training skills, to implement sound business practices. Using the power of online social networks, as well as traditional media, he has helped numerous clients pack the room for events, establish their online and social media presence, and develop countless company, brand, product, and service launches. Dean uses every tool available, weaving aspects of every medium to achieve the end goal and accelerate his clients’ business growth.

At Forward Progress, Dean leads his core team to provide integrated marketing solutions using a proven coaching and consulting methodology in driving business growth. Committed to delivering both “Lowest Cost per Lead” and “Converting Leads to Sales,” Forward Progress has helped over 4,000 corporate clients assess and improve their online marketing and social networking results, and has trained over 85,000 people in over 45 countries with their online programs. As an experienced CEO and business owner, Dean coaches senior executives in publicly and privately held companies using his proprietary Power Plan System to identify the appropriate strategy, map out a clear direction, structure the team, and execute the plan within an aggressive time frame.