… and seven things you can do to re-start the engine now
As a business person, if one of your aims is to use social media to act as a business lead generation device, there’s no better tool than LinkedIn. With over 260 million active users, LinkedIn can help you find new leads and opportunities.
What? You’re not getting leads or closing new business through LinkedIn?
If you’re not getting leads or closing new business with your presence on LinkedIn, well, my friend, you’re probably doing something wrong. Here are seven possible reasons why it’s not working for you.
7 Reasons Why Your Profile Isn’t Delivering Results
Reason 1) No one knows what you do
Take a look at the screenshot of this anonymized LinkedIn Profile. The individual describes themselves as an accountant in the title (2) and previous job descriptions (4).
Really?
- What kind of accountant?
- Do they have a specialty?
- Any designations?
- What industries do they focus on?
People don’t look for accountants nearly as often as they look for a Chartered Accountant, specializing in cross-border US tax for energy service companies.
Recommendation: Be specific in your title as to what you do. Focus the description on what the client can buy. e.g. Chartered Accountant, US Cross-border Tax Specialist, Energy Services
Reason 2) No summary section / The summary section doesn’t “sell.”
This profile doesn’t have a summary section that clearly and concisely tells prospects what they can buy. Short, punchy statements of who you are, what you do, and the outcomes to be expected help a prospect decide whether they should call.
Recommendation: Create a summary section that sells your personal brand. Use simple, concise language. e.g. “I Help Companies Minimize Cross-Border Tax Disputes.”
Reason 3) The description of your previous roles leaves me guessing as to what you did.
The previous roles in the Experience section of the profile (4) do not expand my knowledge of you as a person. This isn’t a job roster for the tax department to determine WHERE you worked to collect taxes owing during those years. It’s a curriculum vitae of what you have ACCOMPLISHED!! People BUY your ability to achieve. Show them you have done it before and HIGHLIGHT your achievements.
Recommendation: Highlight your achievements. e.g. Creation of a tax plan that resulted in $3.2 million in annual savings for a multinational oilfield services company.
Reason 4) No headshot / Unprofessional headshot.
The worst thing you can do is not have a headshot (1) and instead have the profile default to LinkedIn’s standard grey silhouette. Second worst, use the cropped picture of yourself from last year’s Christmas party taken with your colleague’s Kodak Instamatic. People like to SEE who they are dealing with. This isn’t a blind date. This isn’t a time for mystery or half steps forward. It will only keep your prospect’s CONFIDENCE low.
Recommendation: If you don’t have one, spend the money on a professional headshot to accompany your profile.
Reason 5) A small number of connections.
If you are in business, you probably meet hundreds of new people a year. Then why does our friend in the profile only have 120 connections after being in the workforce for eight years? Either people don’t like them, or (more probably) they haven’t made an effort to connect.
A relevant analogy I use is that of a brain neuron. A single neuron can be genetically perfect and physically flawless, BUT UNLESS IT IS CONNECTED to the other neurons in your brain, it is fundamentally useless.
… the 2% rule.
Beyond this, I like to cite the 2% rule. In my network of connections, I can only count on 2% of those individuals to LOVE my work, REMEMBER me in the moment, and then ACTUALLY REFER ME at the critical time when tossing my name out to a new prospect will result in a call for my services. Do the math. Our friend in the profile probably has only 2.4 real fans in their network. Very low odds for a referral resulting from this pool!
One Caveat: It’s not as important to have hundreds of connections as having quality connections. People who really know you and the work you can perform.
Recommendation: Make connecting with your network on LinkedIn a habit.
Reason 6) You’re not treating your network like a valued audience.
If this was a movie theater, this is the equivalent of NOTHING PLAYING on the screen.
Your network is an audience. Audiences want to be informed, entertained, educated, and given an advantage after PAYING attention to you. Have you heard the phrase “Content is King!”? Well, here’s how it applies to LinkedIn: you must give your audience value through your content. Think of all the ways you could be useful by highlighting relevant news, spotlighting relevant events, pointing out relevant tools. The keyword: RELEVANT. Your activity feed is not the place to spotlight your dog Rufus’ latest trick or the cute thing your kid did last night. Save that stuff for Facebook. Our friend’s profile above has NO ACTIVITY. If this was a movie theatre, this is the equivalent of having NOTHING PLAYING on the screen. If nothing’s playing, there’s no reason to visit.
Recommendation: Add relevant value for those who visit your profile and view your activity feed.
Reason 7) No one has recommended you.
No, not a point and click “endorsement,” but a hard-won written recommendation. And no, not a recommendation from your bowling buddy Bob where he agreed to recommend you if you recommended him back. But rather a heartfelt, honest assessment of the value you created for a client who gave it as a sincere testament to their experience with your work. The more authentic, genuinely felt, reputable recommendations you have, the more people pay attention. (At the time of this writing, I have over 90 written recommendations. They weren’t easy to get, but they are one of the key things new visitors pay attention to.)
Recommendation: Get some recommendations
Use these tips to sharpen your profile and get LinkedIn working as a real marketing tool for your business and career.
(Want to see what my profile looks like? Click here: Kurian M. Tharakan)
