Almost everyone that has a Linkedin account has joined linkedin groups at one point or another. You may not know it, but groups are the “honey hole” of social media lead getting. Linkedin groups are perfect for networking online for multiple reasons. People join linkedin groups to connect with like minded people. They join groups to meet new referral partners and to share their content with others that can use it. Most of the “social” action on Linkedin takes place behind the scenes in the groups. The average person on Linkedin does not want their peers, competition or boss to see what they are doing online. To avoid confrontation people tend to flock to groups and socialize there.
There are a few important rules to engaging people in linkedin:
Rule #1: No “look at me” bullshit. You would never ever in a million years, go to a networking event, stand on a table and say “I sell houses, my perfect customer is xyz…” So don’t do it in the groups either. If you did this in real life and weren’t drunk, people would think you were the most socially awkward idiot they had ever seen. The same applies to Linkedin and any other social network for that matter.
Rule #2: To get people interested in you, you must be interested in them first. This rule applies to more than just linkedin groups. This rule applies to all walks of life. I did not make this rule up. Dale Carnegie wrote his whole book “How to win friends and influence people” around this subject. Get to know the people you want to prospect, then make them want to get to know you.
Rule #3: If you are going to post in a group regularly, you need to connect with the group administrator. Every group has to be started by someone. There is always an administrator. The admin will be listed in the members section of the group info. Reach out the admin and let him/her know that you would like to contribute regularly and ask if that will that be ok. Being humble and asking will go a long way, trust me. The fact that you took action and asked, will in most cases, get the admin to actually promote your stuff. [as long as you have a cool product] If you will simply follow the rules, take action and interact with people in the linkedin groups, you will be well on your way to generating lead after lead after lead. Linkedin is just like any thing else in life, you get out of it what you put into it. If you will set aside 30 minutes a week to communicate and engage in a group, you will crush it in the long run. This video gives you and example and some tips on how to best engage people who are members of linkedin groups. Enjoy:
