Learn how to avoid some of the frequent mistakes people make when using LinkedIn

1. How to avoid the 7 Mistakes of LinkedIn
and succeed with the world’s biggest
online Business Community
“The Most Cutting Edge Information Available on Using
Linkedin To Grow Your Business”
A Free Report by TheBizLinks

2. 1. Not taking this amazing platform seriously!
LinkedIn is the world’s biggest business community ever created. It can provide
a pathway to just about anybody in business, anytime - for free. If you are just
starting out in business, an established sales person, a CEO or a hardened
business owner LinkedIn can help you find key decision makers in your market.
In terms of prospecting what else can give you the means to search with large
companies, markets, locations, job titles and then provide you a clear pathway
to engagement that removes gatekeepers and middlemen.
The community has now grown to over 150million members with 45% of those
being major decision makers for their companies. No matter what market you
are in there are 1000’s of people on there right now that need your services.
I could go on about the amazing benefits LinkedIn can bring but in so many
cases it’s a waste of time because too many people just don’t invest in the time
needed to make LinkedIn really work.
How to avoid this mistake!
Don’t just set up a basic profile and dabble – develop a clear strategy and
commit to 20 - 30 mins per day of focused proactive work.
Make LinkedIn a core part of your business strategy - in most cases LinkedIn
can help you achieve your short and long term objectives.
Tel 0121 371 9430 Email mark@thebizlinks.co.uk Web www.thebizlinks.co.uk Page 2

3. 2. Not setting any Goals
Creating a LinkedIn profile and having a “presence” without any meaningful
goals will merely create extra work and give little value in return.
LinkedIn is an activity just like everything else and it should be aligned with
your overall business strategy, tactics, goals and targets.
At TheBizLinks we encourage our clients to set very specific goals which sets
clear direction and we also like ambitious goals too because we all know that
aiming for the stars means, in most cases, hitting the moon at the very least.
The goals you set for LinkedIn should in most cases be set around generating
sales as LinkedIn is one of the most effective ways to find and develop new
clients and customers. Don’t think that you cannot make money by being
“Social” - you just need to do it in the right way.
An example of defining your goals, strategy and tactics
Goal: Increase sales by £x (defined amount)
Strategy: Target (e.g. Marketing Directors) via advanced searching, use first
line network for introductions, making connection and arranging phone
conversations / one 2 one meetings.
Tactics: Create a strong and value driven profile relevant to the target
Build network of contacts with routes to targets
On connection offer a free 30 min phone session on (e.g. 3 great tips for digital
marketing) once connection has been made.
Repeat process until 5 conversations are made per day
Tel 0121 371 9430 Email mark@thebizlinks.co.uk Web www.thebizlinks.co.uk Page 3

4. 3. A dull and boring profile!
Your LinkedIn profile is critical to your success so don’t think listing your
experience like a CV will cut it as it won’t – CV’s are boring and people don’t
like to read them. You success depends on your key influencers taking an
interest in your profile. You MUST have the following:
► Clear value and WIIFM (What’s In It For Me) quickly and clearly
► Crystal clear evidence that supports your value
► Specific to the people you want to engage
The people you want to engage only really care about themselves and their
own world, define your value first before your job titles etc. For example
stating that you can find talented staff that can sell is more engaging than
saying you’re a Recruitment Manager.
Keep it simple and focus on the following 4 keys areas:
Profile picture – invest in a professional picture - this is not Facebook!
Professional headline (see below)
Summary – short, punchy and packed with passion!
Recommendations – 20-25 quality ones that back up your value statement
Professional headline
Your headline gets noticed first and also summarises you when you appear in
searches, groups etc even when you are being Google’d! You have 120
characters - use them all and follow this format.
[Job Description] ► [who you help / value] ► [Keywords]
See mine below for an example – notice I focus on the benefit which is making
money i.e. gaining new clients.
Tel 0121 371 9430 Email mark@thebizlinks.co.uk Web www.thebizlinks.co.uk Page 4

5. 4. A small network of contacts
Your LinkedIn network works like this
1st Level (your network) > 2nd Level (your 1st Levels connections) > 3rd Level (2nd
levels connections). It is important to build a decent sized LinkedIn network
(300+) for the following reasons:
More opportunities and better results
On average, each LinkedIn member has around 250 connections; when you
connect, their network is added to your 2nd level network giving you new
people you can reach via one introduction.
The larger your network, the more effective you can be in the community
A large network means you can help more people, get more introductions and
be viewed with more value within the community - it’s as simple as that!
How to grow your LinkedIn network
The key to growing your LinkedIn network is to find and connect with people
that are in and around your key influencers and target market. Rather that
simply mass uploading connects via webmail accounts or exported CSV files
use the following steps to grow you network steadily together with making
personal engagements.
Always Be Building (ABB) Sounds simple because it is! Every time you engage
new people in business via the phone, meetings or events connect with them
Reconnect – Find those you have lost contact with in business over the past
few years. Your drawer of business cards is a great place to start, apart from it
being good fun there is already momentum in terms of relationship.
LinkedIn Groups – Find suitable groups to join and then search and connect
with the members, stating your mutual group association as the reason.
Tel 0121 371 9430 Email mark@thebizlinks.co.uk Web www.thebizlinks.co.uk Page 5

6. 5. Not engaging your new contacts
LinkedIn is an amazing platform for finding contacts and making connections.
Once the initial contact has been made then LinkedIn’s job is effectively done.
The rest is down to you to then build the relationship ideally by picking up the
phone and making a call to introduce yourself.
It is important however NOT to sell - I have lost count of the amount of people
who have connected with me, and then fired a generic cut and pasted sales
message at me! Playing this numbers game on LinkedIn will not work.
The key to making a successful first contact on LinkedIn is to be genuine and
helpful - ask yourself what could you give the people you connect with that
would be of genuine value? Free advice is always a good approach, another
very effective first engagement approach is to be a good networker.
Thank you for accepting my invitation to join my network first of all please let
me know the type of people you are looking for and I will see if I have any
contacts on my network I can help you with
This works particularly well for contacts that need clients themselves, if you
repeat this you will soon learn which contacts are more valuable to you and
actively seek them on and offline at networking events.
The key to being a success is to use LinkedIn to help other people get what
they want, as the saying goes “givers gain” so don’t play the numbers game
and sell directly to those you connect with.
Tel 0121 371 9430 Email mark@thebizlinks.co.uk Web www.thebizlinks.co.uk Page 6

7. 6. Not Integrating LinkedIn with other Business
activities
The potential of LinkedIn as a tool for finding clients and customers becomes
even more powerful when combined in a strategic way with other business
activities.
3 examples of using LinkedIn to maximise other business activities
1. Twitter is very effective at finding top people and getting initial dialogue
started whereas LinkedIn is far more effective at developing a relationship -
used together they complement each other very well.
2. The time invested in attending business events can be much more effective
if you can plan beforehand and arrange meetings with key people. LinkedIn
gives you a massive amount of information about the business events you
want to attend.
3. After attending a networking event, if you have a handful of business cards
you can connect with them on LinkedIn, check them out, find out who they
know and decide on the most suitable people to engage further.
LinkedIn can help you increase sales, build brand awareness, strengthen your
key business relationships, increase web traffic, improve customer service and
develop new ideas. The key is to think outside the box and see where and how
LinkedIn can help - in most cases it can help in a big way so use your
imagination and be tenacious.
The core features of Linkedin include
Advanced search – Search the whole community for specific contacts
Groups – thousands of groups specific to types of business and activity
Homepage updates – your community posting their recent activity
Company pages – insight into companies, their employees, activity etc
List all of your current and future activity and see where LinkedIn can add real
value
Tel 0121 371 9430 Email mark@thebizlinks.co.uk Web www.thebizlinks.co.uk Page 7

8. 7. Not making use of my help and support!
LindedIn Is a valuable tool for anyone in business but like all tools, it’s only
effective if used in the right way. Alongside our workshop and one-to-one
training, TheBizLinks helps you achieve specific business objectives using
Linkedin through our 90-day coaching programmes.
Below is a summary of what the TheBizLinks’ initial training covers:
One-to-one personal training
► How to plan and implement your strategy
► How to build the best profile for your needs
► How to navigate and use the key features
► How to build and manage your contacts
► How to create and develop opportunities
90-day coaching and support programme
► Full access to all online training material
► 6 x 30min phone coaching sessions
► Unlimited email support
► Practical help and advice when you need it
And that’s only the start…
Social media is constantly changing, throwing up new business opportunities as
it does so. We believe Linkedin is the best and most powerful place for
businesses and individuals in business to start generating new opportunities.
From there, we can help you integrate Linkedin with other platforms, including
Twitter, YouTube and SlideShare.
For FREE advice on how to generate new business opportunities from Linkedin,
contact Mark Perry at TheBizLinks:
Tel 0121 371 9430
Email mark@thebizlinks.co.uk
Web www.thebizlinks.co.uk
LinkedIn uk.linkedin.com/in/markdperry/
Tweet @MarkPerryBiz
Tel 0121 371 9430 Email mark@thebizlinks.co.uk Web www.thebizlinks.co.uk Page 8