LinkedIn Unlocked: Unlock the Mystery of LinkedIn to Drive More Sales Through Social Selling

by Melonie Dodaro

The content calendar and action plan you create will depend on your: Size of business Time Budget Goals

determine

what you can be consistent with.

The more aggressive your goals, and the more platforms you use, the more time you will need to spend on y...

I have not ever seen anyone be truly successful at content

marketing without allocating a budget to it. Your content marketing budget will need to include things such as:

Content c...

Social media scheduling and analytic

Social ads to boost your reach

you are a one-person show, you may want to only choose one or two goals to begin with.

start with the goals that will provide you with the quickest wins.

Implementing Your Content Marketing Strategy

Creating content

Curating content

Outsourcing tasks

Editing and uploading blog posts and articles Sharing content Engaging with comments on your content Create

a document, and outline all of the tasks by how often they are to be done, in chronological order (daily, weekly, monthly).

Sort each of these tasks in order of importance with the most criti...

Content Publishing Calendar If you are creating original content, you need to create a content calendar. This is very beneficial, as you won’t be left trying to think of a topic to write about the day before you plan to publish a post. Your calendar should include things like: Post date Ideal client the content targets

Challenge it addresses

Title...

CTA

Try to plan your content calendar for two months to one year in advance. You can be flexible and make changes to it from time to time if you need to address an issue that is timely and relevant.

build relationships based on trust and establish your authority on your topic.

establishing authority, credibility, and trust with your prospects is crucial to successfully moving your relationship to a place where you can take it offline

If you are creating high-value content, you may be asked to provide articles for industry publications, be a guest blogger on a well-known site, or be interviewed in a webinar or podcast.

move conversations offline so you can get to know a prospect

and ultimately position what you offer as a solution to their problems. I also say that sales don’t happen until you get to that step—an offline conversation.

Here are the three essential elements you must include when building a community that will be engaged

Be Real Allow people to see the real you.

It is important though that your voice is consistent over all of your platforms and content. This is what will attract others with similar goals or beliefs as you.

community is not possible without conversation and engagement. As it relates to LinkedIn (or other social networks), sharing posts and never engaging with the people who leave comments is merely broadcasting, not community- or relationship-building.

Ensure that in every interaction with your community, you are providing them with value. Always ask yourself, “What’s in it for them?”

Once you have an engaged community that you consistently add value to, through both your content and interactions, you will become the first person they think about if they need your solution, as a result of increased authority, credibility, and trust.

anyone in their network is looking for the solution you offer, you will be the first person they recommend to their contacts.

One of the fastest ways to expand your network and community is through collaborating with others.

There are proactive steps you can take in building relationships with people through collaboration that provide a win-win-win.

Below are a few essential elements of collaboration on LinkedIn.

Take the Initiative

The chance to help your connections will not always come, so don’t wait for opportunities to collaborate or help them—create opportunities. This is especially important if you are working to build your authority

An example of this might be interviewing someone on a topic that would be of interest to your target market and introducing them to your community.

That interview could be shared in a blog post, podcast, video, live stream, or webinar.

Collaborative opportunities can take many additional forms, including:

Strategic Alliance:

This is when two or more people/companies work together to pursue an agreed upon goal while remaini...

Joint Venture Partner (JVP): This is when two or more people/companies come together to form a temporary partnership to complete a specific event or project.

Referral Partner: This is a person or company that sends relevant prospective

leads

Set a goal to find and approach at least one potential collaborative partner a month.

Be a Connector