In top 5% of LinkedIn profile and 0 clients later...

Let's get that link to LinkedIn
Wyteria Jacobo | LinkedIn

I would drop in some testimonials right in the background box or in the experience section.

"Wyteria helped me get back 40 lost customers and we made our sales target for the year!"
- Bob Happy/ Happy Time Pizza

I honestly believe it's a marketing ploy by LinkedIn, and a brilliant one.

Forgive me, but I'm confused.

What Criteria have you met to be in which top 5%?

Hope that gets you thinking...

Regards


Fraser

Check this out:

"But still, there I was "one of the select 5% whose profiles have been among the most viewed". I'm thinking I'm pretty special. That is, until I did the math and realized that I am the top 5% of LinkedIn's entire registered user base. More specifically, 200m people, which means I was one of 10m people to receive this mail. To put it in perspective, that's the size of the population of Greece, or Portugal or Rwanda."

Hey, look at me! I'm in LinkedIn's Top 5 percent | Diane Tuman | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

I suppose it would depend on your market, but in my experience LinkedIn is best used for finding people you should reach out to and keeping tabs on them. I use LinkedIn a lot, but getting leads to contact me from there has been an absolute dud. Probably because the people I want to contact are far too busy to be trolling around on LinkedIn looking for a service provider. Here's a method I use for using the site proactively.

Find the companies you want to reach through their search tool or another source (trade show, business database, mailing list, whatever) and go to the advanced people search page on LinkedIn. Plug in the company name and put a keyword like "marketing" or "CEO" into the title field. Then click Search.

Odds are it won't show you full names in the results, but don't worry you can still get them even if they're not in your network. Click the person with the title you want and look at the right sidebar. It has a list of people others have clicked on. Pick someone who has a similar job title at the same company and click on it. Like say you want to talk to a marketing manager at XYZ company and you see someone with the title sales manager. Click on the name and look at the same sidebar for the first name and/or title of the person you just clicked away from. For me, 4 out of 5 times it will have the full name you want. Once you have the name, you can contact them by phone or direct mail.

If you want to email, check the contact information or press releases on the company web site for email addresses that show the format. For example, if the person's name is Mike Smith and you go to the site and see the name Jane Doe with the email address jdoe@xyzcorp.com, Mike's email address is probably going to be msmith@xyzcorp.com.

In my experience, since people use LinkedIn to network for jobs, the information is much more accurate than some database or list of names compiled by a third-party. If someone gets a new job or suddenly becomes unemployed, they're going to update their LinkedIn profile right away, whereas a third-party database may only get updated every few months at most.

The top 5% thing is a bit of a weird thing that LinkedIn is doing. They are basically stating that in the category that "LinkedIn" sees you as, you are in the top 5% of that mysterious unknown category.....so it could be for accountants that are viewed by barber shop owners....

As for 0 clients....it shows you as having 500+ connections....either you work at a company with 500+ other people, you have 500+ family members that you are connected to....

OR>>>you have 500 possible clients that you have direct contact with through LinkedIn. If those 500+ connections are not people that you can sell services directly to, then you need to figure out which ones are useful to keep because you can use their connections to get clients or they are not useful and as such do not need to be connections.

LinkedIn as a lead generation tool works in one of three ways.....

First way, join groups, post articles, information, answer questions etc in hopes that someone sees that you are knowledgeable in a subject that they want more help or are will to pay for services...

Second way, you are in an industry that servers an industry that is LinkedIn capable and know how to use the platform well enough to find your services/company. (this is few and far between at the moment).

Third way, you actively use it to find clients by joining groups, messaging people, making connections etc...This by far is the best approach to LinkedIn even if it is starting to get a bit over used....

In any case, if you are just thinking that having a profile will get you clients....you are mistaken...

Wyteria,
Here are some notes on your profile.
#1 - Who do you want to view your profile? Business Owners? Professionals? If so, you need to market to them, directly. You need to think like them. What are they looking for?

As a small business owner, I want someone who can walk in the door. Understand exactly what I am trying to accomplish, and how to do it.

Then, I want to know that they are a proven Expert, with Proven Results, from Real Business Owners, like myself.
I want to know that you have done it over and over and over again, and that you have testimonials and references.

Basically, I want to Know, Like and Trust you.

Unfortunately, at this point your LinkedIn Profile doesn't do any of that... YET! But it can! And, it's probably not very difficult.

As a business owner there are lots of Internet Marketing professionals out there to choose from, so the competition is even more tough. This means you have to market yourself to get people to your profile, then you have to convert them.

Here is what I recommend... quick list.
#1 You didn't include a link to your profile in the post, so I looked you up on Google. The only link I found, didn't work, which meant I had to go into LinkedIn and do a search. Opportunity #1... Build out your own online portfolio of sites that link back to your LinkedIn Profile or blog.

#2 Your headline could use an update "Local Marketing Specialist Anywhere| Direct Response Expert|Copywriter|Lead Generation Consultant|"
* I would remove the "Anywhere". I'm not sure why you have that in there. It's a little strange. Sure everyone knows you can hire someone virtually to do this, so why bother putting in your headline? Additionally, 90% of your business is probably going to come from your own local market, so use that to your advantage.
* The text "Expert|Copywriter|Lead" is one long text string. LinkedIn isn't a smart search engine. As a result, you aren't going to rank for any of those keywords. Separate the words with a "space+pipe+space".
#3 Make your LinkedIn Picture a Head and Shoulders shot. No one wants to be looked down on, especially an ego driven business owner. You're an attractive lady. Own that!
#4 Your Contact Information does not include a phone number or email address. We are 2nd Degree connections and I can see what you have listed. Make it easy to find your contact information everywhere, in your Summary, Contact Info Box, and even Job Experience.
#5 I would rewrite your Summary. You are selling your services. As such, one way to write your profile is from a Business Solutions approach... I solve these business problems using these tools..." You summary is full of keywords, not solutions and expertise.
#6 LinkedIn allows you to add Rich Media to your Summary. Take a look at my profile summary, Jonathan Duarte | LinkedIn . Notice the images with links to blog postings, slideshare documents, etc. You can put links to YouTube videos, documents, ebooks, whatever. These documents create a Professional Portfolio, which builds Authority, Credibility, and Trust. Showing that you have dealt with similar business issues and solved them using different techniques, says you know what you are doing.
#7 The New LinkedIn profile also includes company logos for the companies that you work for. I assume Peak Profits is your company. If so, add it to the LinkedIn database by making a company page. Then, upload a logo. It will show on your profile, so that your company looks more established rather than one person.
#8 Recommendations - You need these. At least 5-10. Business Owners are going to review your profile before signing a contract. They want to know that you have done this before. It's your job to Prove it. Business Owners don't like Risk. Make it Easy and Reduce the Risk of working with you.

Hope that helps get you started.

#7

Wyteria,
I'd put a statement more simply how you can help businesses. I'd also have your contact details at the top - phone and email. It's the same old story that people don't scrowl down for the details.