How to use your LinkedIn profile to generate leads

As a social network dedicated exclusively to professionals, LinkedIn is naturally a very valuable source of business intel and new leads. However, it’s also a social network that can be more difficult to get to grips with and the more formal aspect can make it seem more daunting. If you’re yet to embrace LinkedIn as a way to generate leads for your mobile app business, SEO business or web design firm, read on for our simple guide to social media prospecting.

Step 1: Review your profile picture

Your LinkedIn profile is vitally important. Think of this as your virtual introduction. It’s the first thing that prospective clients will see so, you want to ensure that it highlights your experience and comes across in a professional manner.

Pick a profile image that will still look great on mobile devices and is instantly recognisable as you (a headshot is preferable).

Step 2: Craft a great bio

Your about summary gives leads the first snippet of information about you and what you can do for them so make it powerful. Use a keyword (such as mobile app designer or web design) early on in the text. Be succinct and shout out any notable achievements.

Step 3: Add all relevant skills and qualifications

List all of your skills in the skills section relevant to the services you’re offering. Add any industry accreditations and awards too so that prospects know you’re a pro.

Step 4: Request recommendations

Nothing is quite as powerful as a peer review in the online space so reach out to your contacts and happy clients and ask them to leave a recommendation for you. This is an activity that should become a regular habit as a steady drip feed of new recommendations speaks volumes about your credibility.

Step 5: Routinely share helpful, useful content

Your profile should be a dynamic space so schedule in time each day or every other day to share useful updates. Ideally you will create your own content to share regularly but, sourcing useful third party articles and adding your opinion also gets you into the news feeds of your connections. Ask questions and invite opinions, share polls and encourage your connections to ask you questions in the comments to boost engagement and trigger conversations.

Step 6: Take part in discussions

You can discover discussions by searching for hashtags or topics in the search bar. Contribute as often as you can, be careful not to be promotional – you want to be helpful to showcase your knowledge.



Step 6: Research your prospects

LinkedIn can make light work of the research leg work. You can use it to discover who fills key roles at certain companies and connect with them via LinkedIn. This is a very valuable tool if there are key decision makers and contacts that you otherwise can’t get hold of. Personalise your approach when sending a connection request. While this is more time consuming than having a template you can simply copy and paste, it is a more effective way to network and will yield greater acceptance rates.