AskWelmoed

When I ask people why they're not using LinkedIn, they often tell me they feel LinkedIn is just for 'regular' people with 'regular' jobs.

Does LinkedIn even work for entrepreneurs, freelancers, and people who are self-employed?

It sure does - especially if you're selling B2B!

Today I'll share one method of finding people who need your services.*

Here's how to do it:

Let's say you're a copywriter.

1. Login to LinkedIn.com
2. In the Search area at the top left type in 'looking for a copywriter' (without the ' ')
3. You'll now see an overview of some regular copywriting jobs, but also lots of freelancer gigs!

Some examples I found after performing just that quick search:

And if you're a graphic designer, here are some results for you:

It's THAT simple to find people looking for your exact services!

 *Learn more strategies on getting clients on LinkedIn in my online course Booked Solid! It's a $37 course chockfull of strategies and...

Growing your LinkedIn Network will help you get clients! 

How would you best do that though?

Let me tell you this: just going around LinkedIn and inviting everyone who you think could possibly become your client, is NOT the way to do it!

Here's how to grow your network ethically:

1. ALWAYS personalise your invitations.
2. Share WHY you would like to connect with someone. 
3. Be critical of who you're accepting into your network. You don't need to accept any and all invitations coming your way!
4. Start connecting with people you already know.

Who should you invite into your network?

As a start, grow your network by adding people you already know: 

• family
• friends
• former co-workers
• people from your sports club or church
• current clients
• etc. 

These people may not become your clients, so you may not feel inclined to add them, but by having them in your network you're increasing the chances of your ideal clients finding and hiring you! 

How about...

LinkedIn's Head of Content Products, Pete Davies, has announced that LinkedIn is testing a Stories feature, similar to what Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook are offering, but then for the professional / business world.

He says: "Last year, we started asking ourselves what Stories might look like in a professional context. Stories first appeared on Snapchat, with other platforms like Instagram and Facebook adopting them soon after. They spread for a good reason: they offer a lightweight, fun way to share an update without it having to be perfect or attached to your profile forever."

And:

"So, we’re currently testing LinkedIn Stories internally, and we can’t wait to test it with our members in the coming months. We’ve learned so much already about the unique possibilities of Stories in a professional context. For example, the sequencing of the Stories format is great for sharing key moments from work events, the full-screen narrative style makes it easy to share...

There's this ONE THING I always check first when I look at someone's LinkedIn Profile, and it immediately tells me if people know their way around LinkedIn or not.

It's someone's LinkedIn Profile URL

Did they personalise it? Or does it include a random bunch of numbers and letters, indicating they never changed it after they signed up with LinkedIn? 

If it looks like this...

https://www.linkedin.com/in/welmoed-verhagen-268b82149/ 

... it's not been personalised. You see my name in there, but also that random combination of numbers and a letter there at the end. 

What is should be:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/welmoedverhagen/

Looks more professional right away, doesn't it?

Much nicer as well when you share it with others on social media, on a business card, in your email signature etc.!

How to check your own Profile URL

1. Login to your LinkedIn account
2. Click on your name on the left side of the screen
3. Look in the browser bar:

4. If you see something like the above:...

In my previous blog post, 3 Reasons Why LinkedIn Isn't Working For You - And How To Fix It, I shared the importance of always adding a personal message when inviting someone to connect with you on LinkedIn. 

LinkedIn doesn't quite make it easy for us to do so, especially on its mobile app. When you click Connect on someone's profile, it will send out an invitation without offering you the option to add a personal message - ugh!

Confession: when taking the screenshots for this tutorial I accidentally sent out an invitation to connect without adding a personal message. It's that simple to go wrong here... #oops

Here are the steps to take to take to make sure you can indeed add a personal message when sending out an invitation:

1. Open the LinkedIn Mobile app

2. Use the search bar to find the person you want to connect with

3. Make sure you're actually on the person's profile page

4. Do not click 'Connect'!!

5. Click 'More...' instead:

6. Click 'Personalize Invite'

7....

You've setup your LinkedIn Profile, you post an update every now and then and you send invitations to people you'd like to become your clients. Yet: no sales! Ugh!

Here's what you may be doing wrong, and how to fix it.

SENDING INVITES

Growing your network on LinkedIn is really important as it increases your chances of being seen by your ideal clients. However, there's a wrong and a right way to go about this.

The wrong way

The following are just a few examples of invitations I've received recently:

• an empty invitation without a personal message
• a 'personal' invitation asking me "Would you consider adding me to your network?"
• A link to an event for me to check out, without explanation of why the event would be of interest to me.
• Going straight for the sale: someone offered me their Facebook Ads services. They clearly hadn't read my LinkedIn Profile, as I offer this myself as well!

If you want to connect with people in order to find clients for your business, make sure to...