8 Tips for Writing LinkedIn Blog Posts That Expand Your Influence

LinkedIn is a great professional network, assuming you know how to use it right. It doesn’t matter if you are a freelancer or are looking for a permanent office position -either way, you can make your profile more impressive as well as build your influence with the help of LinkedIn.


How can you do that? By writing interesting and compelling blog posts that would be valuable to your audience. Here are eight tips to help you do just that.

1. Know the message you want to deliver.
Before you start writing, you need to know what you plan to achieve with the help of your blog posts. Maybe you want to become a niche expert, to grow your network, to share your experience with the others, or to build up your professional value.
After you decide, focus on the message that would help you achieve your desired result. Maybe you could give valuable financing tips, or create amazing infographics to illustrate your posts or give some insights on working for a certain company, etc. Make sure that your content is focused on this type of message; this way you’ll become well-known for something specific and attract the attention of the people that you’re interested in.

2. Keep your network in mind.
Maybe you already have a network you want to expand, or maybe you want to build one. Either way, you should keep this network in mind while coming up with the ideas of a blog post.
Ask yourself: who are the people you want to attract and what things interest them? The answers could differ a lot, depending on the niche you’re working in. However, it’s important to stick to the related topics and to cover issues that are of current interest to your network.

3. Cover the trending topics.
Just as it’s important to the stick to the topics that seem interesting to your audience, it’s important to cover the latest trends in your niche. The reason behind this is very simple: it’s the latest trends that go viral and drive more traffic.
LinkedIn’s editors themselves look for posts that cover the latest trends — and if the posts are good, they promote them via Pulse channels, driving even more traffic to your page.


4. Don’t make them too long.
When it comes to ordinary blog posts, the principle ‘the longer, the better’ often works well (when the posts are informative and well-written, of course). However, when it comes to LinkedIn posts, you should stick to short ones (300-800 words) instead of long ones.
LinkedIn is a professional network mostly — and not all professionals have enough time to read long articles. That’s why, when it comes to LinkedIn promotion, it’s better to craft short and very informative articles instead of long and unclear ones.

5. Add a bit of personal information.
While your goal is to deliver informative content, this doesn’t mean that you have to strip it of your personality completely. After all, people can get similar advice in other places — it’s the personality that often makes them stay and continue reading the posts of a specific person.
Sharing something personal doesn’t mean telling the readers all about your life. Even adding some personal examples and coming up with your own advice counts as personal experience the readers would be interested in. For example, if you’re writing about essay topics, share some stories on how you came up with such topics during college years.

6. Polish your posts.
Once you are finished writing, found (or created) an image to illustrate your article, and crafted a proper headline, you can move on to polishing your article.
Of course, there are plenty of online services that can help you with the proofreading part, but polishing is not only about that. Proofreading is a must, yes, but it’s also important to check the formatting, to ensure that all links are clickable and lead to the right sites, that all the tags you want to use are included and all the images open.
Once that is done, proofread it manually one more time, paying special attention to grammar and spelling. While online proofreaders are good for an initial check, they still aren’t as effective as a manual check.


7. Don’t forget to be social.
Promotion is just as important as writing high-quality posts. However, promotion is not only sharing your post on other social media, it’s also about making the most of LinkedIn itself. Remember that it’s a social network — you can drive more traffic to your page simply by talking with people there.
Don’t settle for responding to comments only. Comment on other articles as well. Join some groups that are related to your niche and join the discussions there. This could help you become noticed by others, build your authority, and gain more followers.

8. Know your limits.
When it comes to any blog writing, consistency is definitely the key. You should post regularly, preferably at the same time to build an audience and to look professional. However, what exactly does ‘regularly’ mean? Should you do this every day? Twice a week? Once every two weeks?
It’s always better to start with small goals. For example, you can try posting once a month for a start, making sure that your posts are indeed valuable, informative, and fresh. Once you do this for a few months, consider increasing the frequency to twice a month. Once this becomes easy, you can move on to posting once a week if you have the time to do so.
Remember that quality is always better than the quantity and while the frequency is important, not overdoing it is even more important. Not everyone is able to dedicate themselves to the blogging only (at least, when they start). Most of us often need to combine writing with a full-time job. So when you decide to take it slow, you’ll ensure that you are able to produce high-quality content and monitor the results effectively without straining yourself too much.

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How a Managed Service Provider Drove Demand on LinkedIn with Prospects Who Previously Ignored Communications

 

Studies from the Alterra Group show that 97 percent of marketers report account-based marketing approaches have the highest ROI. The IT Services Marketing Association (ITSMA) reports that 85 percent of marketers who measure ROI describe account-based marketing as delivering the highest returns of all other marketing approaches. And, LinkedIn reports that social selling professionals that take an account-based marketing approach gain 45 percent more opportunities.

Yet, most sales and marketing professionals fail to take an account-based marketing approach on LinkedIn and on social media in general. For example, Single Point of Contact, a California-based MSP, was targeting real estate management firms with the same promises of reduced IT savings, increased security and other generic claims that other managed service providers were also discussing. They were making these generic claims without showing any proof and showing how and why they’re able to provide these benefits to targeted audiences.

On LinkedIn, the profile of the vice-president of business development was mainly a resume and there was no quantifiable, specific value being communicated to the targeted audiences. The firm had no case studies that it can use on its profile and in nurturing efforts to targeted prospects. The blog content was general in nature and did not show targeted audiences that it understood their specific issues, challenges and circumstances. And, it didn’t show how it can take its targeted audiences vision and turn it into a path to value (which you can only do with an account-based marketing approach).

Here Are the Steps We Took to Help Single Point of Contact Drive Demand with Specific, Targeted Audiences

1. Take an account-based marketing approach to our client’s LinkedIn profile. We focused on pulling in prospects with relevant stories rather than just push out content – even on the vice-president’s profile where we show his unique business story and the results that his clients have gained under his direction. You’ll find case studies throughout the profile. So, instead of using the experience section as a resume, the vice-president now has content for different audiences with different needs. You’ll find a position that shows how he helped Shorenstein Realty (one of the largest, oldest, most respected real estate management firms in the U.S. that was spending upward of $750,000 on its IT infrastructure) cut IT Opex by 43 percent. By making the vice-president’s profile case study based, we show his relevance and how he is in tune with his buyer’s needs. By talking about Shorenstein Realty within his profile in multiple spots – an IT leader within a local SF Bay real estate management firm reached out to our client to connect and asked specific questions based on the content found inside the profile. Do you see the power of taking an account-based marketing approach to your profile where you focus on what’s going to allow you to open the door to the targeted audiences that you are looking to attract? This SF Bay real estate management firm ignored all previous communications up until now.

2. Take an account-based marketing approach with social content strategy. Now, building the foundation was only the first step. Single Point of Contact needed the content to further nurture relationships with interested parties. For example, as Single Point of Contact’s vice-president’s profile piqued interest by talking about his work with Shorenstein Realty, the company needed case studies to continue the conversation. And, the company needed case studies for other markets that it wanted to penetrate. Now, on the Single Point of Contact website, you’d learn how the managed service provider supports the broadband industry (another target market for the managed service provider). You’d see how it helped a law firm save $24,000 with just one fix (another big target market). Along with case studies, we provided the company with a blog post and LinkedIn publishing platform posts that would challenge IT leaders within these target industries and provide them alternative answers to their unique challenges.

3. Take an account-based LinkedIn marketing and social selling approach – In many cases, your LinkedIn profile and your content will not drive demand enough to produce the ROI you want. It’s the next step actions you take and how you use the content to build and leverage relationships that will move prospects closer to the sale. That’s why we mapped out how Single Point of Contact should be connecting and building relationships with specific key decision makers within the targeted accounts that the managed service provider wanted. We mapped out content paths based on the specific issues that the targeted accounts were facing and how the prospects were reacting and engaging with the content.

Results of an Account-Based Marketing Approach on LinkedIn

Besides attracting a large real-estate management company (when all previous attempts to gain their attention failed), taking an account-based marketing approach to LinkedIn provided Single Point of Contact with:

• Engagement driving visibility;
• Access to higher quality leads who saw the Managed Service Provider’s business value;
• Increased lead conversions as IT buyers saw how Single Point of Contact can help them overcome IT challenges and create a path to value;
• A strong foundation to build key relationships with enterprise decision makers.

Click here to read the complete case study to learn more.


Now, look at your profile and your messaging. Are you speaking to “everyone” instead of very specific audiences and showing that you truly understand their unique challenges and that you are uniquely qualified to solve their problems? If so, that may be why you’re connection conversions are low and why your prospects are ignoring your messaging. Maybe it’s time for you to seriously think about giving your LinkedIn profile a makeover and design it to move conversations forward with very specific audiences.

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Microsoft-LinkedIn Deal Will Impact Business

 

 

“Together we can accelerate the growth of LinkedIn, as well as Microsoft Office 365 and Dynamics as we seek to empower every person and organization on the planet.”
— Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella

By now you’ve surly seen the headlines. Over the past few weeks the Internet has been exploding with news detailing the Microsoft – LinkedIn merger. Officially announced through the Microsoft blog on June 13, “Microsoft Corp and LinkedIn Corporation on Monday announced they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Microsoft will acquire LinkedIn for $196 per share in an all-cash transaction valued at $26.2 billion, inclusive of LinkedIn’s net cash.”

This is largely celebratory news, especially for executives at LinkedIn because the company has been struggling as a standalone brand for some time. In February, the organization watched its shares plummet by a crippling 43 percent over the course of a single day. Yet despite that, Microsoft was willing to pay a 50 percent premium on the company’s shares, roughly valued at $131. Make no mistake, tensions are also on high as various studies have pointed out that the failure rate of mergers and acquisitions is typically between 70 percent and 90 percent.

LinkedIn’s shares skyrocketed after the announcement, but Microsoft did not enjoy the same fortunate upturn; its shares fell by approximately 3.6 percent in pre-market trading. Moody’s rating agency put Microsoft’s Aaa rating under review and is considering it for a downgrade following the merger. The reason for this review is because of Microsoft’s decision to purchase the social network entirely in cash instead of using shares in the company. This has ultimately forced Microsoft to take on more debt, and therefore, go under review.

Yet despite the complications, there is still much buzz and excitement — the acquisition is one of the single biggest tech mergers to ever take place in the industry. For Microsoft, it blows all others out of the water. Previous mergers with Yammer, Skype and Nokia pale in comparison to the $26-billion figure brought forth by the tech company. Even Facebook’s purchase of WhatsApp for $22 billion is topped by the recent merger. And now Microsoft has solid footing in the world of social media; no small feat.

Under the terms of the deal, which was partially revealed in an e-mail sent out to Microsoft staff by the company’s CEO, Satya Nadella, LinkedIn will retain its “. . . distinct brand and independence, as well as their culture. . .” The e-mail carried on to divulge the vision for the future of the companies.
This bring us to the ultimate question for the merger: How does this acquisition impact online business as we know it?

How the Merger Changes Online Business

Considering that Microsoft Office and many of its other services are utilized by millions of business professionals across the planet, the implications of integrating the benefits of the largest professional social network to ever exist are massive.

In Nadella’s e-mail to Microsoft employees, he stated, “This deal brings together the world’s leading professional cloud with the world’s leading professional network,” and that, “We are in pursuit of a common mission centered on empowering people and organizations. Along with the new growth in our Office 365 commercial and Dynamics businesses this deal is key to our bold ambition to reinvent productivity and business processes.”

He continued by saying, “Think about it: How people find jobs, build skills, sell, market, and get work done and ultimately find success requires a connected professional world. It requires a vibrant network that brings together a professional’s information in LinkedIn’s public network with the information in Office 365 and Dynamics. This combination will make it possible for new experiences such as a LinkedIn newsfeed that serves up articles based on the project you are working on and Office suggesting an expert to connect with via LinkedIn to help with a task you’re trying to complete.”

The merging of Microsoft and LinkedIn could completely transform the dynamic of work relationships and professional networks. Nadella and LinkedIn CEO, Jeff Weiner, proposed some of these possibilities in a conference call to investors. A few of these examples were that Office and Outlook could potentially keep LinkedIn profiles up-to-date and current, LinkedIn newsfeeds could pull from a person’s Calendar for a more personalized experience, or that Cortana could sift through an individual’s LinkedIn network to generate a brief about upcoming meeting attendees.

These are only a few of the potential possibilities. As Nadella stated, “As these experiences get more intelligent and delightful, the LinkedIn and Office 365 engagement will grow. And in turn, new opportunities will be created for monetization through individual and organization subscriptions and targeted advertising.”

With LinkedIn integrating into Microsoft Office, the content served to an individual could be catered to the field, job title, or project the person is working. LinkedIn and Office could both become much more capable than they are today. And the end user is who receives the most benefit.

While the deal is not exactly official as of this moment, it is expected to be finalized by the end of the calendar year. The board of directors from both companies have “unanimously approved” the deal, yet shareholders have not had their voices heard. If something were to go awry in the proceedings, LinkedIn would have to pay Microsoft a $725 million termination fee, so it seems that it is in the company’s best interest to make sure things move forward smoothly. And no matter if this merger turns out to be a triumph or tragedy, it will no doubt go down in the history books as one of the biggest tech deals ever made.

Are you excited for the Microsoft – LinkedIn merger? What other applications do you foresee for the professional platforms?

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How to Crush it With Lead Generation on LinkedIn Pulse

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Blogging was promoted to be the promised land for entrepreneurs, business owners and marketers.

Do you ever spend time crafting a brilliantly written article, posting it on your blog, only to hear the sound of crickets?

 

So to boost the number of people seeing your article, you post it on social media and send a blast to your e-mail list.

 

You check your web stats the next day only to see that your blog masterpiece has largely gone unseen.

 

What’s a frustrated marketer to do?

Enter LinkedIn Pulse, LinkedIn’s publishing platform

Here’s why you should make publishing on LinkedIn Pulse a top priority for your business:

• Provides You An SEO Boost. LinkedIn is one of the top 10 most high-traffic websites on the Internet. When you publish content on LinkedIn Pulse, Google can index it quickly. Because LinkedIn is a high-authority site, when readers view your LinkedIn Pulse articles, it helps build authority and visibility for your content.

• LinkedIn Followers Are Notified of Your LinkedIn Pulse Articles. When you publish an article on your blog, your audience is limited to your website visitors, your email subscribers, and your social media followers. However when you publish a new LinkedIn Pulse article, your entire network of LinkedIn connections is notified. This gives you exposure to a wide audience of new readers by appearing in your follower’s newsfeeds.

• Drives Website Traffic. You can add an article byline at the end of your LinkedIn Pulse article with a call to action so you can capture leads with an opt-in offer or drive website traffic by directing them to your blog to read other related articles. Here’s an example of an article byline you can add to your LinkedIn Pulse articles:
  • Want More Valuable Tips?
  • Read more of my LinkedIn posts here LINK
  • Get your free Special report here LINK
  • Setup a free Discovery Session here LINK
  • About the Author (Your short bio here.)

• Boosts Your Thought Leadership. LinkedIn Pulse categorizes your content by using the tags you add at the end of the article. Your article is shown to people searching for content on that topic. That targeted viewership helps to build your authority and trust with LinkedIn’s more than 380 million members. The potential for massive exposure and visibility is incredible.

 

 

9 Tips for Writing LinkedIn Pulse Posts That Get Read

 

 

1. Add an Eye-Catching Article Image. Design a cover graphic that attracts attention. The ideal size for your LinkedIn article is 700 x 400 pixels.

 

2. Create a Catchy Headline. Consider your headline your opening line. Describe your content in a compelling way. Your headline should capture readers’ interest and give them a reason to click through and read it. Add numbers. Use adjectives.

 

3. Publish Consistently. Share new articles on LinkedIn Pulse regularly. Adding new content weekly like we do can build a regular following. Posting during the week during work hours will ensure your article gets the best visibility.

 

4. Write Shorter Articles. For best performance, and ideal post length is 500 to 1,000 words.

 

5. Make it Scannable. Add subheaders and use images to break up content and lead readers through it.

 

6. Tag your Posts. Select 3 tags that are most related to your article content. You have to choose from the existing tag categories that LinkedIn Pulse offers.Selecting the right tags helps your post be found by readers in your target audience and can boost your chances of being selected as a featured LinkedIn Pulse article.

 

7. Engage with Readers Who Comment. Make sure you reply to those who comment or share your post. This is your chance to build rapport with those who have shown interest.That extra step can turn a one-time reader into a loyal follower. Plus the percentage of likes, reshares and comments of your content is what triggers LinkedIn to make it a featured article in Pulse.

 

8. Kick it up with Images, Links, Videos, and Slideshares. Make your content more appealing by adding in graphics, outgoing links, and videos that relate to the article. Readers love when you share outgoing links to additional resources and websites mentioned in the article.Also, Google rewards LinkedIn articles with strong related links for further information to readers.

 

9. Share your Pulse on Other Platforms. Just like you would share a blog post on social media, notify your Facebook and Twitter followers when you publish a new LinkedIn Pulse article.

 

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5 Tips For Getting The Most Out Of LinkedIn

Is LinkedIn the forgotten stepchild of your digital marketing strategy? With 380 million users worldwide, you’d be remiss not to give LinkedIn the attention it deserves. In fact, according to Social Media Examiner’s Social Media Marketing Industry Report, 96 percent of the businesses surveyed use social media marketing and 71 percent of those use LinkedIn. Of the LinkedIn users, B2B companies say it’s their number-one social media platform, and all those surveyed—all!—plan to use LinkedIn even more in the future.

So, how can you make LinkedIn work for your business? Here are five ways to make sure you’re getting the best results for your efforts:

1. Do your homework. Start at the source and find out what features and tips LinkedIn offers to help small businesses grow. LinkedIn’s small business experts offer ways to brand, connect, market, sell, build your reputation and more. Plus, you can download free ebooks with detailed information on improving your LinkedIn results.
2. Look like you mean business. The first thing users will see on your Company Page is your logo, header image and “about” information. If your logo is complicated, it might be time to do a redesign. It’s best to use a high-res, simple and recognizable logo, as the logo will appear next to all your posts. Make sure your “About” information is updated regularly. Likewise, make it a point to change your header image periodically to keep your page dynamic. Social media users love images, so use something eye-catching from a recent event or marketing campaign.
3. Go the extra step. Showcase Pages are extensions of your Company Page where you can highlight a new product line or service. You can also use Showcase to create targeted pages for specific clients or customers. But don’t waste your time—Showcase Pages don’t make sense for businesses with only one product or service.
4. Posts with the most. Yes, it is possible to write a non-boring SEO-friendly headline. Think informative and engaging. Then, post often about your company’s news or trends going on in your industry. Welcome a new hire or a new client and always try to include a call to action—even if it’s just to learn more by directing readers to your website. Better yet, ask a question that’s a conversation starter or take a poll. Look for relevant videos to post to attract our YouTube-crazy culture.
5. Spend and test. Linked in offers several paid options to enhance your LinkedIn reach. With each solution come analytics to help you determine which method or methods work best for your business.
   • Sponsored Posts get more traction by appearing in all LinkedIn feeds, not just those following your company page.
   • Ad opportunities exist as either straight ads designed and targeted by you and will appear on prominent pages that fall within the parameters of your target audience. These ads are paid on a CPC or CPM basis. You can also use LinkedIn’s Marketing Solutions Display Ads; these guarantee inventory and delivery.
   • LinkedIn Sales Navigator is a new CRM feature to help businesses find and organize prospects.
   
   
   

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