It almost physically hurt me when I found out from the Infusionsoft Small Business Market Research Sales & Marketing Report that only half of small business owners use LinkedIn to get new clients for their business. My hope is that this post will convince some of the other half that they have been misled by some common misconceptions about LinkedIn and have probably also missed to follow LinkedIn’s constant growth (now over 590 Million users).
Not convinced you need to use LinkedIn for your small business? Let me debunk the #1 myth about this professional platform for you.
#1 LinkedIn Myth: LinkedIn is only for Job Seekers
Yes, when LinkedIn first launched in 2003 their goal was to create a platform for professionals in transition. And yes, the biggest chunk (55%) from LinkedIn’s revenue still comes from talent solutions (recruiting tools for HR).
Truth: But today, LinkedIn has over 500 Million users. If they were all looking for a job we’d have a serious problem. No, they are using LinkedIn to network with like-minded professionals, stay up-to-date with industry trends and develop relationships with new leads who could become customers. LinkedIn has become a sales & marketing platform in parallel to being a hiring tool.
Now that we know that LinkedIn is not full of desperate job seekers, let me debunk another myth related to the target audience on LinkedIn.
#2 LinkedIn Myth: LinkedIn is only for big B2B Businesses
Yes, B2B Businesses do really well on LinkedIn. According to the B2B Marketing 2016 Benchmarks, Budgets & Trends by the Content Marketing Institute, LinkedIn drives more than half of the traffic to B2B Blogs & Sites.
Truth: But it doesn’t only apply to B2B! Start by analyzing who your client is and answer these 3 questions:
- Is he or she employed?
- Is he or she running his/her own business?
- Is he or she decision maker of a bigger company?
If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then there’s a good chance that you will find your client on LinkedIn.
Services or Products?
When we think of Consumer products we usually think of Facebook or Instagram. It’s easier to sell there because it’s visual. So as a rule of thumb, anything that’s visual definitely belongs on Facebook. But that doesn’t mean that LinkedIn is only reserved to service based businesses or entrepreneurs. The other day the owner of a start-up asked me if I thought that LinkedIn would be a good place to market his luxury smart watch ($50’000 a piece). Yes, given the typical audience on LinkedIn (employed, between 30 – 65 years old, higher average income than on any other platform) I told him that I thought it was a very good idea 😉 So LinkedIn works also for products, it just depends a lot on what you’re selling (baked goods and home made jewelry won’t do very well).
Conclusion: Who should be on LinkedIn?
- B2B Companies
- B2C Companies if the product is attractive to the LinkedIn audience
- Entrepreneurs & Small Business Owners who offer services to an audience who’s present on LinkedIn (answer the 3 questions above)
- Entrepreneurs & Small Business Owners who sell products that are attractive to the LinkedIn audience
- Job Seekers
- Recruiters & Hiring Managers
Create your profile or update your current one
If you don’t have a profile yet on LinkedIn, what are you waiting for? And if you already have one, it’s probably time to update it a little! It shouldn’t read like a resume, but more like your website’s About Page.
Attend my webinar to find out if you’re leaving money on the table by not using LinkedIn!
I invite you to attend my free training webinar in which I also talk about who LinkedIn is for (and who it isn’t).
Here are some of the things we cover:
- The 4 Main Reasons Why You Should Be Using LinkedIn
I’ll give you a hint: LinkedIn is where the money is 🙂 - Whether LinkedIn will work for you
There’s no point in being active on a social platform if your ideal clients are not hanging out there. Attend this workshop to find out if you’re leavng money on the table… or if LinkedIn is maybe a waste of time for you - The number 1 mistake you & most entrepreneurs make on LinkedIn
Fixing this mistake has helped my client Melitta generate over $60’000 in revenue - How to position yourself as the expert – without being overly aggressive (it starts with the right mindset which I’ll be revealing on this call)
- The most effective and yet simple Lead Generation technique that only about 3% of LinkedIn users apply (that’s right, so simple & yet nobody does it)
- How to avoid wasting endless hours on activities that don’t produce results (remember, you also get my ‘LinkedIn Success Tasks Cheat Sheet’ as an immediate download when you sign up)
- Plus – the revealing case study of a consultant who landed a 6-month contract by applying my ‘Social Serving’ approach (this is the SECRET ingredient that I’ll be explaining in more detail on the call)
- And much more…which you can implement of immediately.
Click here to attend this Evergreen (recorded) 40-minute training for free!
So basically, almost everyone should be on Linkedin? Heck yeah, I’m all for that idea. The bigger the community, the better – for everyone!
indeed Fred 😉