How to Stop Wasting Time on LinkedIn and Start Generating Leads

Are you spending too much time on LinkedIn without seeing the results you need, i.e sales and leads? It's easy to get lost in the endless posts, updates, and connections on LinkedIn. However, if you're using it correctly, LinkedIn can be a powerful tool for generating leads and growing your business.

Below are some common mistakes business owners make when using LinkedIn and I include tips on how to avoid them: 

Mistake 1 - Being Logged In All Day Every Day

Do you tend to spend 24/7 having the LinkedIn chat window open, and looking at what's going on? Do you find yourself constantly scrolling through the newsfeed reading other people's posts, answering random questions, answering messages, consuming content over and over again?

Stop!

The key to getting the most out of LinkedIn is having an actionable plan. When are you going on there (morning/afternoon..), how are you going to build your network, what kind of content are you going to post?

You have to have a plan. You should spend the least amount of time possible on LinkedIn so that you can spend the majority of time generating leads for your business and working with your customers.

Mistake 2 - Using Automation To Play The Numbers Game

Scraping off a list of CEOs, taking anyone who is working in a particular industry and sending them the same message without qualifying them any further is a huge mistake!

The key to networking is building relationships with people. You're not interested in building a relationship with just anyone, you want to focus on the right people. When you message someone, it should be unique and tailored to them. It's important that you are genuine and honest, your response rate will go up by a factor of 100+ when writing personalised messages.

Focus on quality over quantity when it comes to your social selling strategy on LinkedIn and you will be on the right and profitable path.

Mistake 3 - Focusing On The Wrong Linkedin Role Models

LinkedIn is a place where you can meet all sorts of people, from different backgrounds and with their own unique stories to tell. There are people who spend their time 24/7 on the platform. However, they may enjoy building friendships on this platform instead of doing business!

Don't make the wrong kind of people your role model.

It might look impressive because they have engagement on their posts however ask yourself is it real cash generating activity.

Your business success is dependent on the quality of your customers. Make sure you focus your marketing efforts towards only those who will truly benefit from what you have to offer. Don't waste time appealing outside your target market by building networks that don't generate conversations or sales - it's inefficient!

Mistake 4 - Following The Wrong Linkedin Content Strategy

On LinkedIn as on other social platforms you will see posts engineered to fuel engagement. These are stories about puppies or how this person lost their cat and now they can't sleep at night because of it! Don’t be distracted.

Post content that educates or entertains your target market so they get to know, like and trust you. If you are posting cat memes all day long (no offense to cat lovers), then you are not going to generate leads from LinkedIn because people who need your services are not scrolling through their feed looking for this.

Your business success starts with a foundation of engaged and loyal customers. If you are not currently engaging your target market on LinkedIn, then it's time to start! 

Mistake 5 - Your LinkedIn Profile Is Not Optimised 

Before you spend hours coming up with the most elaborate content strategy and writing really engaging, interesting content. You have to optimise your profile.

If ideal prospects land on your profile and they don't understand who you are, what you do, how they can get in touch with you. They don't see a website or a company page. That ideal prospect you spent ages attracting will click the back button and go somewhere else. 

It's like you're driving traffic to a junkyard. You're running a restaurant, but your location is in the middle of the junkyard. So when people arrive at the gate they say "It's not for me- this isn't what was looking for!". Therefore, you need to make sure that your appearance is on point. Sure, your food might be delicious, but if your establishment doesn't look right, no one is going to come in.

If you are creating high quality content your LinkedIn profile should also be of high quality. Optimise your LinkedIn profile and watch the "right" prospects come knocking at your door.

Mistake 6 - Trying To Sell Too Early

On LinkedIn you will receive cold pitches. However, here's a stark truth, nobody cares about you and what you are selling!

What people care about is themselves. So don't pitch anything, don't start selling anything, don't start promoting your company. Instead, build relationships and strengthen connections enough so that the prospect is willing to listen to your pitch.

If there is no connection and you pitch your ideal prospect too soon they will ignore your connection request or in the worst case they might click "I don't know this person" and your messages will be marked as spam. 

Focus on building genuine relationships. Create content, warm up your audience. Your prospect will remember when you send them a message and they associate high value with your name. Continue to provide value and talk about them instead of you. Show that you have done some research about them. You might even ask them a question about their expertise or you might invite them to an event or onto your podcast.

You are looking to build a strong connection. At some point you might ask them about their business challenges - this is when the transition from relationship-building into sales pitch will happen much more easily and naturally.

Mistake 7 - Not Transitioning People Off Of LinkedIn

Can you imagine being banned from LinkedIn? What would happen when people can no longer contact you because there was never an option for emailing or picking up their phone call! 

On LinkedIn you don't own contact information. 

There are many ways to build those LinkedIn relationships further offline and get them onto a medium that you own!  For example, you could invite prospects onto your email list or your CRM. You might create a landing page allowing your prospects download a white paper or you can set up a phone call. You could simply ask them to send you an email if they want to get a specific piece of information.

Get creative and further cement those relationships in a space you control. 

In Conclusion: LinkedIn can be a powerful tool for business opportunities if it’s used correctly.

Unfortunately, many people make common mistakes that reduce the effectiveness of LinkedIn. To get the most out of LinkedIn, avoid making these critical mistakes: being logged in all day every day, using automation to play the numbers game, having the wrong priorities on LinkedIn, following the wrong LinkedIn content strategy, not optimising your profile, trying to sell too early, and not transitioning people off of LinkedIn.

By avoiding these mistakes, you’ll be able to use your time more efficiently and see better results from your LinkedIn marketing efforts. The key is to always think strategically and be prepared.

*****

In my online course, "Generate Leads and Sales with LinkedIn", I take you step-by-step through

1. Turning Your Linkedin Profile into a Lead Generation Machine

2. Posting LinkedIn Content That Drives Business

3. Generating More Sales Conversations With LinkedIn.

With almost 3 hours of self-paced video content, this course is perfect for anyone looking to get more out of their LinkedIn presence.

So what are you waiting for?

Enrol today (for only €99 🥳️) and start reaping the rewards of LinkedIn for sales!

TESTIMONIALS

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "This is a lovely course that isn't time-consuming and has a lot of great information."

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "This course was eye-opening to the nuances and power of Linkedin. The modules break each step down into bite-sized pieces so I didn't get overwhelmed. I'm not a natural Social Media people but Margo course has risen my SSI profile up already and I know the steps to take to keep it moving in that direction. Linkedin is one of my main sources of clients and now I feel confident that I will attract quality clients which will save time and increase revenue. "

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "This is a very useful course if you are not a confident LinkedIn user yet. It will help you in an easy and manageable way to get an excellent profile. Many useful and interesting tips are being shared. "

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "Grew 5 index score after following your tactics! "

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Margo is a LinkedIn expert, someone whom I highly value. Don't hesitate to contact her for B2B social media advice and social-selling strategy and implementation.

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