Are you confused by how everyone seems to be growing their consulting business using LinkedIn – except for you? There’s a lot of noise out there but I’ve come across some simple, surefire ways to use LinkedIn to grow my business by leaps and bounds! Look, I understand, there is virtually no way to implement all the methods and strategies that are floating around of how to effectively use LinkedIn which is why I’ve boiled down the essentials and sharing them with you here.

How You Choose to Connect with Others on LinkedIn is Up to You. There is no right or wrong strategy to forward invitations to those connections on LinkedIn that you do or do not know. I certainly connect with those in my field of grant writing but I expand my network to include nonprofit professionals, writers, social media experts and other small business owners whose services that I might need at some point in time. Some folks are very protective of their connections but it’s my opinion that LinkedIn is all about making friends of friends. Unexpected opportunities are out there and how frequently you put yourself in a position to encounter them will determine how successful you are in using LinkedIn to drive new business.

Make Connections Without Even Trying. What you have heard is true – LinkedIn Group participation is a must. I foundered along on my own and joined a few groups here and there that were of interest to me and my business but I didn’t know how to use them to my advantage. The big secret of making connections via Groups? Participate! Don’t just join a LinkedIn Group and end up being an inactive member. You have to jump in and join the conversation. Belonging to a Group and not participating is like being at a party and standing in the corner facing the wall. You have to be open to conversation. Pose questions, answer questions and be visible. Your participation allows you to make connections with other Group members. You all have a shared common goal by being in your particular Groups.

Effectively Issue Invitations to Connect. When you find yourself interacting with Group members you often will be asked to connect or you can issue an invitation on your own – either way is acceptable in growing your network. When I send connection invitations within Groups I like to follow a certain protocol:

Introduce myself to them as a fellow Group member
Include language such “since the purpose of our Group is to network, I am extending an invitation to connect with you”
Add a value statement of some kind of how I can help them
Thank them and include my full name

My invitations overwhelmingly result in positive responses with many new connections. Why? Because people are open to connecting when there is a common ground, people are looking to build their own networks and membership in the same Group and having common connections establishes a baseline of credibility.

See how easy growing your business on LinkedIn can be? Learn the basics at first and then move on to more complicated measures to grow your network and to expand your opportunities.

If you’re ready to learn specific, laser-focused strategies for accomplishing your business goals on LinkedIn, you’ll love my more in-depth methods of effectively using this powerful social media tool to explode your grant consulting business. My monthly support group, clubGRANT, will feature specific tools, strategies, tips, resources and insider “how-to’s” of using LinkedIn and other online and offline marketing strategies. Check it out today!

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Founder and Principal
written by Marcie Wagner, July 22, 2011

Hi Betsy, I'd love to learn more. My use of LinkedIn has been exclusively to bounce ideas off colleagues on behalf of my clients; share tips of the trade for small non profits, and send prospective clients to my profile in order to learn more about my firm, read the endorsements of our work, and view my portfolio of work (they love it). But using LinkedIn to recruit new business has been elusive. I will make a point to carve out an hour each week to actively participate in my groups and see what bubbles up. Thanks for the nudge. M.

+1

LinkedIn Tips
written by Susie Amundson, Wise At Work, July 06, 2011

Hi Betsy.

Thanks for the tips about using LinkedIn. I attended a webinar by Lewis Howes (the LinkedIn guru) a couple weeks ago and he also emphasized the importance of participating! I love your analogy about standing in the corner of the party -- I think you just nudged me out of it :^).