How LinkedIn Has Been Getting Me A Steady Stream Of Clients

I can't thank LinkedIn enough. 

Every month it sends clients my way -- people who found me on LinkedIn and are interested in our services. I have now lost count of the training participants it has sent me and occasionally I get a big consulting project via it.

image: inc.com

So what did I do to put myself in luck's path and get this much favour from LinkedIn?
If you've been reading blog for a while now, you would have come across previous posts I had talked about LinkedIn and how I have used it to get the type of professional/career attention I want. Most of what I will be saying are a repeat of those things and a few new things I began doing recently.

1) A Value focused profile

If you take a look at my LinkedIn profile, it will be hard for you not to be impressed. And it is deliberate. I put up all the good things in my life on my profile and gave them a professional twist. The awards I have gotten, recommendations from ex-colleagues/ex-bosses, my Channels TV interview, my two radio interviews, the jobs I have done, the book I have written and my educational achievements. And I made sure I put them down in my most convincing and reader friendly way. Almost fun to read and written in a conversational style with complete focus on the value I add to every job and project I touch. This has been very helpful in two ways -- I keep getting a lot of connection requests daily and some reach out to me for projects/help.

2) I Post Articles on LinkedIn

So far I have posted 30 blog-like articles on LinkedIn. They are mostly replication of articles I already posted on my blog. But somehow they always take a life of their own on LinkedIn and portray me as a very knowledgeable expert worth reaching out to. Just this past week I have gotten about 5 requests about our this month's Business Data Analysis training from people who stumbled on my LinkedIn posts. And usually, they end up paying without much negotiation or delay, unlike people we reach out to ourselves.

3) I Added All The HR, MDs, CxO and GMs I could find

In short, I added all the categories of people I wanted to get in front off. It's closest and cheapest alternative to paying millions to have a billboard advert of your services put up at the Adeniji Adele end of the Third Mainland bridge. I occasionally get phone calls from people saying they were referred by someone I don't know, and I have a feeling its one of the people I have added on LinkedIn who saw my advert-like profile and was impressed enough to recommend me to someone else.

4) I Spend More Time on LinkedIn Than On Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Whatsapp combined

That means I am constantly fine-tuning my profile, looking out for opportunities, getting to know my contacts and where they work, engaging potential customers and getting myself setup for pleasant surprises. And I am glad it's been well worth it.