LinkedIn is often used for professional networking. Most people think it’s the site for human resource professionals, recruiters and job searchers. You may not think it’s for you if you are trying to grow your business. Think again.

I have grown my business every month using simple and effective LinkedIn strategies. Once you understand the thousands of potential clients who are just a little message away from turning into your client, you will love LinkedIn as much as I do.

Here are 11 excellent ways to grow your business with LinkedIn:

Step 1: Create a headline.

Make your headline a benefit-oriented headline. Show what you can do to help people. The past is the past; target what you want in the future.

Step 2: Craft your summary.

You have 2,000 characters to show people why connecting with you is the smart thing to do. You should tell people:
-Who you are
-Who you can help
-How you can help them
-How to get in touch with you.

Use headlines and bullets and make sure everything is neat, concise and right to the point. You want to tell them why they should keep scrolling down your profile and contact you!

Step 3: Show off your free gift.

Link to your lead magnet in the website section of your LinkedIn profile.

Step 4: Ask for skills and endorsements.

Decide the prior work you have done that you want to be recommended for and whom you’ll ask. Create your own message instead of the boring message that LinkedIn provides. Don’t take shortcuts when you want to be recommended. In the request, tell them what you would like to be recommended for and refresh their memory with a few of the great things that you did!

Step 5: Update your status daily.

You can direct people to your latest blog post or to your lead magnet. You can even add a photo of your lead magnet to make it more appealing to click.

Step 6: Join groups with your ideal clients and potential partners.

Start participating in LinkedIn groups. Join 3 groups per week. Start a discussion in each group everyday for 5 days after you join them. If possible, your discussion should link back to your lead magnet but often this is frowned upon by site admins so you will have to check on this first. You can join a total of 50 groups. Take advantage of this to be active and get seen!

Step 7: Start sending messages and connecting.

Remember, don’t ask to connect until you know someone. But, you can send messages to people in the same groups you are in that you don’t know.

Don’t be shy about reaching out to organizations or people on LinkedIn. That’s what it’s for. With that in mind, avoid doing a bunch of outreach all at once because people will pick up on the SPAMMY nature of it. Just pretend you’re at a party and reach out to people one at a time.

Here’s a sample message I sent to people in a group I was in about a webinar:

Hi Sherrell! Thought you might enjoy taking my free Love Your Work and Life Challenge! It starts Monday. Would love to see some familiar faces. More info here

Here’s a sample message I sent to people to promote an event I had coming up:

Hi Joleen,
How are you? I saw that we were both in the same PLNU Alumni group and in San Diego so I wanted to reach out! I would love invite you to my female leadership development cocktail party this Thursday, February 27th. Details and registration can be found here. Let me know! Hope to meet you soon! Anna Runyan

Step 8: Create your own LinkedIn group.

If you can’t find a group with all your ideal clients, why not create one! Inviting potential clients to your own LinkedIn group is a great way to grow your business. You can also promote your free events in your groups without worrying about site admins deleting your posts.

Step 9: Find relevant people to connect with and potential partners.

In the Google search bar, simply type in your string, which could be something like: site: www.linkedin.com AND “keyword ” AND (Seattle OR Tacoma). Hit search, and all the people on LinkedIn that match those conditions will show up.

Step 10: Publish articles.

Start educating your leads and provide more value and stronger relationships. Every time to publish a post, your entire network gets notified so it’s a great way to stay top of mind.

Step 11: Research profile views.

LinkedIn has a feature that shows you the people who have visited your profile. Someone who spent time on your profile is likely a lead worth reaching out to. I’d contact those people, if they’re a connection, by sending a message that says, “Hi, is there anything I can help you with?” If they’re not a connection, then do a bit more research on them, and send a note saying, “Hi, I noticed you recently visited my profile.”

What are you doing to grow your business?