LinkedIn is the professional networking portion of BLiF marketing (Blogging + LinkedIn + Facebook). We are continuing on our example of residential real estate sales using BLiF marketing. The focus today is on using LinkedIn. LinkedIn is more than a networking opportunity, it is a community.

Generating referrals and leads is a key part of the real estate business. Success depends on agents expanding beyond their personal circle of friends and family. Successful real estate agents have always been using traditional networks to meet new prospects. LinkedIn is a quick way to grow your sphere and referral database.

So what makes LinkedIn so special? First, LinkedIn has over 20 million members and this number is growing very quickly. This includes a high percentage of business owners, mid level and senior level professionals from companies and locations all around the world.

Profile: Building up a complete profile is an essential step in building your personal brand. Your LinkedIn profile is the easiest way to define your unique skill sets and the value you bring. Create a personalized LinkedIn URL that you can use on your website and emails. LinkedIn profile pages have a high PageRank on Google and come up prominently in searches.

Network: Build-up your network of contacts. Invite the people you know to become members. There are great search tools to locate people from your past. As you meet new buyers and sellers, invite them to become members as well. Check the connections of your network and find people you have in common and request a connection. Having lots of connections on LinkedIn increases your credibility as a successful agent.

Interact: Regularly interact with your network. Give testimonials, make referrals and regularly add new connections. Look to your contacts and introduce one to another and make referrals.

Use LinkedIn Answers which allows you to ask questions of just your network or globally to post a question for all of LinkedIn. Global questions allow you to meet new people and make new connections. Questions to your network allow you to reach out and interact with current connections.

As you complete each transaction, ask for a testimonial. Send your clients a testimonial request. These testimonials get added to your profile for all to see.

This entry was posted on Friday, May 2nd, 2008 at 6:23 am and is filed under BLIF Marketing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.