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For many business professionals, LinkedIn is the first social network they join and I am thrilled to have seen LinkedIn evolve into an amazing and powerful tool which can help you grow your business.  At FUNNEL, Tom Skotidas from Skotidas presented on how he uses LinkedIn to grow his own business and shared his story with the audience.

LinkedIn Groups

An important and often overlooked part of LinkedIn for new users is LinkedIn Groups which allows you to start or join a conversation with other LinkedIn users.  It's worth joining a few groups of interest to you (LinkedIn allows up to 50 Groups to be joined) and reviewing the existing discussions before diving in.  This will help you understand the best way to engage with the existing community there.

Before you start your own conversation, see if the topic has already been raised.  If it has, you may have valuable input to provide in relation to that topic and by commenting there, immediately position yourself as a thought leader to the group!

The business benefits may not be immediately apparent, however over time they will materialise as the LinkedIn Group members learn more about you and your expertise.  You will find that LinkedIn and in particular LinkedIn Groups will provide the ability for you to:

  • listen for sales opportunities
  • nurture sales leads
  • close more business

I like Tom Skotidas's description of "Social Sellers" in his presentation.  Social Sellers are people who represent their company online, share content and ultimately generate leads for their business. 

You can join Tom's B2B Social Media Lead Generation Group here

Here are the slides as presented on the day:

Unleashing LinkedIn: How to Use Groups to Build Your Brand and Generate Sales Leads 
 

 

Final Thoughts

Did you attend FUNNEL?  Do you have any questions about LinkedIn and LinkedIn Groups?  If so, I'd like to hear your thoughts.  Drop a comment in on this post and lets discuss together.

 

ABOUT TONY: Tony Hollingsworth is an experienced Technology Executive, Digital Business Advisor and Online Community Management professional with over 20 years experience in the information technology and data industries working with leading players including IBM, Dun & Bradstreet and The Nielsen Company. Tony is passionate about the Internet and excited about the way it is changing society and business.