Grow Your Prospects on LinkedIn: Become A Groupie

One of the most important and cost-effective marketing tools for your law practice that can add to your arsenal of business strategies is membership in LinkedIn groups. LinkedIn is an entirely different social media platform. Yes, it is still a social networking site, but beyond that, it gives business owners and individuals, a chance to connect with and develop relationships with people in their industry, in their communities, or who may share similar interests or educational backgrounds.

The Importance of Joining LinkedIn Groups

Just because you create a profile on LinkedIn, list your skills and give your experience, employment information and academic background, doesn’t mean that you’ll expand your network, build business relationships or even get noticed. To do that, you need to join groups, but knowing how to go about looking for groups and what to look for in groups can be a challenge.

If you really want to use LinkedIn to the fullest, learn how to take advantage of the wealth of information you can get by joining groups – for free.

How to Search for LinkedIn Groups

Don’t waste time looking around aimlessly for groups to join. Start by taking advantage of the LinkedIn search tool.

Start by doing keyword searches.

Use these suggestions to get started:

• Look for groups in your area
• Look for groups related to your industry
• Look for community organizations, associations, and membership organizations
• Look for potential job prospects, or B2B connections
• Search for people who went to your college (look for alumni groups from your college,) or people who have the same college major.
• Look for groups related to your hobbies or special interests.

Look over LinkedIn Suggestions for “Groups You May Like”

You’ll find the “Groups You May Like” link under the “Groups” heading. LinkedIn takes information from your profile, including your skills list, your connections, and groups you already belong to, and uses this information as the basis for pulling together a list of suggestions.

What to Look for in Group Quality

Don’t waste your time with groups that aren’t well managed or well organized.

• Does the group have clear rules that are laid out in a document for all to see?
• Are group managers involved enough to make sure that members adhere to the rules, and are they willing to remove people who are disruptive? (If the group doesn’t have rules, or the rules that do exist are vague and unspecific, the group won’t be well-managed or organized.)
• How do group members interact? If the group has a lot of interaction through questions and helpful discussion, the group may give you important information you can use in your business.
• Steer clear of groups where there is no member-to-member communication or where the majority of posts are self-promotional or links that don’t direct you to useful information.

LinkedIn experts believe that group participation is an important part of your business-marketing plan because of the potential to increase business, forge joint business partnerships, and build a network of more connections. If you need proof of how effective LinkedIn groups can be as a marketing tool for your small business, consider that 69 percent of Business-to-Business (B2B) and 41 percent of Business to Consumer (B2C) closings happen through LinkedIn groups.

What groups are you are part of? How do you chose what groups you belong to? If you would like to have a chat on any marketing-related topic, please email me anytime at jacob@enchantinglawyer.com. I would love to hear from you!