“What’s The Point of LinkedIn?”

3 Good Reasons Why Spending Time on LinkedIn Can Be A Good Thing For Your Business 😀

There’s always going to be some people who love LinkedIn and some that don’t. And on one of my recent training courses, one of the attendees told me she had worked with companies who questioned the point of LinkedIn and any time invested in it.

Clearly, I am a LinkedIn fan, but I also understand that you should question the things you invest time and resources into.

Like any marketing activity, you shouldn’t spend time on LinkedIn without having an objective and success criteria to monitor against. So its relevance to you should be dictated by your definition of success.

What’s your definition of LinkedIn success?

But whatever your objective, here are my top three answers to the question ‘What’s the point of LinkedIn?’ – and do let me know if you have more!

➀ It’s FREE!

This is my fave! I mean why not take the opportunity of having a free online presence for your business which helps you get found on Google and LinkedIn? Try it: Google yourself; I’d be surprised if LinkedIn wasn’t on the first page of organic results.

While there are paid account options, you can easily manage with the free version. You can still connect with relevant people and build good quality relationships by posting and sharing great information and ideas.

My advice is that if you are going to be on LinkedIn at least ensure your profile is tip top, represents your professional brand and presents you in your best and brightest light.

For me, your LinkedIn profile is the first step in getting your dream clients coming to you. Check out my article here on about updating your LinkedIn profile

➁ It’s great for organic lead generation

LinkedIn makes it easy for potential buyers to check you out – it’s suggested that 57% of the buying process happens before a potential purchaser even contacts you, having done their research and supplier listing first.

Getting found on LinkedIn involves being active on LinkedIn, which in turn drives potential prospects to your profile, where of course you explain what you do and how you help. I know many people, myself included, who have generated opportunities from posting and engaging in conversations on LinkedIn.

My advice would be to be consistent on LinkedIn. Take time to engage with your network, share your advice and expertise, respond to questions and posts; take part in discussions, tag your connections in threads that could be useful to them, share other peoples’ requests for help, and connect with people who are interested in what you post (always with a personalised invitation though thanking for engaging).

➂ It’s great for referrals!

As one big database and search engine, LinkedIn is a focused way of networking that saves hours. I have a client who used to spend lots of time networking in the hope of meeting people who could introduce her to potential clients (the clients themselves were unlikely to be found networking). I quickly showed her that LinkedIn could get her much closer to those people, with far less time invested and in a much more targeted way.

It always surprises me how many people don’t connect to their customers and clients. So my advice is to connect with your clients as they are likely to be the best referrers for your business. Also connect with people in your target audience as this opens up the opportunities to identify potential 2nd degree connections they may know and would be happy to introduce you to.

Your thoughts?

What’s your favourite aspect of LinkedIn or what frustrates you most about it?

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Want to attract more of the right clients using LinkedIn? Know your ideal clients are on LinkedIn and feel you “𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑏𝑒 𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑡” but have no idea where to start?

Let me help you unlock the massive potential LinkedIn offers to attract, nurture and win new business. If you think you waste too much time on LinkedIn while trying to generate leads, connect with me on LinkedIn to chat about how I can help.