Maximizing LinkedIn for Sales and Social Media Marketing: An Unofficial, Practical Guide to Selling & Developing B2B Business On LinkedIn. Neal Schaffer
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all of LinkedIn’s functionalities available for businesses to market their products, develop relationships that will help generate new business, and, ultimately, increase sales.
As you begin reading this book, please keep the following in mind: LinkedIn, as with social media websites in general, is always changing. Screenshots in this book may change on LinkedIn with no warning. Functionality that is explained in this book could be modified tomorrow. For this reason, please follow my Windmill Networking blog on social media strategy at http://windmillnetworking.com for the latest updates on LinkedIn and for additional information on utilizing social media for sales and social media marketing.
Before I jump into the heart of this book, I want to acknowledge all of those who have helped me create it. First and foremost, I need to thank my own family, headed by my lovely wife, Miwako, and my two children, Luna and Kyle, who have been extremely supportive of Daddy’s crazy social media-infused work schedule. My parents, brothers, and sisters-in-law have also added their emotional support and wisdom over time to help me become a more focused and better writer. I have many friends to thank for their support, including old friends from high school James Wang, Eric Tom, Phil Ting, Todd Lieman, Cari Gilbert, and Julie Giventer (who is also my rock-star executive assistant) as well as friends from Amherst College Chip Galaty and John Beck. I appreciate the support the Alumni Office has offered as well.
As with most of us who are very involved in social media, our close friends over time include many whom we met through tweets, posts, and social events, and my support team here in Orange County and Southern California deserves special recognition (in alphabetical order): Hank Blank, Morgan Brown, Joel Don, Jeffrey Friend, Matthew Gallizzi, Ryon Harms, Greg Johnson, Gina Johnston, Phil Lauterjung, Glen Loock, Jack Molisani, Theresa Moretti, Norman Naylor, Ken Nicholas, Eva Smith, Tim Tyrell-Smith, Louise Marcelline Taylor, Robert Watson, Eva Wong, and Todd Zebert. A special thank you goes out to my ConnectOC team of Lara Gallagher, Marieke Hensel, Albert Ko, Debbie Miller, Ted Nguyen, Tanya Salcido, Dean Soto, Courtney Thurman, Paul Tran, Diana Wei, and Christine Weijland.
I also have a number of Windmill Networking “tribes” and social media fans that I’ve gotten to know throughout the country and even overseas. As you read this, I believe you already know who you are, but to you I say a big THANK YOU!
Although it may seem peculiar to thank my customers, they have believed in and given me the opportunity to showcase—and sometimes further develop—my skills, and for this I am indebted. I cannot name everyone who has provided assistance and support, but as you read this I hope you’ll understand that I am deeply thankful for your investment in me.
This book is also an ode to the many sales managers I have had throughout my career who have provided me with the experience and intelligence to write a book of this caliber. I want to equally thank all of the professionals that have guided me to become a better sales person, sales manager, and, ultimately, business owner over the years, including Kiyoshima Mizushima (may your soul rest in peace) and Nob Hatta from Rohm Semiconductor; Rocky Chijiwa and Giuseppe Kobayashi from Wind River; and Derek South, Tom Siegel, Dave Williamson, and Jaison Dolvane from Espial. You have all helped shape who I am as a sales professional and for this I am most appreciative. It would be an honor if this book becomes one of your required reading assignments for sales training in whatever organization you may be working in now.
I would also like to acknowledge those LinkedIn employees who have engaged with me in a professional manner and understand that I am truly one of LinkedIn’s biggest evangelizers. To you, I present this book in hopes that more businesses finally “see the light” and join the LinkedIn Revolution. It is my desire that this book also helps spark a mutually beneficial relationship between us.
Last but certainly not least, this book could not have been finished as quickly as it was nor without the quality that it represents without the help of my production team: My Lead Editor, JoAnna Haugen, who was well worth the flight to Las Vegas to meet and hire, has provided me with a wealth of expertise and experience that has helped guide the production of this book at every stage; my Copyeditor, Louise Julig, whom I never met before handing her my manuscript yet built a trustful relationship that included thoughtful guidance in the book process as well as introducing me to JoAnna; and my Graphic Designer Tanya Maiboroda, whose expertise added so much to the cover, formatting, and illustrations found in this book.
Introduction
As you look at the title of this book, you may wonder how one book could combine two distinctly different corporate disciplines.
It is true that, regardless of the company, people who work in sales and marketing are often separated into different departments, but it is their combined efforts and achievements that allow a company to become and stay profitable. Professionals in these two areas of business are essential in generating leads, developing prospective business, and closing deals, while small-business owners and entrepreneurs often have to take on both of these roles simultaneously.
With social customer relationship management (CRM) software, everybody in the company can gain access to the social media conversations of both present customers and decision makers for deals in the pipeline, and it is more important than ever that these two departments, which are responsible for a given company’s revenue, work closely together. I have been responsible for the profit and loss for many organizations, and whenever the sales and marketing teams were in synch, everybody won, including our customers. Writing a book that can be used by both groups is a natural progression of social business.
Social media further blurs the line between sales and marketing because potential customers or new leads can interact with a social media profile that simply identifies a corporation rather than a single person in a particular department. Similarly, LinkedIn was not built for a specific discipline but is built on a unique platform that can accommodate business professionals who have a narrow work focus as well as those who work in many different capacities. For example, someone working in sales may find it worthwhile to use LinkedIn for gathering business intelligence and making contact with leads that are passed to them by the marketing department, while those in marketing might concentrate their efforts on generating discussions and leads in industry-specific LinkedIn Groups. Professionals representing small businesses or start-ups, or entrepreneurs who run businesses with extremely limited staff, may be using LinkedIn in a search for influential business partners who can help get them to the next level. Due to the interrelated nature of sales and marketing, it is important to understand how these two main outward-facing functions of a company can guide interactions on LinkedIn in a way that promotes the work of both the sales and marketing departments as well as the overarching mission of a particular company.
Though you’ll interact as an individual with others on LinkedIn, there is an opportunity for your company to be represented on the site as well. In addition to addressing how to establish your personal credibility as a sales or business development professional on the site, this book provides information on how to establish a corporate marketing presence on LinkedIn (such as in Chapter 5 regarding companies pages and in Chapter 6 regarding groups). It’s important to consider this hybrid approach because LinkedIn was originally created for professional networking by individuals, but there is an obvious advantage for companies that have both a corporate presence and an active employee presence on LinkedIn. Business is a fluid concept, and because so many positions require some crossover between sales and marketing—and because companies have a stake in having both departments represented online—it simply makes sense to address them both under the same cover.
I highly recommend that everyone read all sections of this book to better understand all aspects of the sales, marketing, and business development spectrum on LinkedIn. However, because this book addresses individual profiles as well as the corporate presence of enterprises, you may focus on those chapters that are most appropriate to your specific professional role in your company as follows, although all of the content will be relevant to small-business owners and solo practitioners:
•Chapters 1 and 2—Background information on the importance of social media in general, and LinkedIn specifically, for professionals [everyone]
•Chapters