LinkedIn Profile & Social Best Practices

LinkedIn: Driving Business Through Relationships

©2013 LinkedIn Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

Craig Canton Relationship Manager, Financial Services

LinkedIn Sales Solutions

LinkedIn: The world’s largest professional network

Billions of professional relationships

350M+ members

2B+ member updates per week

Corporate Executive Board 2013 – Winning The Consensus Purchase

Corporate Executive Board 2012 – New Decision Timeline

Harvard Business Review 2012 – Tweet Me, Friend Me, Make Me Buy. Decision makers are C-level

The buying process for major transactions has changed:

75% 57 of the decision making process is completed before a company is contacted

% 90 of decision makers say they never respond to cold outreach

% of people now use social media to gather information before making a business decision

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First Impressions Count

It takes just 1/10 of a second

for someone to make a decision about you!

Source: Assoc for Psychological Science – “How Many Seconds to a First Impression?”

“Do I really need a

LinkedIn profile?”

Here’s why you do…

Potential customers are

looking at your profiles on

LinkedIn (proactively and

reactively).

If this is what they see, there’s not enough

information to establish trust and rapport.

And they may very

well move on to other

things and never

respond to you.

This is a good LinkedIn profile. >

This is a good LinkedIn profile.

©2013 LinkedIn Corporation. All Rights Reserved. 11

Where do I start?

1) Upload a PROFESSIONAL Photo

Profiles with photos are 14 times

MORE LIKELY to be viewed than those without

2) Write a compelling headline

Make it descriptive who you are, what you do, and the value you provide.

Why? Your Headline gets MORE attention than a photo

Source: EyeTrackShop – Nov 2011

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3) Set Your Public Profile URL

Put it on your business card, and in your email signature file.

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4) Make it easy for people to contact you

Showcase you expertise. Convey your passion. Use “key words”.

Provide a “Call to Action”. Created with your end audience in mind!

Your background

Your company

Your passion

A call to action

5) Tell your “story” in your summary

Summary

As a sales professional, throughout my career I have always been passionate about building relationships

and adopting new concepts that better myself, my company and my client’s experience.

During this time, I have had the privilege of working alongside talented individuals at major companies,

such as ABN AMRO, Barclays and Credit Suisse in various offices throughout North America.

I now work at LinkedIn, as a Sales Solutions Relationship Manager, in New York City. LinkedIn has over

350 million members, and we continue to add members at a rate of two members every second! We

continue to strive to connect the world’s professionals, making them more productive and successful.

LinkedIn Sales Solutions affords me the opportunity to work with sales organizations to share how social

selling can generate sales opportunities that otherwise may have gone unnoticed. Social selling changes

the game by allowing users the ability to discover the sales insight necessary for a sales organization to

effectively engage prospects and close deals. This is made possible by leveraging LinkedIn’s flagship

product, “Sales Navigator.”

My areas of expertise include: B2B sales, prospecting, lead generation and relationship building, focusing

on the mid-market space.

If you would like to learn more about how we can transform your sales organization through social selling,

please contact me via LinkedIn message or at (212) 615-9674

Show your career trajectory. Demonstrate your successes. Use key words.

6) Update your current and past positions

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Turn your profile into an opportunity to showcase your brand:

Enhancing your profile visually

Adding content—like videos, presentations, and photos

7) Add rich media

8) Showcase your

education and let

viewers know that

you’re a professional.

Tap into alumni

connections. In

addition, your

fellow alumni will

be able to find

you, too.

9) Proactively develop your network Build trusted relationships which can support you professionally

Always PERSONALIZE your request to connect

Reach out in a friendly and professional manner – even if you

know someone well. You will differentiate yourself from your

fellow professionals with this ONE best practice tip!

DO:

Request to connect after

an initial conversation.

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10) Gather intelligence – Be prepared for every interaction

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10 Tips for Transforming your Profile

TIP 1

TIP 2

TIP 3

TIP 4

TIP 5

TIP 6

TIP 7

TIP 8

TIP 9

TIP 10

Add a photo

Write a compelling headline

Set your public profile URL

Add your contact information

Tell your story in your summary

Update your current and past positions

Add rich media

Showcase your education

Proactively develop your network

Gather intelligence

Tips for “Being Social”

Post content that your Network will find to be of interest or value.

Ask a question to solicit a response.

1. Share an Update

Best Practices for Status Updates

Aim to share one update per day. Types of updates to share:

An article that would be of interest to your network

An event you are attending

Asking a question

Offering “tips” – insights

Announcing something of importance about your company

2. Comment on others’ updates

Reach out to someone when

they’ve changed companies

Congratulate a contact who

has been promoted

Comment on an article that a

connection has posted

“Like” or “Share” an article

Monitor the activity of your network – so that you know

what’s important to them AND know what they’re doing.

3. Follow a Company to be notified of its activities

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4. Participate in Groups

Another source of connections is fellow group members.

Scroll down your profile to the Groups section. Click a

group’s name to open its group page and then select the

Members tab.

• Contribute to the conversation in a meaningful way

• Never give an unsolicited sales pitch

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5. Always be available, wherever, whenever

Any questions?

Contact information

Craig Canton

[email protected]

www.linkedin.com/craigcanton

(212) 615-9674

Go to lnkd.in/fins to learn

more about Sales Navigator

and how we can help your

organization

©2012 LinkedIn Corporation. All Rights Reserved. 32