Let me ask you a question: Do you ever feel like everyone in your industry is doing the same thing? Everyone’s newsletters look the same. Everyone’s websites are starting to look the same. Same. Same. Same.
Don’t worry, you’re not alone.
I’ve faced this issue many times throughout my business journey. And what I’ve come to learn is that marketing is 10% what you say and 90% how you say it. Now if you’re marketing your company using the same methods as everyone else in your industry not only is it going to be hard to stand out but chances are your business will never be innovative enough to stay ahead of the pack.
And in my opinion there is no marketing tool more powerful in today’s business world than LinkedIn if your business is primarily B2B. With over 300 million users and 49% of those being key decision makers, LinkedIn has ultimately become the most precious marketing resource of the 21st century.
Is your business networking not working?
Gone are the days where you need to spend countless amount of hours implementing marketing strategies in order to get in front of key decision makers for your product or service. LinkedIn allows you to search, connect and develop relationships in real time with anyone around the world 24 hours a day 7 days a week.
No longer will you have to spend hours and hours travelling to networking functions, in the hope that you will make a valuable contact. With LinkedIn you can connect with 100’s of targeted business professional every week.
A while back I connected with a guy by the name of Alex Pirouz from Linkfluencer.com. An Australian entrepreneur who’s achieved a fair bit of success in using LinkedIn over the past couple of years. At that stage I had a fairly good understanding of LinkedIn and its potential but the more I spoke with Alex the more I realized how many different ways you can use the platform to grow a business.
He’s managed to use LinkedIn to grow his various businesses so that you too can start applying them within yours.
Here are 3 key ways to grow your business with LinkedIn.
#1. Personal branding with media exposure
Gaining media exposure on a consistent basis is a powerful way to boost your credibility in the marketplace, get your message in front of thousands of people and position you as an authority figure within the industry. This will ultimately drive the bottom line if effectively used. When Alex first started using LinkedIn back in 2007 he had just launched his business advisory firm so he was looking to build his personal brand in the marketplace.
What started off with one or two connections here or there quickly escalated to well over 250 contacts within 3 months. A network he has managed to successfully use to get featured in over 50+ media publications including Forbes, Inc, Entrepreneur.com and many more all without sending out a single press release.
Personal branding is more important than ever before. Make a list of the top 10 publications you want to get featured in and start connecting with journalist and editors who cover stories for that publication.
#2. Joint venture partnerships
In my opinion one of the best ways to grow any business is to form strategic partnerships. A joint venture is a legal term that describes the relationship between two or more parties entering into an agreement to work towards the same strategic goals while remaining separate entities.
Such an agreement might exist between a digital marketing agency and a graphic designer, a web designer and a database management firm, a business advisor and accountant, a hairdresser and beauty salon, or an Internet service provider and an email provider. Just to name a few of the many possibilities.
Following on from his success in using LinkedIn to gain media exposure, Alex decided to also use the platform to connect with owners of accounting firms given they would be ideal joint venture partners.
Over the course of the next four months he managed to connect with 500 accounting firms out of which he secured 20 to come on board as partners producing 60+ qualified leads per month and increasing his revenue by over 328%.
#3. One on one clients
“You may have the best product or service but if no one knows about it then you don’t really have a business.” I am sure you have heard that saying before. The fact of the matter is regardless of industry, location and target demographic you, I and the rest of the business world all share a common theme:
“We are all in the business of: Marketing”
But in this day and age where people are being bombarded with a barrage of information, products, and businesses, it can be difficult to ensure that your business gets noticed amongst the slew of potential competitors.
In my opinion to compete in a business world that is rapidly changing all the time, learning and implementing the latest sales and marketing strategies is critical to your success in business.
Recognizing this Alex decided to market his business advisory firm differently to everyone else by connecting directly with key decision makers in his target market through LinkedIn. Over the past three years he has managed to build his network to over 7,000 contacts and in doing so he has successfully made thousands of dollars for himself and the clients he has worked with.
This article was originally published by Jeff Bullas
Published: May 20, 2014
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