LinkedIn Training – Dennis Brown
SUMMARY
In this episode with Dennis Brown, a LinkedIn expert, he is going to discuss all about about LinkedIn and how to effectively engage with content and also expand business connections. LinkedIn is a key environment that decision makers are all using so it is important to utilize it properly.
To be successful on LinkedIn and other social media platforms, one must remember to focus on cultivating relationships and delivering value. When you do that, opportunities are going to arise.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
LinkedIn is a target rich environment. Presidents, directors, managers, and decision makers within organizations are all on LinkedIn.45% or 50% of all of those users at LinkedIn are decision makers.
LinkedIn is a B2B professional network. It has over 500 million users worldwide.
Sending a personalized connection request can double or triple the results in getting people to connect with you compared to just sending a generic one.
That gateway to establishing a business relationship on LinkedIn is to get connected.
You either need to be a first level or a second level or a group level connection with your target market to start communicating with them either through some LinkedIn Pulse articles, LinkedIn updates.
Using content is an excellent way to start getting in front of your target audience and develop a relationship with them.
Statistically, B2B contents are shared twice as much on LinkedIn as it is on Twitter.
Deliver content through LinkedIn messaging to develop a relationship and differentiate yourself from other salespeople on LinkedIn.
To have success, you need to become more of a farmer and investor, not a hunter.
Slow down the process, focus more on relationships, become very relevant to your target market using the different tools that LinkedIn provides you, and opportunities are going to arise.
When you’ve cultivated a relationship with someone, sales happen easily.
TRANSCRIPTION: LINKEDIN TRAINING – DENNIS BROWN
Kamala Chambers
On this training Tuesday, we’re going to be talking about LinkedIn training and how to use LinkedIn for your business.
Luis Congdon
Hey Thriving Launchers, today’s guest is an expert on LinkedIn training.
We’ve brought Dennis Brown to show you how he’s closing 5,000 – 20,000 deals using LinkedIn purely organically. How would you like to use LinkedIn organically? Tune to Dennis Brown today to learn that.
Hey, Thriving Launchers, today, let’s talk about LinkedIn training. It’s an untapped resource by many people, but today, we have a special guest for you to help you tap into that gold mine.
Dennis, are you ready to launch?
Dennis Brown
Let’s do it!
Luis Congdon
All right.
Why is LinkedIn training even relevant? I don’t know a lot of people using LinkedIn personally. A lot of entrepreneurs and social media people don’t talk about LinkedIn but then, I met you, and it’s compelling.
Let’s just start off. Why should people even be using LinkedIn? Why are they missing by not using it and having a LinkedIn training?
Dennis Brown
Wow. That’s a loaded question.
Let me start with this.
Target Rich Environment For LinkedIn Training
Dennis Brown
If you’re in the B2B space, selling to another business and you’re not on LinkedIn, you’re missing the boat because it’s a target rich environment. What I mean by that is C-level executives, vice presidents, directors, managers, decision makers within organizations, within businesses, are all on LinkedIn.
I think the status is about 45% or 50% of all of those users at LinkedIn are decision makers. They’re huge. They control budgets. They’re the gateway to opening up the door to be able to sell and develop relationships with companies that you may never be able to reach out to, connect with in any other medium including Facebook, Twitter or otherwise.
Kamala Chambers
It’s such an important tool and an amazing thing to look at because other social media platforms are not business focused; per say you have to do more boasting or it’s more about your personality.
I’d love to hear about some ways you can start to reach out to those other businesses.
Dennis Brown
Yeah, sure.
Professional LinkedIn Training
Dennis Brown
LinkedIn is exactly that Kamala. It’s a B2B professional network. It has over 500 million users worldwide, and LinkedIn is very different than Facebook and Twitter. For those of you that haven’t experienced it yet, the conversations there are all business-oriented.
You’re not sharing what you had for lunch, and you’re not talking about your family outings, but that’s okay. Because, when people go on LinkedIn, they’re ready to buy or they’re doing research on buying decisions, or they’re hiring somebody, or they’re sourcing some product or service.
When you have a LinkedIn training, they make it pretty easy, right? You can connect. It’s called connecting. You send a connection request to somebody that you’re looking to connect with, and there are some right and wrong things you do there.
LinkedIn Training On How To Connect
Dennis Brown
For those of you that have a little bit of experience with LinkedIn training, the last thing you want to do is you don’t want to send a generic connection request where it just sends out that old, “Hey, I’d like to add you to my network.”
The right way to do it is to do a few sales intelligence. Go on to their profile, peruse their profile, see what you have in common whether it’d be geography or some common connections, groups, or some influencers you followed. Then, gather a little sales intelligence, and then craft a short custom connection request.
If you’d like me to share, I could kind of share something like that with you, Kamala because I think it’ll go in the context.
Kamala Chambers
Yeah.
LinkedIn Training On The Right Way To Connect
Dennis Brown
If I was reaching out to you and we had no relationship, I would look at your profile, and I’d see we obviously have Luis in common. We probably have some groups in common.
And so, at that point, I would reach out, and I would say, “Hi Kamala. Congratulations on all your success! I see we have several connections in common like Luis. I also see we’re involved in some of the same LinkedIn groups. I’m curious if you’re open to connecting. Cheers! -Dennis.”
LinkedIn Training To Triple The Results In Getting People To Connect With You
Dennis Brown
The difference between sending a connection request like that versus a generic connection request can be double or triple the results in getting people to connect with you. It literally could take 15 – 30 seconds to create something like that, but the impact could be huge.
Does that help draw a picture of the right way to connect way with people?
Kamala Chambers
It does.
I see here that that’s on the front end when you are connecting. You’re making those bridges between who you are and who you want to be in your circle of influence.
What are some ways you can use LinkedIn training to kind of take it to the next level to establish a business relationship?
Dennis Brown
Sure. Good question.
LinkedIn Training To Establish A Business Relationship
Dennis Brown
The gateway to doing that on LinkedIn is to get connected.
You either need to be a first level or a second level or a group level connection with your target market to start communicating with them either through some LinkedIn Pulse articles you could create or LinkedIn updates or messages that you can send to them.
The only people you can directly message on LinkedIn are your first level connection.
LinkedIn Training On First Level Connection
Dennis Brown
A couple of ways you can start getting in front of your target audience and start developing a relationship with them is the same way people have been doing it successfully through blogging or other social media platforms. We use the content.
LinkedIn Training On Content Marketing
Dennis Brown
Content marketing is just as important on LinkedIn as it is on other platforms. The difference is the business related content.
Statistically, B2B contents are shared twice as much on LinkedIn as it is on Twitter.
That was kind of a surprising stat to me, but if you share a relevant content through your LinkedIn updates and LinkedIn Pulse articles that are targeted to that network, you’re obviously going to start getting some engagement. There’s a right way and wrong way to do that just like everything else, but those are a couple of ways you can do it.
LinkedIn Training On Groups
Dennis Brown
Apparently, you can also either start a LinkedIn group or engage within other LinkedIn groups. LinkedIn has over 2 million+ groups, and they’re all very niche oriented.
You can either create a group or join some of those groups, and you can engage with the members of those groups.
LinkedIn Training On How To Listen In And Get The Tone
Dennis Brown
For example, if you’re going after HR managers, you would find groups associated with those HR managers. You would join those groups, and then you would first listen. You want to learn a little bit about that group. You want to look in and get the tone of the group, and what’s happening.
From there, you could start participating in conversations directly with HR managers, and then you could naturally start contributing, posting, and creating your thread just like any other groups.
Those are a few ways you can start to engage with your target market. My favorite way, do you want me to share that one with you?
Kamala Chambers
Heck, yeah!
Luis Congdon
Of course, of course.
Dennis Brown
Wow, I thought I lost you there for a second.
LinkedIn Training And Nurturing Campaign
Dennis Brown
My favorite way is to do what I call a LinkedIn nurturing campaign. What that consists of is if you were someone on my target market, the first thing I would do is reach out and connect with you. That would be number one.
And then, once we connected, I would send you a series of messages going back to what Gary Vaynerchuk made very famous in his book, the Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook. I would go back to delivering value, providing you a series of messages that were very value-driven and very relevant content.
LinkedIn Training On Differentiating Yourself From Others
Dennis Brown
If you were that HR manager, I would be delivering content to you through your LinkedIn messaging platform to develop a relationship, and an effort to differentiate myself from all of the other salespeople on LinkedIn that are just out there trolling for a commission.
I’m positioning myself a little bit more as an authority, as a resource, as a trusted advisor as opposed to just another salesperson who’s out there looking for a deal. Does that make sense?
Luis Congdon
It makes complete sense.
What I love about this, ever since I’ve met you, I’ve realized how powerful LinkedIn is.
LinkedIn Training On Finding A Working Relationship
Luis Congdon
I started using your method of reaching out to highly targeted people that I’d like to connect with, who I know that once we get into a conversation and interact on LinkedIn, there’s a significant potential for us to find a working relationship. It’s a relationship where they might want to purchase something or maybe I ought to hire them.
It’s true what you say that people on LinkedIn are thinking about business. They’re professional, so it’s very different and more targeted for business and business people compared to Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram where there are kids, people of all ages, and all sorts of posting. Just the mentality is very different. I think that’s very true.
I’m curious. When people are thinking about LinkedIn or what to do, are there any last wrap up tips here for the Thriving Launch community?
Dennis Brown
Yeah.
LinkedIn Training – Be Patient
Dennis Brown
You have to be patient. Most salespeople, marketers, and entrepreneurs were not very patient. And so, we like to treat social media like it’s Tinder. All of a sudden, it’s like we’re speed dating, and we’re just trying to get a deal.
What I’ve realized, I was that guy. A decade ago, I was that deal man. I was a hunter. I was not a farmer.
Dennis Brown
I promise you, the long game isn’t ten years. The long game can be a few weeks to a few months where you start developing relationships with your target market, but the results at the end are these.
I tell everybody it’s kind of like this.
LinkedIn Training – Be Like Oprah Winfrey
Dennis Brown
Rather than being Alec Baldwin, on the old Glengarry Glen Ross movie, Always Be Closing, you need to think about yourself more as like an Oprah Winfrey. Always be giving.
Everybody loves Oprah. Nobody likes that character in Glengarry Glen Ross.
Dennis Brown
I promise you.
Luis Congdon
I love that.
Kamala Chambers
I love that.
Luis Congdon
That’s so true.
One of the things you pointed out there is many of us are so focused on the short-term game.
Thriving Launchers, one of the things I’ve been working on is utilizing Dennis’s methods; going into LinkedIn, creating relationships.
What started to happen is I’m getting more and more calls, more and more leads, and these are some of the hottest points I’ve ever seen, which is fantastic.
LinkedIn Training On Cultivating Relationships
Luis Congdon
By the time you get on a call with somebody, and you’ve developed that relationship, and you’ve been using LinkedIn, they know a little bit about who you are and what you do. And so, when you’re on the call now, and you’ve taken some time to nurture that relationship, the sales happen very easily. The trust is there, and you’re able to do smooth work with the people that you’ve cultivated a relationship.
Undergo A LinkedIn Training
Luis Congdon
Thriving Launchers, if there’s anything to take away from this interview today is that you should be on LinkedIn and undergo a LinkedIn training. Make sure you have your picture there. Ensure that you have a bio.
You can look up Dennis’s bio. You can see how he’s done it. You can look mine up because Dennis helped me with mine, and you can use that as an example.
If there’s one takeaway I’ve gotten from here is it’s important for you to be in places where people are doing business, and LinkedIn is one of those places.
Thriving Launchers, we’ll see you on LinkedIn, and keep thriving you all.
