But your connecting strategy is only one part of this issue. Even when you’re connecting with the right people, if you’re not staying visible and inviting conversations, you’ll struggle to build the relationships you need to win business.

Connecting: The Foundation for Quality LinkedIn Leads

If you want to generate leads on LinkedIn, you shouldn’t connect with just anyone. Connecting with random people on LinkedIn isn’t just a waste of your time, it can be dangerous for your business. The amount of followers or connections you have won’t be what helps you close sales. Who those connections are will be.

Sales Navigator will help you identify and connect with the prospects that will positively impact your network. Either they will directly lead to sales or they’ll be a doorway to connect you with that future sale. More importantly, they’ll help you connect where your leads are hiding: LinkedIn lurkers. Get a more detailed breakdown on LinkedIn lurkers here.

It might feel ambitious and even beneficial to think that “everyone” could benefit from your offer but that’s just not realistic. Even “everyone” in the tech industry isn’t a specific enough target to generate leads effectively. But, IT decision-makers wanting to integrate to the private cloud without compliance concerns is. It’s not just about who your prospects are but what pains you can solve for them.

Content Strategy for Targeted Lead Generation Quality

Once you’ve narrowed down your network, it’s time to do the same to your content. Bringing prospects into your network is one thing, keeping them engaged enough to stay there is another. You need to make sure your content is speaking to them directly, highlighting their pains and demonstrating a clear understanding of the solutions they need.

A great way to do this is with loaded polls. When done right, these polls can act as a core strategy for lead generation. These are polls that get right to the root of your prospects’ pain, inviting them to identify exactly what they need help with and giving you great insight to start conversations.

The key with loaded polls is to make sure you’re following up with poll voters within 1-2 days of their vote. Not getting the votes you need? Don’t be afraid to repost those polls to give people another chance to cast their vote.

Conversations: Turning High-Quality Prospects into Clients

From these polls (and other content you’re posting on LinkedIn), you’ll be able to start conversations with prospects ready to buy. This targeted approach is the key to mastering LinkedIn lead generation quality and winning more business. Even if somebody fits your ideal client profile on paper, they may not be ready to buy right now. However, bringing them into your network and giving them the chance to show their buying intent with loaded polls provides you with perfect insight.

Not sure if you’re targeting the right people in the first place? Get in touch with the PINAKL team for access to a lead generating connecting criteria and support.

The post LinkedIn Lead Generation Quality: Win More Business appeared first on PINAKL.

And the best part is, you don’t need to be outgoing or extroverted to benefit from them! Webinars allow you to connect with your audience in the places you both feel the most comfortable: your home, home office or a studio if you’re lucky. Wherever you’re hosting your webinar from, you can win clients with them.

Strategic Benefits of Hosting Webinars to Win Clients

Boost Reach: An Essential Step in How to Win Clients with Webinars

Since online events have no geographical limit, there’s technically no end to the audience you can reach with them. We still suggest keeping to your target audience when sending out invites. But you’ll have access to a global audience in-person events struggle to reach.

Strengthen Personal Brand (A Key to Winning Clients)

Webinars are networking events like any other. They invite people to learn from you but also to learn more about your values and brand without distractions from external influences. Webinars take your personal brand from something on a screen and turn it into something tangible for your prospects.

Generating Quality Leads That Turn Into Clients

Webinars provide lead generating opportunities before, during and after the actual event. Before, you can share posts and free resources to entice people to sign up. During, you should include regular CTAs to keep people engaged. And then after, you have the chance to follow-up with the people that attended and those who didn’t attend but still signed up.

Cost-Effective Strategy for Winning New Clients

Webinars are free for you to host and free for people to attend, removing yet another barrier that usually stops people from attending an event. It also means that if a webinar doesn’t go quite to plan, it will cost next to nothing to try again.

The Lead Generation Magic: How to Win Clients with Webinars

Leads can technically be generated at any point during the webinar process. Promoting your webinar could generate leads and even the webinar itself could create in-bound leads. However, your follow-up process after the webinar has ended is where the lead generating magic really happens.

Post-Webinar Follow-Up: The Action Plan to Close Clients

There’s two groups of people you can target with your webinar follow-up. The people who attend and the people who didn’t attend but still signed up. Attending a webinar demonstrates clear buying intent but just signing up does the same. There are plenty of reasons someone might not have been able to attend on the day. (meetings running over, personal emergencies, ect.) but the fact that they signed up shows they have interest. Your follow-up should appeal to this interest.

We broke down exactly how to win clients with webinars by setting up, running, and (most importantly) following up a webinar in this step-by-step guide. And, if you need a little help behind the scenes, get in touch with the PINAKL team. We’ll handle the promo, prep and prospect follow-up so that you can focus on delivering a stellar webinar and connecting with your leads.

The post How to Win Clients with Webinars: The Complete Strategic Guide appeared first on PINAKL.

Or…

It’s actually because you’re missing out on how to utilise both for a smart outreach strategy. What’s a smart outreach strategy? Stick around until the end of this article to find out. First, let’s highlight how you should be using the differences between DMs and emails to your benefit.

Developing a DM Outreach Strategy

How you should be using DMs is in their name: Direct Messages. DMs are better fitted for conversational, quick back-and-forth interactions – the kind that build curiosity. So, if you’re writing DMs like emails then can you really be surprised people aren’t responding? 

Social media is supposed to come with the promise of content that can be consumed quickly. Your DMs need to be sent with this in mind. Breaking down your offer into massive paragraphs or prioritising your pitch over building a connection is a waste of yours and your prospects’ time.

For more actionable ways to develop genuine connections, check out this guide on how to build rapport with prospects and clients.

Crafting an Effective Email Strategy

Emails will always feel a little “old school”, but there’s a good reason for this. Unlike social media, email doesn’t rely on an algorithm or demand an instant response. People are more likely to open a detailed email since they can browse it at their leisure. And, if you’ve built your email list right, you’re talking to a captive audience.

However, even with a captive audience (people that have already shown previous interest), the subject line of your email is crucial. It needs to create urgency and curiosity without using false or misleading statements. Not only do you risk angering people with these kinds of subject lines, you also risk that email being sent directly to their spam folder.

Combining Your DM and Email Outreach Strategy

Here is where we get to the smart outreach strategy that combines both DMs and emails. In a nutshell, you want to be using DMs to get your foot in the door, to make the essential first connection with your prospects that gets a conversation going. 

Use DM outreach to:

• Make an introduction
• Create curiosity
• Build rapport
• Nurture the conversation

Once you’ve established this connection and built curiosity then you can ask for an email address to share more in-depth information. 

Use email outreach to:

• Share resources such as how-tos or breakdowns
• Share webinar replays
• Offer more information about your service

The reason this is the smartest way to utilise both DM and email outreach is because it establishes familiarity with your prospects before you bombard them with information. Even if it’s information that will benefit them, no one wants to have their inboxes filled with unsolicited sales information.

Ultimately, the most successful DM vs email outreach strategy doesn’t pit one channel against the other, it uses them as a cohesive unit.

If you’re struggling to make that initial connection, get in touch with the PINAKL team. We’ll put you in contact with your ideal prospects and help build the familiarity you need to move the conversation forward.

The post DM vs Email Outreach: A Smart Strategy to Combine Both appeared first on PINAKL.

It makes you start questioning everything – your business, your offer – when the only thing you should be questioning is your LinkedIn DM strategy. You could be making such simple mistakes that won’t take a moment to fix.

Don’ts of an Effective LinkedIn DM Strategy

• Don’t use generic greetings like “Happy Monday”
• Don’t start with “Hi [First Name]”
• Don’t reach out without knowing the prospect’s background
• Don’t copy and paste messages that feel automated
• Don’t connect and pitch
• Don’t make the conversation only about you

Do’s for an Effective LinkedIn DM Strategy

• Do use details from their profile, posts or company content
• An effective LinkedIn DM strategy focuses on their interests, not your offer.
• Do create curiosity and keep the conversation relevant
• Do read the message out loud before sending (to test how natural it sounds)
• Do send messages to get to know the person, not to sell

Follow this DM Framework

We’ve already made it clear that your messages can’t feel automated. So, when we say to follow this framework, we mean to use it as a blueprint to create your own personalised messages.

Step 1: Curiosity

Only a small part of your message is going to preview in your prospect’s inbox. Those few words need to create enough curiosity for them to open the full message. That’s why generic ‘Happy Monday’ messages aren’t the most effective. Your prospects probably have inboxes full of those messages.

Stand out from the crowd with a unique, qualifying question or statement. Don’t go OTT with a promise you can’t deliver on but make sure your DM is one worth opening.

Step 2: Context

You don’t want to be writing email-length DMs but you also need to give your DMs a bit of context – the reason why you’re reaching out. This doesn’t mean sending a pitch or diving straight into your offer. It actually means sharing what brought you to their DMs in the first place.

Was it a post they shared or liked? A company or personal update? Keep things relevant to them and you won’t lose their interest.

Step 3: Clear next step

Again, don’t be pushy but also don’t waste anyone’s time. If someone is being responsive and engaging with you, get to the point. This still doesn’t mean sending a sales pitch, all you want to do is secure a meeting in the future.

You could even try double messaging people. In the first message, share why you’re reaching out and then use the second to propose a time and day to schedule a chat.

Building Rapport With Your LinkedIn DM Strategy

Implementing an effective LinkedIn DM strategy can feel like a fine art, but it doesn’t have to be difficult. But it doesn’t have to be this difficult. Don’t be afraid to be bold, just avoid being pushy. Guide people to the decision to work with you, don’t make them feel like they are being forced into it. 

If you’re still unsure on the right DM etiquette to follow, get in touch with the PINAKL team.

For a more comprehensive guide on using LinkedIn to generate leads for your business, check out this resource.

The post How to Write an Effective LinkedIn DM Strategy appeared first on PINAKL.

The truth is your content won’t win clients BUT it will put you in front of them and present the opportunity to start the conversation that will. So while you won’t win business on LinkedIn with just content, it is a vital part of your social selling strategy.

Your LinkedIn Content Strategy and Visibility

You can’t silently prowl LinkedIn and then pop up in your prospects’ DMs. Either you’ll have to spend a lot of time explaining who you are and what you do (boring!) or you won’t get any responses. If people don’t know who you are, they’re going to be much less likely to engage with you.

Posting regularly on LinkedIn helps you build a familiar presence. It inspires confidence in your prospects and makes it clear what you believe in. Two things people need to make buying decisions. For a deeper dive into how your content can get more visibility, you can learn more about how to beat the LinkedIn algorithm.

Developing a LinkedIn Content Strategy that Establishes Value.

The presence you’re building on LinkedIn can’t just come from any old posts. The act of posting keeps you visible. However, it’s the content itself that makes you relevant and worth paying attention to.

Your prospects are looking for solutions, not sales pitches. Your LinkedIn content provides this value by answering common questions, sharing transformative stories and challenging people to consider a different perspective.

People buy from people

Connecting and pitching doesn’t work on LinkedIn. That’s because people need a personal connection before they commit to a sale. They want authenticity and a belief in what they are investing in – beyond the pain you’re promising to solve.

All of that is difficult to summarise in a single message. So, instead, you need to spread it across the content you’re sharing on LinkedIn. Start conversations with your prospects in the comments of your posts, invite them to join you on your journey. It’s all about breaking down the digital wall between you and your prospects.

Content is important but it isn’t enough…

Content is the most visible part of your LinkedIn presence and it’s important to get right. However, this needs to be done alongside profile optimisation and effective outreach. For a complete, well-rounded LinkedIn strategy, get in touch with the PINAKL team.

The post Your LinkedIn Content Strategy: Get in Front of Prospects appeared first on PINAKL.

Personal stories stop your profile from being “faceless.” Yes, you might have a clear profile picture but what does that really tell people about you? On its own, it’s not going to build the relationships you need to successfully sell on LinkedIn.

That is what personal stories are for. It breaks down the barrier between you and your prospects with…

The power of personal stories on LinkedIn for building transparency

So many people put on some kind of front when they’re online. Since it’s a place where you can (mostly) control the perception people have of you, you don’t want to risk anything that could reflect badly on you or your business.

The problem with this way of thinking is that everything you post will always be 2D. Nothing will make it stand out from the millions of other users out there selling their services on LinkedIn.

Personal stories allow you to share your vulnerability without damaging people’s perception of you. You’re not admitting to any weaknesses but sharing what you learned from real stories in your life. 

Stories like this offer a look at you and inside your business people can’t get anywhere else. By sharing these relatable, transparent stories, you are inviting people to join your journey and this causes them to have a much more personal stake in it – which leads to a greater chance they will want to support it too.

How LinkedIn personal stories boost credibility

Personal stories give you the opportunity to increase your credibility through authenticity. It takes multiple touchpoints on LinkedIn for prospects to be open to a sale. The reason for this is because trust is an integral part of that.

The more people get to know you, the more they trust you. It’s just a fact! Especially if you can back up what you’re saying with tangible results and examples. However, just stating these results or examples won’t come across as very authentic.

That’s why personal stories are a great tool to build this credibility without just telling people you’re trustworthy. Instead, you’re showing them.

Emotional investment 

There are probably plenty of businesses out there offering the same or similar services than you. Price isn’t the only way to beat them. In fact, lowering your prices could have the opposite effect if that’s all you’re doing.

How much something costs is not as big of a decision maker as you might think. It’s actually more likely about the emotional investment someone has with a business, whether its values and message resonate with their own.

Personal stories quite literally share your story with your audience. They can learn exactly what you stand for and the personal relationship you have with it. 

Start sharing your story

No one is saying you should use LinkedIn like a digital diary. But your prospects do want to know the person behind the profile, they want to build a relationship before they sign on for any service.

If you’re still not sure how to make your personal stories as shareable as possible, you can find some great tips in this guide. Of course, if you still feel a little too intimidated or can’t find the words to express them, get in touch with the PINAKL team.

The post LinkedIn Personal Stories for Sales and Trust appeared first on PINAKL.

Understanding this will help you build a profile that is worth following/connecting with. To make things a little easier, we’ve collected the main reasons people follow/connect with profiles on LinkedIn. 

Inspiration

Even on LinkedIn, people will seek an escape. This escape could come from good news stories, motivational quotes or positive personal news. As long as it’s coming from your profile, it’s a good reason for people to connect with you.

However, your purpose on LinkedIn isn’t to be an inspirational page. That’s why it’s a good idea to include industry news and your own stories as part of your content. You are providing a positive feeling for your network while still keeping things relevant.

Entertainment

It’s easy for social media content to come across as flat. We’ve already covered how personal stories and anecdotes can be a source of inspiration for your network but they can also double up as entertainment – it all depends on the story and how you’re telling it.

Not every single post you share should be about your offer and even when it is, that doesn’t mean it has to be boring and jargon-filled. Every post you share should take your audience on a journey in some way. This is what will keep them entertained and more likely to follow/connect so they don’t miss out!

Education

After entertainment, education is probably the most common reason people will follow/connect with a profile – especially when the thing you are educating them on is a pain they may not even be aware they have. 

Tutorials, how-tos and walkthroughs are all great examples of educational content you can share. Not only are you giving people a solid reason to add you to their network but you’re demonstrating your expertise in a practical, tangible way. A bonus of this content is that it’s the kind people usually like to share on their own profiles, increasing the reach of your profile.

Become more than a connection in their network

The content you post should be a mixture of inspirational, entertaining and educational content. Focusing too much on one over the other risks your audience becoming confused when you suddenly switch to promoting your offer.

Keeping your prospects at the focus of everything you do on LinkedIn will prevent this from happening, no matter what type of connection you are aiming to make with them. If you’re struggling to find the balance that will build your network with the right people, get in touch with the PINAKL team.

The post Why should people connect with you on LinkedIn? appeared first on PINAKL.

Comments on your posts prove to LinkedIn that you’re a profile people want to interact with, making it much more likely that your content will be boosted and reach more feeds. 

How do you encourage these post boosting comments?

Add extra context to your post

If there is one thing you take away from this article, it should be: comments are content too. The comments you leave (on your own posts as well as others) are another chance for you to pop up in someone’s feed. 

For your own posts, you can achieve this by adding extra context. For some posts, this context can be a link to an article, blog or event – whatever is relevant to the topic of your post. Since LinkedIn wants people to stay on the platform as long as possible, it’s less likely to push out posts with external links. Adding the link to the comments section is a good way to get around this.

Alternatively, you can add bonus CTAs or thoughts as their own comments underneath your posts. Not only does this get the conversation started but it lets you keep the main post simple and encourages those who want to learn more to do so in the comments section.

Build rapport with your audience

Even the most well crafted post can still feel like it’s talking at your audience when you should be talking to them. For people to really connect with what you’re saying and who you are, you need to be engaging with them in the comments section.

No matter how badly your prospects may need your service, they still might not be open to a stranger sending them a DM. The comments section is where you can build this familiar report before any DMs are sent.

This will also be your chance to establish credibility. You can sympathise with people’s experiences or challenge their perspectives. Whichever path you take, the comments you share should be backed up by your knowledge and experience.

Stay visible on LinkedIn

It’s not only the comments of your posts that you should be focusing on. To increase your reach and become a familiar face, you need to be utilising the comments section under your prospects’ posts too. Regularly commenting like this will increase the chances of your profile being seen by your ideal prospects.

You should be applying everything covered in this article. Don’t comment just for the sake of it. This could be your one chance to make an impression on your prospects – the kind of impression that makes them open to one-to-one conversation. 

Commenting on LinkedIn like this might seem like a consuming task but the PINAKL team can lend a hand. We’ll help you stick to a consistent LinkedIn strategy that puts you in front of your ideal prospects.

The post Stop ignoring the comments section of your posts appeared first on PINAKL.

So, the question isn’t “Does everyone have a personal brand?” 

It should be…

Should you have a personal brand?

‘No personal brand’ is a personal brand. A limited or no digital presence comes across as unapproachable to your prospects and damages the legitimacy of your business. People are much more cautious about where they’re spending their money these days so pretty much everyone is doing at least a basic amount of research before committing to a purchase.

This research isn’t just comparing prices or service features. Your prospects want to know more about your values, why you do what you do – everything that gives them a better idea of the service they are investing their money into. Beyond the product or service, they want to learn about the legacy their purchase is helping to build.

You need a personal brand so that you communicate all of this to them without shoving it in their face in a single, overwhelming piece of content.

Your personal brand acts as bread crumbs your prospects can follow and pick up, learning along the way and bringing them closer to you and your business.

A single post will not build your personal brand

Why do social media posts go viral? Sometimes, there’s a solid strategy behind them – a user puts an original spin on a current trend and creates something never seen before. And, other times, all they do is post.

Yes, that’s how simple it can be to go viral. But that should never be your goal, not only because it’s an impossible goal to guarantee and replicate but because you don’t need to go viral to succeed online.

That’s where your personal brand comes in.

Building your personal brand is a long-term game. This means that everything you post has the potential to lead to client-winning interactions and conversations. However, building your personal brand isn’t just about posting, you also need to ensure your profile is optimised. Whichever posts catch your prospect’s eye need to lead them to a better understanding of you and your offer.

Start building your personal brand today

We live in a digital centric age; your personal brand is going to be built whether you like it or not. But, building this kind of legacy takes time – time you might not have when you are running your own business. Let the PINAKL team lend a hand. We’ll work with you to build a personal brand that resonates with your prospects and maintain it for you while you get on with what matters most: growing your business.

The post Does everyone have a personal brand? appeared first on PINAKL.

So, why isn’t it working?

You’re making it all about you

Just because it’s your personal brand doesn’t mean it should be all about you. Yes, you should be sharing personal stories and milestones but everything you share and every interaction you have should come back to your audience in some way. 

When built the right way, your personal brand has the power to invite people on your journey – giving them a personal stake in your success and making it more likely for them to invest in it.

Your promises are too vague

Do you save people time and money? You’re not the only one. Vague promises like this prevent your personal brand from making a connection with your audience. They do nothing to differentiate you from people with similar services. 

For your personal brand to build credibility and reliability, your offer needs to reflect this in strength and confidence. People have become very conscious about how they’re spending their money so get specific to reassure them that it will be money well spent.

You’re trying to sell to everyone

Your target audience is not ‘everyone.’ No one’s target audience is ‘everyone.’ You need to have an unwavering belief in your offer to build a confident personal brand, but targeting everyone doesn’t convey this belief. 

Instead, it communicates to your audience that you don’t actually know who you’re trying to help so you’re throwing a net out, hoping it reels someone in. You need a clear idea of who you’re talking to so you’re speaking to them directly every time. 

You’re not present for your audience

Are you posting and ghosting? Your audience will never get to know you if you’re not around. Sure, you might have just dropped a post about a really exciting business development but people want to know more.

Encourage this curiosity with CTAs that direct people to reach out, specifically by commenting on the post. Not only do these comments help boost your posts but it gives you the chance to start one-to-one conversations with potential prospects and share even more value.

You’re too impatient

You can start building your personal brand at any time but it won’t take off overnight. You have to stay consistent no matter the response. Monitor engagement and adjust as needed but don’t make it a building block of your personal brand.

It’s tempting to drop off when you’re not getting the results you want but that will only make it harder when you eventually come back. The good news is that you don’t have to build your personal brand on your own. The PINAKL team can help you build, maintain and monitor your personal brand so you can dedicate more of your time and effort to those client winning conversations.

The post 5 ways you’re putting people off your personal brand appeared first on PINAKL.