Used correctly, LinkedIn can be a powerful tool for finding international buyers and sellers. LinkedIn is a powerful social networking platform for professionals that boasts over 830m members globally.

It stands to reason that the people you’d like to reach, who are relevant to your business, are on LinkedIn – but what’s the best way to go about it?

It’s about building relationships with the right people.

Think of using LinkedIn strategically as a long-term, ongoing set of activities. Used appropriately and intentionally, LinkedIn is far more than a casual social networking platform – it’s an incredibly powerful business development tool. To find and connect with the international buyers and sellers that you want you need to do 3 things:

👉 Craft your profile with the reader in mind.

👉 Find and connect with the right people.

👉 Add value.

Your profile

• Craft your profile in a way that tells your personal and professional story. Make sure you add as much information as possible in every available section so that nobody leaves your profile with questions in their mind
• Write in the first person and tell the story of your career
• Include your work contact details and links to your company website, and make sure you connect your profile to your LinkedIn company page
• Utilize your Featured section to highlight your best work
• Make sure you have recommendations from other people

Find and connect with the right people

• Use the search bar to find people – search by name, company, job title, or function
• Visit their profiles and get to know them
• Follow them (indicate you’re interested in them)
• Invite them to connect (showing them you have something to offer)
• If you don’t know the other person in real life, accompany your invitation with a note
• Grow your network in this way each time you visit LinkedIn

Serve your followers

• To convert connections and followers into fans (and possibly customers) you need to show up regularly and add value
• Comment on the posts of your connections and communicate with them in the DM’s – prove you’re a human and stay top-of-mind
• Avoid the sales pitch. Get to know one another first. Nobody wants to be sold to by a stranger. Build relationships.
• Post regularly – once or twice a week, at least. Sharing valuable posts containing helpful, interesting, informative, or entertaining information positions you favorably in the reader’s mind and lets you show off your knowledge and expertise in your field – but stay in your lane.

If you maintain a level of regularity and consistency you WILL become known in your industry for what you do and how you help your clients.

• You’ll drive people to your company website, which is tantamount to your “shop”
• You’ll build one of the most powerful forces in business: a word-of-mouth machine

Focus on adding value and you’ll end up driving way more sales in the end.