3 copywriting strategies you should be using in your LinkedIn profile to drive leads

Most people just write 'stuff' about themselves when creating their LinkedIn profile - usually with their own 'frame of reference' as their guide rather than thinking about the psychology of the reader. For a LinkedIn profile to be effective (and to generate leads), it needs to be written with the audience in mind and that requires a lot more thought and skill. I'm not going to cover the possibilities of LinkedIn on this occasion - if you haven’t already figured out that LinkedIn is one of the most powerful B2B lead generating platforms on earth then this article might fly over your head. For those of you who have figured this out, read on.

Frames of Reference:

When figuring out what people do, most people go searching in their mind for a frame of reference. They need to associate what you are telling them with something they already know about or understand. If you do something straight forward such as Accountancy, nearly everyone will have knowledge of your profession, but what if you do something more niche that people aren't familiar with? For example, I recently helped a Coach who specialises in helping business owners to perform better by mastering their thoughts. It's all about controlling their own minds to unleash their full potential. The problem is, most people don’t have a frame of reference for that, so what do we do? The trick is to find the nearest frame of reference, which could be comparing this individual's work to what Steve Peters (The Chimp Paradox guy) does. Although there are differences in what they do, using Steve Peters as a frame of reference allows the reader to understand that it's all about psychology but within the context of business or sporting performance. The skill of the copywriter is to then expand out from there, so the uniqueness in the individual's work is clear, but the association with other well known professionals helps the reader to frame what they do.

Blueprinting:

Many coaches and consultants have their own intellectual property - their own unique system, framework or methodology. Seldomly though, can they explain or sell what this unique system, framework or methodology is. The trick here is to bring it to life by giving it a name - we call this blueprinting! In many ways, that's what I've done here - I've given a name to a methodology (blueprinting), which gives it its own life. It could be as simple as calling something the 'ABC Model' or the '123 Framework' albeit that might be a bit too simplistic. You can be creative, but if you are able to give your methodologies a name, they become more powerful that just ideas stuck inside your head. Your prospects can visualise something tangible in their minds that helps them to conceptualise what you will do for them. You also come across as a 'person-with-a-plan' rather than someone who just pitches up and does 'stuff' and 'things'. You can then feed this into your thought leadership strategy and write articles and blogs about them, or perhaps run a webinar on the topic. These blueprints then become synonymous with you and help you to build your authority status in your area of expertise.

Sycophantism (kind of):

The human animal is inherently sycophantic - although in a slightly different context, you only need to observe 'Celebrity Big Brother' or 'I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here' to understand how people have a fascination with celebrities. You can play on this when selling yourself. For example, writing a book is easier than you might think, but having done so, people see you as a celebrity because they assume you must be to have had a book published. This creates a different psychology that makes people want to gravitate towards you. I've run webinars before and then followed up on a lead the following day and the person I have called has commented on how honoured they feel to be called by "the man himself". It's not that I crave this, but the fact that I delivered a presentation to several hundred senior people, carries some weight. Another great trick is to align yourself with leaders in a certain field by quoting them and popping your own quote alongside it. It's associating yourself with other leaders that helps elevate you to a similar status.

For more LinkedIn tips, why not contact me for a free appraisal of your LinkedIn profile. Just message me on LinkedIn with the words 'Free LIP Appraisal Please' and either me or one of my team will get back to you.