A while back I posted 3 Secrets of Using LinkedIn to Attract Grant Clients and it was such a popular post that I’ve decided to expand a bit on the topic. With 2011 drawing to a close, many of you that are interested in a career in nonprofit grant consulting are thinking ahead to 2012 (yay!) and all the possibilities that this can bring. Using social media correctly plays a huge part in getting clients for any business, these days. For my folks that are more interested in attracting grants, period, to their nonprofit – you can learn from this post as well. It’s all about attraction, my dear friend, read on!
Start With Your Profile
The whole point of putting yourself out there on LinkedIn is to become visible and credible – two very important ingredients in establishing yourself as THE sought-after expert. Starting with your profile, be sure to include a quality photo and a detailed work history highlighting specific jobs or volunteer roles you’ve served that play up the type of work you’re seeking. Update your status often (status updates are linked with Twitter so get a Twitter account too!) and complete all the information requested such as personal information and contact information. LinkedIn also allows space for you to list your website and other social media handles. Pay attention to the details too, now isn’t the time for typos.
Build Your Credibility
Invite people to connect with you that make sense. I touched on this in my earlier post. You want to be selective about inviting people to connect with you and here’s where the importance of belonging to the correct LinkedIn groups lies. Participation in the same group always allows you to invite a connection – it means that you’re both interested in the same thing. So, just as you’re working on your connections, begin participating in groups where members could be turned into customers. “Expert” status is deemed as 500 connections or more. Go easy on your connections though. Just because you and your new buddy belong to the same grant writing group doesn’t mean they want a hard sale from you. You can attract flies with a little bit of honey. Which brings me to my third tip…
Don’t Be a Bullhorn
Only post content that is meaningful to your groups. Have a great blog post on helpful tips you’d like to share with your group? Awesome – insert that bad boy link into the discussions tab. Want to begin a conversation and get group members involved? Ask a question pertaining to your expert subject matter such as, oh, grant writing. Remember, LinkedIn is seen as a method of sharing meaningful content and conversation and shouldn’t be used as a platform to hawk your wares. Again, when you contribute good, solid and helpful information, your credibility skyrockets and people will seek you out if they want what you’re selling. Play it cool.
Have questions about grant writing or want to learn more about how to begin (or colossally grow!) your own grant consulting business? Post them here and I’ll be glad to help.
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Sandy Rees
Fundraising Coach