Are you trying to find quality leads for your business on LinkedIn? Are you rising above the noise with quality engagement? Using your LinkedIn profile to connect with market influencers and potential clients is smart–when done right. Learn more on socialmediaexaminer.com and jonrognerud.com

1. socialmediaexaminer.com http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/5-steps-building-network-quality-connections-linkedin/
5 Steps to Building Quality LinkedIn Connections
By Jon Rognerud
Published March 12, 2014
Are you trying to find quality leads for your business on LinkedIn?
Are you rising above the noise with quality engagement?
Using your LinkedIn profile to connect with market influencers and potential clients
is smart–when done right.
In this article, you’ll discover a five-step process for building the solid
relationships you need to generate a steady flow of leads from LinkedIn.
#1: Get Your House in Order
Before you start looking for leads on LinkedIn, it’s important to understand LinkedIn basics and the expectations of its
users.
Take a few minutes to make sure you have a professional profile and picture, and join a few groups to get a
feel for how they work. Go a step further and figure out the best engagement times to post on LinkedIn.
When you’re confident you have the basics down and are ready to start meeting others and creating leads, make a
spreadsheet to track your progress and connections.
I like to keep track of current personal connections, new connections, groups my target influencers and customers are
in, popular group topics, how many members are in a group and which members are most active.
#2: Find Your Market Influencers on LinkedIn
Before you post and push content to your intended audience, be crystal-clear about their interests. Only then can you
create ads or messages that speak directly to them.
As you look for market leaders, review your personal connections and existing clients, then find them on
LinkedIn. You most likely already have a priority list of companies and people whom you want to connect with. Next,
go to LinkedIn and search for other companies and people who are active in your market.
When you connect with people, don’t send network invitations with “Hey, we’re in the same network, I thought that…”
or “I liked your website, I have a question…” types of messages to connect with them. They’ll get deleted, ignored or
flagged.
#3: Join Relevant LinkedIn Groups
It’s not enough to find the leading voices in your market, you have to know where they hang out and what topics they
find interesting. LinkedIn groups are a good place to get a feel for this.
Look at your list of influencers, then visit their LinkedIn profiles and scroll down the page to see their Groups
section. Here you can see all of the groups they’re part of.

2. LinkedIn is a great marketing tool if you create relationships based on trust. Image source: iStockPhoto.com.
Even little details, like a completed profile, affect how potential leads respond to you.
Visit these groups and join the
ones that fit your needs.
#4: Create an Editorial
Calendar
When you visit a group, you
can sort the conversations by
Popular and Recent to see
which questions and content
are most relevant to members
(and who offers the most
responses). These
conversations are your target
areas of opportunity. Let those
topics guide your own
contributions.
Make a note in your
spreadsheet about popular
topics and the names of the
most active group members.
Use that information to
develop an editorial calendar.
As you create your calendar,
remember that generic content
won’t get you the attention you
deserve and want. Instead, ask
intriguing questions and share
thoughtful, useful information to
build a high-converting
customer/client-building funnel.
In one of my market-relevant
groups, the topic of tools for
writers came up, so I shared an
article I’d written that has
related tips and detailed
information about writing
resources and tools. The
content was relevant and it
linked to my blog; I added value
to the group and drove traffic to
my website.
#5: Post the Right Kind of
Content
Your content should address
the issues being discussed in

3. Search for all of the companies you’d like to follow.
Look at which LinkedIn groups market leaders are participating in, then join the ones that fit your needs.
the group and offer help or more information without being a sales message in disguise.
When you publish new online
content, use your website’s
social sharing widget or
plugin to push the post to
your targeted LinkedIn
groups. When you click the
LinkedIn Share option, check
the Post to Groups checkbox
and enter an intriguing question
as the title.
If you post and share often,
keep both shared content and
your question relevant to
each group’s discussions to
avoid looking like spam. When
visitors hop over to your blog
post or website, rely on the
conversion tactics you have
in place to capture your new
leads.
Make sure you have
notifications turned on so you’ll
know when you get a LinkedIn
comment. You don’t want to
miss a chance to respond.
Conclusion
Hard sells (e.g., self-serving
emails and posts) just don’t
work on LinkedIn. Comments,
likes and direct responses to
your content aren’t permission
to pitch. Instead, continue the
conversation and carefully
consider the content you
share and how you present it.
Research what each group
wants, then offer yourself as a
resource. Ask more questions,
make recommendations and
offer solutions—or if you can’t
help, refer people to someone
who can. You can rise above
the noise with quality
engagement that makes you
stand out.

4. Create engaging posts that speak to your audience.
Target your message directly from your blog via the LinkedIn Share plugin.
What do you think? How do you generate leads from LinkedIn? Are you happy with the quality of your
interactions? Is there a tactic
that has worked well for you?
Leave a comment with your
advice or questions below.
Images from iStockPhoto.
Tags: content marketing,
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