Council Post: Seven Tips To Improve Your LinkedIn Presence As An Entrepreneur

LinkedIn & Personal Branding Expert – CEO & Founder of Black Marketing – 1,000+ LinkedIn Recommendations, 4 Best Selling Books

LinkedIn gives wannabe and current entrepreneurs an amazing platform to achieve their entrepreneurial goals, not just locally, but regionally and globally, too. It is a catalyst to become a successful entrepreneur if used wisely. Here are seven tips on how you can become a rock star entrepreneur using LinkedIn.

1. It’s who you know, not what you know.

My grandad told me this when I was 9 years old, and I have never forgotten it. It describes being an entrepreneur on LinkedIn perfectly: It’s all about who you network with, who your first connections know and who your second connections know. That’s your network: millions of potentially interesting people who you can help and who can help you.

The more you curate your connections, the more you will see the power of your network. The more you say yes to people who wish to connect both online and offline, the more you will see the power of knowing the right people who can help you directly and indirectly. It’s all about who you know on LinkedIn. Embrace it.

2. You get what you pay for.

Be a premium service, and market it on LinkedIn. I’m a massive believer in this. As a rule, you tend to get what you pay for. The best lawyers, CEOs, rock stars, DJs, movie stars, football stars and LinkedIn experts are typically the most expensive. Experience and expertise cost.

Time costs. You have to ask yourself what your time is worth. Is your time better spent working on your clients rather than working on something that you can outsource? Be a premium service, and market this on LinkedIn to potential clients who can have the experience to appreciate saving time and have the money to pay for you to do it. 

3. Authentic personal branding is the key to success.

Being authentic comes in many shapes and sizes. For me, it’s wearing my mohawk, wearing my black rock t-shirts and ripped black jeans, and saying what I honestly feel, without caveats on who I might offend. For others, it’s wearing a suit and not “saying boo to a goose,” as the phrase goes. Others just like a plain white t-shirt with blue jeans and to pick and choose their moments to say something.

The key is to be yourself. People will see through you if you’re not. This applies to how you come across on LinkedIn with your personal brand, too. People can tell if you’re putting on an act. People find authenticity refreshing and are more likely to buy from you if you’re authentic than if you’re a great pretender. Be yourself and be authentic. As Oscar Wilde said, “Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken.”

4. Outsource your LinkedIn marketing rather than doing it in-house.

Many people who choose to do LinkedIn on the cheap try to do it in-house. It usually ends in disaster. I’ve heard stories of interns, personal assistants and inexperienced marketing juniors all trying to do it on top of their day jobs. They all fail. Or they make an attempt and then leave, and no one notices that no one is doing the CEO or company’s LinkedIn.

It’s like trying to do legal stuff, IT or accountancy in-house. Are you an expert in those areas? Probably not. So why do you think you can do LinkedIn marketing in-house? You may need to employ an expert, and usually, that means outsourcing and not insourcing. If you want to be successful on LinkedIn as an entrepreneur, outsource it so that you can focus on your role with your clients. Everyone else in your company already has a job. 

5. Your posts on LinkedIn are not Shakespeare.

I’m always amazed that people spend weeks or months agonizing over their posts. It’s not Shakespeare. In 10 years’ time, no one is going to look back and say, “Do you remember that post on LinkedIn that mohawk fellow did in 2020? Wasn’t that something?”

Your post is read (if you’re lucky), and it might spark a thought or smile. Someone might comment (if you’re very lucky), like it or share it. Then they move on. Another post or photo or video catches their attention.

Your post may go viral for a week or so, but then everyone moves on to something else. You build up your personal brand, but people forget the posts. So don’t overanalyze your post. Just get it out there. Then move on to the next one.

6. People care about social media and not always websites.

“Build it, and they will come” is a phrase that existed before social media. These days, when people spend all their time on social media, I am amazed that companies spend so much money and time on their websites. I hate to break it to you, but no one cares enough to navigate every tab and all your content and services on your website.

Ironically, the same people who do this wonder why they can’t attribute any leads to their website and spend no time on their social media presence, which is free. Someone else built it, and all your customers are there. So why do you think what you do on your website can compete? It can’t. So, build on LinkedIn, where your client, peers, investors, partners, employees already are.

7. People buy from people on LinkedIn and in real life.

LinkedIn is all about you — people and leaders, not companies. People buy from people. They make decisions based on who you are and how they feel about you — their emotional intangible feelings, gut reactions, good vibes and rapports.

People build up trust with you, or they don’t. People on LinkedIn will buy from people, and that’s why you need to market your company through your personal page. It’s all about you, not your company.

Forbes Business Council is the foremost growth and networking organization for business owners and leaders. Do I qualify?