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If you’ve ever doubted the power of LinkedIn to revolutionize your business, it’s time to reconsider. Even if you feel like an unqualified novice with no extensive networks or capital, fear not.
With the right mindset and strategy, you can turn your LinkedIn profile into a six-figure money-making machine. Here’s a step-by-step guide based on extensive interviews with 4 different people who used LinkedIn to build their six figure businesses:
Step 1: Master Your Mindset
I’ll bet you’re thinking you can skip this step.
“Hey, my mind is just fine, thank you.”
Or maybe even,
“Get out of my head and just tell me how to make money.”
Here’s the problem with thinking you don’t have to work on your mindset…
You’re lacking confidence. You think you’re not an expert. You don’t have a network of people. You don’t have years of experience. You’re afraid of what people will think of you. You don’t want to attract attention.
If you’re thinking ANY of those things, then it’s time to brainwash yourself into thinking differently.
If this means chanting mantras while you exercise or doing affirmations as you fall asleep, do it. Embrace the reality that no one starts out as an expert with a gazillion contacts.
Remember, your attitude determines your altitude.
Step 2: Optimize Your Profile
Good news here: Most LinkedIn profiles are terrible, which means you’ve got the potential to stand apart and above the others.
Think of your LinkedIn profile as your digital storefront. In the blink of an eye, visitors decide whether to engage with you or not.
They want to quickly (QUICKLY!) know why they should follow you.
Follow these profile optimization tips:
Start with a standout profile picture – Begin by uploading a recent profile picture that accurately represents you. According to LinkedIn’s Senior Content Marketing Manager, Jane Deehan, your face should occupy about 60 percent of the space.
Personalize with a background photo – Enhance your profile by adding a background photo that provides insights into your personality. While your face isn’t crucial in this shot, choose something memorable that reflects your professional identity.
Craft an impactful headline – Your headline is an opportunity to elevate your profile. Instead of merely listing experience, add extra details about your current role, its significance to you, or notable accomplishments. For example…“Conversions Made Easy, Skyrocket Your Sales – Guaranteed Results Every Time”
Avoid buzzwords – Steer clear of generic self-promotional phrases filled with buzzwords and jargon. Instead, focus on clear and specific language to highlight your achievements and professional connections.
Have a Tagline plus Call to Action – You can use the formula, “I help X do Y by Z.” I help businesses double their sales by using proven methods of conversion.”
Use hashtags – Include relevant hashtags in your profile. For example, “Talks about #marketing #conversions #sales #landing pages #sales copy.”
Activate the featured section – This is the gateway to your sales funnel. Ideally you want to offer two options; one paid and one free. For example, you might have a free newsletter and a paid newsletter.
About Section – Here’s where you tell a compelling story about your unique experiences before listing your accomplishments.
By implementing these changes, you’re already 80% closer to a high-converting profile.
Step 3: Create Daily Content for a Year
Here’s where I’m going to lose a lot of people, but all four of my LinkedIn marketers tell me this crucial if you want to turn your LinkedIn into a 6-figure business.
Consistency is key on LinkedIn.
Build the habit of daily content creation, engaging with thought leaders, staying informed, and refining your content based on feedback and data.
The longevity of online content, coupled with its scalability, sets the stage for exponential growth.
And remember that you can always repurpose this content into other avenues and even products later.
Step 4: Mine Your Direct Messages for Business Ideas
As your content gains traction, you’ll get more and more views. And as more people see your content, they will begin reaching out to you.
Treat your Direct Messages (DMs) as a goldmine of business ideas. Conduct Zoom calls with those who reach out and ask three critical questions about their challenges, goals, and how you can help. These insights form the foundation of your business offers.
If you want, work with some of these people to solve their problems. You can work with them for free to gain experience, or charge them, depending on where you are in terms of real-world experience.
Document everything, especially the results you achieve and how you achieved them.
As soon as you can prove that you get results, either start charging or charge more.
Step 5: Master the Art of Contacting Others
Here’s where you’re going to make it a consistent habit to reach out to other LinkedIn creators who inspire you. Share the impact of their work on you, without making any immediate requests of them. They probably won’t reply the first time and that’s okay. It could take 5 or more DMs before they respond. Stay friendly, polite and enthusiastic.
Build your relationships over time, and eventually propose collaborative efforts. Organize a Zoom call or start a community on Discord or Slack. Share their work with others.
Keep in mind that building a brand on LinkedIn is a collaborative endeavor. You need others and they will need you, too.
Step 6: Offer Consulting or Coaching Services
You’re going to begin with consulting or coaching services because they are instantly monetizable, have low setup costs, and build your skills and reputation. Avoid working for free (if you are already experienced) and gather testimonials to display on your website.
Offer solutions to the problems you uncovered in Step 4. Keep track of what you do as well as your results so that you can easily duplicate it later.
Step 7: Gradually Build Your Product Line
As you get more clients, as well as positive results for those clients, you’ll also be creating email marketing campaigns, online courses, and e-books. These offerings provide passive income, leverage your expertise, and can sell globally, 24/7.
The idea is to put the experience and results you acquire through coaching and consulting into products and systems that continually work for you to bring in new prospects and convert those prospects into sales.
Step 8: Regroup and Refocus
As your business gains momentum, you may want to do less consulting and coaching, or move into doing group coaching so that you can earn more per hour than you can working one-on-one.
Notice which tasks you don’t enjoy and hire a virtual assistant to do those tasks for you. Outsource some of your work as well. Focus your time on creating more products and offers, as well as branching into new, related niches as appropriate.
Building a lucrative business on LinkedIn is a gradual process. But when you know in advance that this takes time and effort, you won’t mind the wait as much. A year from now you can be well on your way to building a highly lucrative business using nothing more than LinkedIn and your own site.
Learn from your mistakes, celebrate your victories, and always keep records of what you do and how it works out so that you never make the same mistakes twice and it’s easy to repeat the successes.
And enjoy the journey!