Imagine having two seats at your organisation’s board table or your project’s board – one for the planet and one for the children.
In the prince2 project methodology a board is an equal number of customers and supplier representatives – that is, people who’ll receive the result of the project and those supplying the bits to bring it to be. I’ve seen this work well as the two important stakeholders have a voice.
Throw in the planet and the children and BOOM we’ve got the future represented. So simple. So sweet.
Thanks to BFry for the origin of these thoughts by Peta Kelly in this podcast {really worth a listen – go beyond the different language used and listen to the end}.
What do you like? What would you like to see? Shoot us ideas. Thanks
My aim is for brevity, clean design, clear credibility, interesting offerings, and having sites we use as examples to inspire others.
Thanks to Kimberley & Ryan for the inspiration and insight.
Quick LinkedIn Upgrade
I’ve a new LinkedIn look. It only took a few minutes thanks to quick creative from Canva (so simple!). Thanks to Fabien for the tip of the colourful ring around the profile photo to standout in a LinkedIn search.
What’s happening online?
Focused, fascinating & humane insights on leading virtual, flexible teams by Tim Buzza. #agile #lean #trust #remotework #highperformance #selforganising #futureofwork #tealorganisation #communication #inclusion #adaptable #mindset
Is LinkedIn that site where you added your CV then left it thinking “surely that’s enough information?”.
Perchance (cool word, hey?) you’re now wondering if through improving Linkedin you could attract prospective customers, clients, employers, or industry peers and media, or public speaking opportunities? Great question.
Perhaps you could also look more impressive to potential employers / peers / clients?
Maybe it’s all a bit…ughh… “Where do I start?”
Imagine…
* Having relevant people and business leads regularly contact you.
* Proudly forwarding your LinkedIn profile to others & displaying it on your email signature and knowing it is an impressive representation of your experience and great way to promote your skills.
* Those rare moments when a LinkedIn thought pops into your head that you feel happy knowing it’s setup well.
It’s possible.
Plus, you can do the necessary tweaks within 30 minutes to 3 hours (you choose).
I’m a big advocate for doing relevant tweaks quickly and getting on with great work.
Here’s how I increased views of my LinkedIn profile by 700+% ~
In January I averaged 1 view every day or two. I’d say 60% of people viewing my profile looked relevant to my business.
Tip #1 ~ At the start of February I added more words to my header/ tagline, Summary, role titles and descriptions. Words that would be used by people that I wanted to read my profile.
The views of my profile steadily started increasing and were higher quality.
Through April I averaged 2.5 views a day. The high in the graph below is the attention around the launch of my eBook.
Tip #2 ~ Mid-May I started self-publishing an article to LinkedIn once a week.
The articles I am publishing are increasing in quality and I’m starting to gauge the style and topics of interest to my LinkedIn audience.
I use Amy & Alex’s blogpost structure: “PDF” – Articulate the Pain first, then provide ideas on the Dream (vision of life with the pain eliminated or partly fixed), then explain the Fix (solution).
The articles take 3-5 hours to create and publish.
Tip #3 ~ Engage/Connect with people who show interest in your writing
Each time people like, comment or share my article, I learn more about my target audience’s interests and their point of view. I connect with people who’ve shown interest. This has made my newsfeed more interesting.
People liking, commenting and sharing sends my post to their network who may in turn wish to connect or like the posts (which then goes to their network). These actions continue to connect me with a highly relevant network.
In July, my profile views averaged 4.8 people a day, I had 5-10 new connection requests each week and people who view my profile are increasing in relevance. This is in part because I’m writing about topics I’m interested in, with my unique perspective – effectively I’m attracting people who are fascinated by the same topics.
I’d say 80% are relevant new contacts and I’ve a lovely automated online promotion and business development system.
In the past week I’ve been contacted by a new client (we’ve already started their great work) and to present as an employer branding expert to VP’s of large organisations at an event, and to meet with a VP of Innovation of another large organisation.
All from a post that gained 100 views.
LinkedIn views as at 23 August, 2016
Tip #4 ~ Engage with your target clients/customers/partners
Use the search bar to find relevant people for your work: new clients or customers, partners, potential candidates. Here’s how:
1. Search LinkedIn for each of these:
the same title as you, similar or more senior role titles (industry peers, leaders, and experts)
words relevant to your industry (for example, I searched for “Digital Transformation”)
relevant subject areas to your work
titles used by potential clients and customers
current and past colleagues
2. Scroll through the list and find people with interesting titles and photos that give you a good feeling (think: are you fascinated/interested to learn more from them?). Send them an invitation to connect. …For the rest of the steps, head here.
LinkedIn views as at 25 October, 2016
BONUS: Tip #4 ~ Engage in Groups
In early August, I topped the pops with 17 people viewing my profile in a day.
The background is that I spotted a post in a Group with huge engagement and rich comments on a topic that fascinated me. I instantly liked posts (that I liked) and connected on LinkedIn with the people who wrote them. Some connected and the leader who started the discussion is an expert who I’m now collaborating with.
It was so pleasurable to find so many people in one place who are interested in topics I am and I learnt a lot from their comments.
Finding groups and discussions that are relevant and rich takes a lot of time and effort. I’d suggest allocating 2-4 hours a week for 2 months to research and engage in Groups.
Tip: In your newsfeed look for ‘Trending in {Group Name}’. If it’s a topic of interest to you or your potential clients, look then for high numbers of likes and comments, and engage.
BONUS: Tip #5 ~ Connect with Media & Recruiters
In September I connected with local, high profile media in relevant industries and topics, as well as recruiters in relevant areas so we knew of each other. The bonus is that I’m now seeing a richer representation of what is happening in the industry through seeing the types of jobs advertised and for whom.
My newsfeed needs more tweaking now (I’ll need to unfollow some new connections) as the articles coming through aren’t as tailored to my interests. Generally, I’m having to do less to maintain a much higher level of relevant views.
Quantifying the gains & time savings
Since May I have had tens of thousands of dollars of leads come through LinkedIn that have converted to sales.
When I meet with people I look and sound a lot like my LinkedIn profile so there’s an ease-fulness to our work (there’s no shock from me looking or sounding different). This speeds up rapport and outcomes.
My profile on LinkedIn is available 24 hours x 7 days. It’s clear what I do and my perspectives and the topics I’m interested in are increasingly clear through publishing weekly articles. This means that press, potential partners, clients and influencers have a greater chance to find me and assess whether to work together.
People I meet are pre-qualified because they already understand the programs I run, the style and what I’m interested in (owing to the articles I write). This can save a lot of time and set expectations well.
When a contact calls me now they’ve often seen a recent article and will talk about the solution they seek framed in ways I’ve outlined. Again, a time saving.
More people are commenting on and challenging my perspectives. My thinking on many topics has expanded and I’ve greater contentment with my work as I’m having many more conversations with contacts who are interested to collaborate and add new dimensions to my thinking and learning.
My network is expanding through my writing and my LinkedIn profile to include people I wouldn’t have found simply through a LinkedIn search. Relevant people are finding me. This increases impact, leads and outcomes.
Over time with more connections and increased publishing on LinkedIn, the statistics and quality will continue to improve.
See where you’re at with your numbers on LinkedIn:
Scroll to almost the top of your screen
Choose “Profile”
Then click “Who’s viewed your Profile”
Keen to gain new leads and client opportunities by improving LinkedIn?
Block out time in your diary to update your profile.
This week I’m writing about strategic social media – namely alliances and partnerships and how they can help you grow your audience.
So, let’s get into it…
Have a think about these questions:
Where are your potential customers online?
What sites are they using?
What are they engaging with online – what information, videos, conversations?
Who are your potential customers influenced by (companies, individuals, associations, media)? * Is it a online newspaper or magazine? What organisations or brands do they follow? * What associations are they part of? * Which celebrities or experts do they listen to? * What activities do they do and is there an club that is promotes this?
Which of these influencers have hundreds or thousands of your potential customers? Think of who has groups of 500 of your customers or a thousand or thousands. Where do your customers congregate?
Go for it – create a list.
Get online, search around, find these organisations and groups that influence those people you wish to reach.
Make a note of which of these organisations would be great to get in contact with (send them an email or tweet them or connect via LinkedIn or Facebook or phone!).
Work out what you would like these organisations to do for you online. Work our what you can offer these organisations in exchange for them promoting what you do (e.g. commission on products, promotion of their site, vouchers, …). Get in touch with them. (If there’s many, prioritise who you want to contact first.)
One tweet or Facebook update from someone who influences your potential customers can create a lot of attention for you and have you quickly connect with who you want to.
Here’s an example:
If our potential customers are aeroplane travellers, we’d think of where they are online: e.g. online travel sites such as Lonely Planet and TripAdvisor, blogs where people exchange their favourite travel locations, they’d be tweeting about their next trip. From this thinking we may consider getting in contact with Lonely Planet and travel bloggers with the largest audience (found through doing a google search on this topic). We may also research via google those travel blogs about specific subjects and contact bloggers in these subject areas with audiences of at least active 5,000 readers per month. From there, we prioritise, get in touch with those on our list, hone our thinking about our audience, and get more informed about how to reach our audience and what works.
Just in case this seems like a lot of work, remember this can save a lot of time!
Enjoy!
Remember we’re here to see you lift-off online. Engage with us on Twitter or Facebook or other sites to ask us questions and give us insight to your success. We love to hear.
