10 Ways To Generate More Referrals on

LinkedInYour own, personal social media blueprint.

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“Social media allows us to behave in ways that we are hardwired for in the first place - as humans. We can get frank recommendations from other humans instead of from faceless companies.” ― Francois Gossieaux, The Hyper-Social Organization: Eclipse Your Competition by Leveraging Social Media

Social media is a communication engine that will drive your business, if you allow it to.

What is LinkedIn?

• LinkedIn /ˌlɪŋkt.ˈɪn/ is a social networking website for people in professional occupations. Founded in December 2002 and launched on May 5, 2003,[3] it is mainly used for professional networking. In 2006, LinkedIn increased to 20 million viewers.[7] As of June 2013, LinkedIn reports more than 259 million acquired users in more than 200 countries and territories.[2][8]

• The site is available in 20 languages,[2] including English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, Danish, Romanian, Russian, Turkish, Japanese, Czech, Polish, Korean, Indonesian, Malay, and Tagalog.[9][10] As of 2 July 2013, Quantcast reports LinkedIn has 65.6 million monthly unique U.S. visitors and 178.4 million globally,[11] a number that as of 29 October 2013 has increased to 184 million.[12] In June 2011, LinkedIn had 33.9 million unique visitors, up 63 percent from a year earlier and surpassing MySpace.[13]

 LinkedIn filed for an initial public offering in January 2011 and traded its first shares on May 19, 2011, under the NYSE symbol "LNKD".[

LinkedIn and Real Estate Professionals…

• Real estate is a people business.

• People now use social media as an introduction to get to know one another.

• LinkedIn provides a platform for interaction with people you may not otherwise interact with.

• LinkedIn provides real estate agents with resources to people farm for clients, referrals, new sources of business and industry news from a variety of powerful sources.

• Either get LinkedIn or find your way out of the business world today….

However, there is only one problem…most realtors don’t use Linked In correctly or to it’s full potential….

But you will…by the time this class is over

1. Prepare a digital version of your 30-Second Commercial and include that text in your LinkedIn profile. 

• Your 30-second commercial is the answer to that question, as told from the point of view of a prospect in pain that eventually turned into your happy customer.

• For instance: "We specialize in custom designed inventory management systems for manufacturing and distribution operations. We've been particularly successful with companies in the X, Y, and Z industries that are concerned about the costs associated with inaccurate inventory counts, unhappy with frequent paperwork bottlenecks that slow down the fulfillment process, or disappointed by the amount of time it takes to reconcile purchasing, invoicing, and shipping records. We've been able to create hand-in-glove inventory management systems that help our customers save time, attention, and money."

• If something like this isn't on your LinkedIn profile you're at a competitive disadvantage.

2. Add connections to your network

• If you invest a minute or so each working day clicking the "connect" button on the "People You May Know" list that LinkedIn posts in your feed you will broaden your network, and you will become known as someone who broadens the network, which is just as important.

• Remember: Everyone you talk to about business or meet during the course of the business day is a potential LinkedIn connection.

3. Play fair.

• But only "connect" to people you actually know. LinkedIn will backfire on you if you pretend to know people you don't.

• Always ask for introductions to people you don't know.

4. Build out your lead list.

• Spend five minutes a day investigating the connections of your contacts to see whom you don't know personally but would like to meet. Make a note of those to whom you would like introductions. Start first with the "Recommendations," since those are most likely the strongest relationships of the LinkedIn user you are viewing.

• Ask for the recommendations outside of your LinkedIn account via email or phone. You'll get a quicker answer. (And you'll get the chance to quickly reconnect with your connections.)

5. Follow your current clients and prospects. 

• Spend another two minutes each day looking up your current clients and top prospects. Find out whether they have a company page. If they do, follow and monitor it.

6. Post an update.

• Spend 60 seconds each working day posting an "Update" to your LinkedIn network. Use the daily update to share a link to an article or a video that is relevant to your prospects and customers. Or use the "Pulse" (used to be known as "LinkedIn Today") feature on your LinkedIn dashboard.

• Each time you post an update you get displayed on the feed of all the people with whom you are connected. But never sell when you post updates. Add value and share expertise instead.

7. Join groups.

•  LinkedIn lets you connect with people who are in groups with you. Use this as a targeted way to add value to others, share insights, and build out your network with prospects. Invest five minutes a day on this.

8. Use LinkedIn to celebrate the accomplishments of others.

• When you come across a news story or post that offers good news about your client or prospect, or any key contact, share the news as a status update. Recognize the person with an "@" reply. That will ensure they receive notification of the mention. Spend a minute a day on this.

9. Write a recommendation

• It is often difficult to secure LinkedIn recommendations, if only because it takes the writer time to log in, write, and post them.

• Instead of waiting for someone to recommend you, devote five minutes a day to writing and posting (reality-based) recommendations for your customers and key contacts. Once your contact approves the text, the recommendation will show up on his/her LinkedIn account.

• This will align you with your contact, serve as a permanent top-of-mind promotional piece for you and your organization, show your network that you work together, and make it much more likely that your contact will look for a way return the favor. That could be either a referral or a recommendation.

• Often, it's both.

10. Stop.

• The key to success on LinkedIn is investing a little bit of time every working day--not six hours a day for a week straight, then nothing.

How Much Time?

• Invest that twenty minutes a day, consistently, for thirty straight working days, and you will start generating more prospects and referrals from LinkedIn.

• Remember, social media is a tool, but it can also become a time waster. Block out a specific time in your day for social media prospecting, and set the alarm on your phone. Get done what you can, but remember that LinkedIn (or any other network) is a living, breathing thing, and can be changed and updated regularly. Once your 20 minutes is up, move on to your next task – you will become more proficient the more you do this.

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