Wednesday, September 11, 2019

How To Make Connections On LinkedIn The Right Way

LinkedIn is a fabulous online networking tool that can help you grow your connections and business.
The problem is because it's online, there are a lot of lazy people out there who rely on the standard request:
"I'd like to add you to my professional network."
How many times have you received one of these requests to connect from someone on LinkedIn that you've never heard of before?
They're maddening, aren't they?
I'm not the greatest at remembering names, so I guess there's a slim chance that I may have met them at a conference or networking event.
The problem is, by sending LinkedIn's generic invitation if you're "unknown" to the recipient, it's probably going to be ignored.
Make it personal
It's my understanding that the only way you can personalise your request is if you click on "connect" from the person's LinkedIn profile from your desktop or laptop. You don't get the option when using the app.
From my point of view, if you want to connect with me, you need to tell me why.
There are a lot of folks out there that want to make themselves look well connected by sending requests to every Tom, Dick and Harry.
What's the point in that?
LinkedIn loses its effectiveness as a potential marketing tool if you're connecting to random people.
No. If you want to get the most out of it and want to connect to certain people, give them a damn good reason why they should accept.
How to be personal
It goes without saying your LinkedIn profile should carry a professional photo of you. Leave the ones of you cycling, running, or dancing on tables for Facebook.
Then you should always start your request with a greeting bearing the recipient's name (spelt correctly).
Tell them how you know them. Perhaps you have mutual acquaintances, follow each other on Twitter, or met at a networking event, conference etc.
Once you've done that tell them why you want to connect with them followed by a short description about what you do.
Finish off with a bit of flattery about their work (not so much that it's creepy or embarrassing) and sign off in a friendly way.
Personally, if I get the generic connection request, it's very unlikely I'll accept (especially if I don't know the sender) and I'm sure I'm not alone.
If you want to make an impact and some valuable connections, put in the effort to make it personal.
Sally Ormond, Briar Copywriting, is a professional copywriter, SEO website copywriter and advertising copywriting with extensive experience in both B2B and B2C markets.

How to Start A Career in Digital Marketing in 2019 | Digital Marketing T...

Networking in a Digital World

A dedicated support system is crucial for personal and professional success. Networking has and will play a vital part in your business. Face-to-face networking and handshaking is still a fantastic way to do business, but with the Internet at are fingertips and available everywhere, there's a new way to connect and communicate with people.
Networking is the process of searching for contacts. Not just to be a collector of people, but to get involved, get connected and to help build each other up. It may still be about handshaking, passing out business cards, giving your elevator speech, and wearing name tags, but we should view networking as establishing and maintaining authentic relationships.
So, why do we network?
Engage with people who will have a positive impact on us and our business.
  • Swap ideas and stories with others.
  • Find clients and partners.
  • Find a job or recruit potential employees.
  • Gain feedback and insights.
  • Get inspired!
  • Present yourself as an SME (Subject Matter Expert)
  • Generate and build leads.
  • Establish meaningful relationships, personally and professionally.
LinkedIn is a global social networking site for people in professional occupations. In a sense, it is a bit like Facebook - you create your own profile for others to see, but it is used for professional purposes. Members build a profile of their job history, interests and experience - an online Resume if you will - and 'connect' with former colleagues and people in their line of work.
Like most social media websites, your journey on LinkedIn begins with creating a personal profile. Many LinkedIn profiles are abbreviated resumes due to LinkedIn's professional tone, but with the new concept of Social Selling we need to think of your profile as a brand. Employers look for inside information on candidates such as professional interests.
10 ways to build you and your brand on LinkedIn:
1. Update your profile is the first step in marketing you and your business.
a. From the top toolbar, click Me.
b. Click View Profile.
c. From here you can take the time to edit your profile by adding education, experience, volunteer experience, and so much more. Click the pencil next to a section to edit, or click the more button (three dots) to access more features.
d. Make sure to save all changes.
2. Upload a Professional Photo. Make the first impression count, in about 6 seconds someone has crafted an opinion of you through your photo and your profile. You want your potential customers/connections to answer the following questions about you.
a. Are you trustworthy?
b. Are you someone I want to do business with?
c. Can I recommend you to my friends and clients/customers?
3. Create a standout Headline. Your headline is the important real estate that appears next to your name in search results. The wording of a headline may determine whether a new potential client searching through LinkedIn contacts you. Done well, your LinkedIn headline can be used to promote your brand statement, marketing message, most enticing expertise, and more.
a. This should not be your job title/description.
b. Why should people stop and take a closer look at you?
c. What impressions are you leaving behind?
d. What do you do?
e. Use keywords or core words. Make your headline fit with SEO, Search Engine Optimization.
f. Demonstrate real value to your potential clients, customers, etc.
4. Claim your LinkedIn Username: Personalize your LinkedIn URL, own your brand. You are the brand we are talking about, claim your URL, so that when someone searches for your name they will find your public LinkedIn page/profile. Visit your profile and select the edit public profile URL option.
5. Add Skills: When updating your skills section, make sure you use relevant updated keywords. For example, potential buyers/customers probably won't be searching for "cold calling", try to mirror your buyer's skills/needs.
a. Use SEO keywords.
b. Add up to 50 skills to your profile.
c. The skills with the most endorsements from your connections will be listed first.
6. Endorsements: Skill endorsements are a wonderful way to recognize your 1st-degree connections' skills and expertise with one click. They also let your connections validate the strengths found on your own profile. Skill endorsements are a simple and effective way of building your professional brand and engaging your network.
7. Write a summary: Why should you fill it in? For starters, it gives the reader a quick overview of who you are, what you do, what you are looking for and most importantly, what you can do for them. Think like your buyer, what's in it for me?
a. Demonstrate your expertise, make sure you include keywords.
b. Show them that you are a valuable resource.
c. Add a video, a minute video equals 1,000 words!
d. Include Call to Action Statements, this could include companies/clients you've helped, include your signature with contact information, keywords that are important to buyers.
e. Demonstrate the value you offer, be their solution.
8. Experience: This is the time you can treat LinkedIn like your resume. Add your previous and current jobs, making sure to include key industry words so that you will be found in searches. When you add who you worked for and you find their name in the drop-down list, your experience will then have their logo beside your name because they created a company business page.
9. Add Connections: On LinkedIn, the people who are part of your network are called your "connections". Connect with people with whom you have worked or done business with, or people with similar interests or work in your industry. You can ask someone to join your professional network by sending them an invitation to connect. LinkedIn encourages networking by showing you exactly how your connections are related.
10. Engage with your connections: Status updates are short messages that are typical of many social networking platforms. While posting updates on LinkedIn is like Facebook and Twitter, it's also different. From your LinkedIn home page or your Edit My Profile page, you can change your status update as frequently as you like.
Christina Williams is the owner of Savvy Tech Consulting, an Entrepreneur, a public speaker, Microsoft Office Specialist, Graduate School Student and a Social Media Enthusiast. Christina is a computer consultant/educator who trains small business owners to use Social Media to enhance their digital business footprint. Webmasters and other article publishers are hereby granted article reproduction permission if this article in its entirety, author's information, and any links remain intact. Copyright 2017 by Christina M Williams, Savvy Tech Consulting

5 Digital Marketing Basics You Should Know in 2019

Digital marketing consists of a lot of strategies. In fact, it's a holistic approach to do different types of marketing activities across different online platforms. These methods get upgraded on a regular basis as new technologies emerge across the globe. Therefore, digital marketing has grown significantly over the past few years. If you are new to this field, you may want to read the basics of digital marketing explained below.
1. Invest in machine Learning and Artificial intelligence (AI)
First of all, the artificial intelligence (AI) will be quite popular in the coming years. Machine learning is another important part of digital marketing.
In the near future, social media bots will play a great role as far as connecting with potential customers is concerned. So, you may want to give more importance to social media if you want to communicate with your customers in an effective manner. According to experts, about 85% of customers will interact with bots to get the information they need.
2. Share your videos on Social Media
In 2019, make sure you share your business videos across different social media platforms. Unlike the images or written content, a good video is more effective as far as grabbing the eyes of the visitors is concerned. This is really important if you are going to market on the leading platforms, such as Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, or Facebook.
According to the latest research, 80% of people like to watch videos on the internet. They don't want to read articles or blog posts that much.
3. Optimize your sites for Mobile Devices
In 2019, your marketing strategies should be focused on mobile technology as well. According to the latest Google algorithm, your site should be optimized for mobile phones or you may get a penalty from Google.
Nowadays, mobile phones are one of the most popular devices across the globe. The new year will grow the mobile video consumption by up to 30%. On the other hand, the demand for desktop computers and laptops will continue to decline.
4. Consider Mobile apps
In the world of digital marketing, mobile technology is the latest innovation. As a matter of fact, it's one of the most effective digital marketing tools in the here and now.
With the help of this cellular technology, you can compete with your competitors to stay ahead in the field. Without any doubt, if you have a mobile responsive website, you can grow your business to a large extent.
So, you may want to tap into the mobile apps as well. One such app is Whatsapp business. According to a source, mobile apps have generated $88 billion, give or take, in recent years.
5. Focus on the Customer Experience
For your business, customers play the same role your blood plays in your body. Therefore, it's important that you work on the consumer experience. This will help you increase your sales over time.
If your customers are satisfied with your products or service, they will keep coming back for more.
So, these are the tips that you may want to consider to improve your digital marketing campaigns in 2019.
DSDM is an ideal resource if you are interested in digital marketing training in West Delhi. You can check out their courses on DSDM.in.