Ken Cheo on the Secrets of Business Development on LinkedIn

In Episode 8 of Business Breakthrough Thursdays, Ken Cheo shares his secrets to business development success on LinkedIn. The world's largest professional social network, LinkedIn is the perfect place to grow and nurture important connections, before, during and after the sale. Ken will give you the understanding and the techniques you need to get the most out of this great business resource. 

Learn:

• Why LinkedIn isn't just the #1 professional social network, but the best place to grow your business 
• What the benefits of LinkedIn business development are
• Why using a professional headshot is critical to getting those first connections
• How to write a killer LinkedIn headline for your profile 
• What to include in your "about me" section
• When it's time to upgrade
• How to use the 80/20 rule to reach the right people

The three best ways to grow your business on LinkedIn, according to Ken, are:

1. Use LinkedIn powerful free and premium tools to find the right people to connect with, and use your connection request message the right way to introduce yourself and start a conversation. LinkedIn is the super high-quality email list that you could never afford (or even find). 
2. Use all of LinkedIn's communication tools like messaging, InMail, groups, company pages, updates and articles to get your message in front of these highly qualified connections. Then use multiple message formats: text, links, surveys, images, video. Find what works for you, which of course ultimately is what works best for your connections and prospects.
3. Don't treat LinkedIn as a cold-calling channel for your business — treat it as an opportunity to establish credibility, and eventually, thought leadership. When they're ready to buy, they'll think of you first.

Some excerpts from the great conversation between Ken and host Dave Fionda:

"LinkedIn is the biggest professional network in the world. There's no question about it. 706 million people are on LinkedIn, and it's going to a billion really fast.... Every Fortune 500 company is there.... 75% of ... corporate buyers use social media and 50% of them say they use LinkedIn.... 76% of [those] say they have a positive image of people they're connected to."

"[Who] knows if there's ever going to be another trade show, [but] everybody who is anybody [is on Linkedin now]."

"[On] social media, it doesn't matter which platform you're using. It's a vehicle to develop a relationship. Once you develop that relationship, then you've earned the right to take it into a conversation outside of the platform, and that's what LinkedIn enables you to do: ... connect, build a relationship, and take it outside email or phone."

"It's not about what you did. They don't care about what you did. It's about what you're going to do [for them]. So, put in there who you help, how you help them, and what key results they can expect from you."

Ken Cheo, is the President of Our Sales Coach. Prior to forming Our Sales Coach, Ken had been training and coaching business owners and salespeople since 2006 as the owner of a Winfree Business Growth Advisors practice. He had enjoyed over 20 years of sales and sales management experience with consistent results growing engineering service and construction companies in the Greater Boston area at rates between 25% and 100%. His broad experience includes assistance in hiring key staff members, coaching and training salespeople, sales, marketing, and new business development. Ken Cheo has participated in speaking engagements and seminars on a variety of sales and marketing related subjects. His goal over the next five years is to empower 100 local small to medium-sized business owners to achieve their corporate vision.