The document provides tips on how to effectively use LinkedIn to further professional goals. It recommends defining an objective and target audience, crafting a compelling profile story, building connections, getting recommendations, searching for potential clients/employers, and making introductions through mutual connections. The key is engaging your target audience by helping them and keeping your profile active through regular updates.

1. Why do I Need to Be on There
& How Do I Use It?
Ben Blackler, Navigator Marketing
5th May 2010

2. Why do I Need to Be on There?
Put simply it’s a fantastic tool for realising your
professional goals
but like any tool you need to learn how to use
it to deliver the best results.

3. Why do I Need to Be on There?
Imagine having your
business ‘black
book’ online
containing all your
contacts’ details
(e.g. Phone
numbers, email
addresses etc)

4. Why do I Need to Be on There?
...but that black book
is automatically
updated by your
contacts when they
change jobs or
contact details.

5. Why do I Need to Be on There?
...and you can see
the people in your
contacts’ black
books – who they
are, what they do
and how they’ve
got there.

6. Why do I Need to Be on There?
...and you can see
the people in your
contacts’ contact’s
black books.

7. Why do I Need to Be on There?
...and you can join
groups that are
interested in your
industry or sector to
learn, share,
network and source
professional/new
business
opportunities.

8. Why do I Need to Be on There?
...and,once you’ve
been accepted
into that group, you
can see everyone
that’s it in – who
they are, what they
do and their
professional history.

9. Why do I Need to Be on There?
...in fact, with a little
time and effort (and
a few insider tips)
you can find more
or less anyone you
want – as long as
they’re on LinkedIn.

10. Why do I Need to Be on There?
• So potential employers, recruitment agencies,
business partners and clients that have
opportunities that can help you further your
professional objectives can find you.
• So that you can find and approach potential
employers, recruitment agencies, business partners
and clients that can help you further your
professional objectives.

11. Why do I Need to Be on There?
• The most effective social
networking site for sales
prospecting is LinkedIn,
with a score of 3.1 out of
5.*
• 45% of North American
companies using LinkedIn
for prospecting had
acquired a client from
the site.**
* OneSource B2B SalesPulse Survey,
March 2010.
** Hubspot January 2010.

12. Why do I Need to Be on There?
If you want to achieve your career goals
or
If you want to grow you business
You should be using LinkedIn
But if you’re going to do it, do it properly...

13. How Do I Use It?
Start with an objective:
‘I want to get into the fashion industry’
‘I want to increase the size of my marketing services
business’

14. How Do I Use It?
Then define your target audience - what sort of
people can help you achieve your goal:
What - ‘I want to get into the fashion industry’
Who – Anyone who works in the fashion industry,
anyone who works for anyone who works in the
fashion industry (i.e. suppliers, agencies)
What - ‘I want to increase the size of my marketing
services business’
Who - MDs/GMs/Marketing Directors in whatever
industry you’re targeting.

15. How Do I Use It?
So you have defined your Objective and your Target
Audience, now you need to craft your Story.
When you create your profile, think about what sort of
skills, experience and aptitude these targeted
individuals will be looking for.

16. How Do I Use It?
How can you help Professionals in your chosen field
solve their problems, either to:
• Save them time.
• Save them money.
• Bring in additional business.

17. How Do I Use It?
When crafting your message, it’s not about what you
want, but what you can do for them.

18. How Do I Use It?
Creating a Profile – Basic
Information
First Name/Last Name
Think carefully about
shortened version – this is
aimed at your potential
employer/client/business
partner rather than your
friends.

19. How Do I Use It?
Professional “Headline”
• Your strapline/positioning
statement. If left blank it will
default to your current job
title and employer (boring).
• Think about what your
target individuals will be
searching for when they’re
looking for solutions to the
problem you can solve.
• Will show if you appear in
search results.

20. How Do I Use It?
Head Shot
• Definitely include – people
like to connect to people,
not blank spaces or avatars.
•Your professional face – still
the ‘real you’ but the ‘real
you’ at work, not at play.
• Make sure people can
see your face – head/head
and shoulders shot. Colour
or B&W.

21. How Do I Use It?
Websites
• Your professional website,
your ‘professional’ blog
(Wordpress, Typepad,
Tumblr), twitter or facebook
page.
• Don’t just use the ‘My
Website’ & ‘My Blog’
defaults – write something
more useful and descriptive
for the reader.

22. How Do I Use It?
Public Profile URL
• Personalise it.
• Use full name, middle
initials etc to avoid using
numbers (/benblackler was
already taken so, as I lack a
middle initial, I went for my
full name)

23. How Do I Use It?
Summary
• Tell your ‘Story’ – think about
your target audience and
what they’ll want to hear.
• Make it readable and
interesting by telling stories –
what your/your client’s
challenges were, how you
overcame them and what
you achieved .
• Keep it snappy. Break into
short paragraphs. Use Bullet
points.

24. How Do I Use It?
Professional History
• This isn’t a CV – you don’t
need to include every role.
• Just include roles that help
you tell your story and make
connections.
• Tell stories – the challenge,
how the challenge was
overcome, the outcome.

25. How Do I Use It?
Education
• Always include – a shared
institution can start a
conversation or create an
affinity.
•Include the
institutions/institution which
will have broadest appeal
i.e. CIM rather then the
institution you sat the CIM
exams with.

26. How Do I Use It?
Applications
• Don’t use any and every
application you can, just use
the ones that help you
support your ‘story’
• WordPress or Typepad Apps
pull through snippets from
your recent blog posts.
• Twitter App displays you
latest 4 tweets.
• Be wary of ‘cluttering’ your
page up – make sure what
you’re adding adds value for
your target audience.

27. How Do I Use It?
Company Profile
• If one doesn’t exist, create
one (LinkedIn will prompt
you)
• Gives the prospective
client or employee more
detail – location, employees
etc.
• Individuals can now
‘follow’ companies on
LinkedIn.

28. How Do I Use It?
Now you have defined your Objective and Audience and
crafted your Story, it’s time to Engage with that Audience to
achieve your Objective.
• Build up a base level of connections – when people see a
profile with less than 20 connections, they’re not sure if it’s
‘active’ (a lot of people create a basic profile and then
abandon it)so you need to build your list.
• Who do I connect to? – initially, I’d suggest anyone you
know to build your foundation from:
– Friends.
– Colleagues
– Clients.
– Partners i.e. Suppliers you use/have used, other partners
that you work with/have worked with.

29. How Do I Use It?
Now you have defined your Objective and Audience and
crafted your Story, it’s time to Engage with that Audience to
achieve your Objective.
• Build up a base level of connections – when people see a
profile with less than 20 connections, they’re not sure if it’s
‘active’ (a lot of people create a basic profile and then
abandon it)so you need to build your list.
• Who do I connect to? – initially, I’d suggest anyone you
know to build your foundation from:
– Friends.
– Colleagues
– Clients.
– Partners i.e. Suppliers you use/have used, other partners
that you work with/have worked with.

30. How Do I Use It?
Now you have defined your Objective and Audience and
crafted your Story, it’s time to Engage with that Audience to
achieve your Objective.
• Build up a base level of connections – when people see a
profile with less than 20 connections, they’re not sure if it’s
‘active’ (a lot of people create a basic profile and then
abandon it)so you need to build your list.
• Who do I connect to? – initially, I’d suggest anyone you
know to build your foundation from:
– Friends.
– Colleagues
– Clients.
– Partners i.e. Suppliers you use/have used, other partners
that you work with/have worked with.

31. How Do I Use It?
• Get some
recommendations to
build your credibility.
Friends, employers,
employees, clients –
get a rounded
selection.
• Offer to write one in
return.
• Offer to write your own
recommendation to
speed things up.

32. How Do I Use It?
Being Found
• Integrate your profile
into your other
marketing materials
where appropriate –
website, email sign off
etc.

33. How Do I Use It?
Being Found
• Update your status at
least once a week –
not many people do
and it’s a great way of
appearing in your
contact’s email
updates from LinkedIn
and keeping yourself
front of mind.

34. How Do I Use It?
Being Found
• Check who’s looking at
your profile and follow
them up if appropriate.
• The only way to see full
details is to become a
premium member.

35. How Do I Use It?
Finding Clients/Employers
• Continually build your connections. Anyone in your target
audience or who might be connected to someone in your
target audience.
• Check our target company profiles for key personnel and new
hires.
• Use the search function to find people in your target audience
– LinkedIn will tell you how you’re connected to them, if at all.
• Look at your connections connections, especially when
they’ve added new one (number of connections displayed in
orange).
• Join Groups that your target audience might be in –when you
search, you’ll see their full details of people in the same
Groups as you.

36. How Do I Use It?
Remember, when you invite someone to get
connected, always include a personal message.
This personal message can be used to:
• Jog somebody’s memory as to who you are
(especially if the initial meeting was fleeting).
• Give them some context as to why you’re
contacting them.
• Establish a personal connection so they’re more
likely to help you to achieve your objectives.

37. How Do I Use It?
‘Hi John. How are you? It’s been a few years since we
met at the World Travel Market. I’ve set up my own
consultancy in travel & tourism marketing. Thought
we may be able to help each other out. Look
forward to hearing from you. Ben ‘
Remember, you’ve only got just under 300 characters,
so you’ll have to keep it succinct.

38. How Do I Use It?
Searching Tips
• Say you want to discover who the Senior Director
Marketing is at Wal Mart
• Search for ‘marketing, wal mart’
• You’ll see people who are relevant to the search
who you’re connected to, is connected to your
connections, connected to your connections
connections or your share a Group with.
• And you’ll also see some profiles with no names.

40. How Do I Use It?
• There is a way round this which will often (but not
always) work:
– Click on the ‘No Name’ profile which seems to describe
the person you’re looking for.
– Look to the bottom right for other profiles that people who
have viewed this profile have viewed.
– Click on one of these profiles.
– Look again at the bottom right for other profiles that
people who have viewed this new profile have viewed.
– The person you’re looking for may well be listed, but you’ll
have their name this time.

41. Greg Hall’s our man...

42. How Do I Use It?
Your aim is to at least identify individuals in your target
audience.
But ideally, to find credible people connected to
those in your target audience to make an
introduction.
Introductions are incredibly powerful for marketing – it
means you’ll at least get your targets attention and,
with a well thought through profile, things will
hopefully go further.

43. How Do I Use It?
But remember, the best way to make contact with your target audience
may not be through LinkedIn.
You could:
• Send them a personal email with a link to your profile.
• Send them an Inmail via LinkedIn (premium members only)
• Ask a mutual connection (if you have one) to affect an introduction over
email.
• Ask a mutual connection (if you have one) to effect an introduction over
LinkedIn.
I wouldn’t suggest inviting them to get connected via LinkedIn if you don’t
know them (and more specifically, if they don’t know you). Wait until
you’ve had a dialogue with them via another medium, then invite them
to connect.

44. About Me
• I don’t have 500+ connections, but the c130 I have
are focused on my business needs.
• I’m not a LinkedIn expert but I do use LinkedIn to
build my own and my clients’ business.
• For true experts, I suggest you look up:
– Flyn Penoyer (http://www.linkedin.com/in/flynpenoyer)
– Jason Alba (http://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonalba)