Turning LinkedIn Blogs Into Sales

For many salespeople out there, the thought of writing a blog will either be scary, a waste of time or pointless.

I'm going to show you in this blog (ironically) that it's quite the opposite. It's not scary, certainly not a waste of time, and done right, can generate amazing sales opportunities.

Let me start by sharing a story...

A few years ago I was trying to sell to a particular IT Director. I had qualified their company as a really strong potential opportunity, they met all of my criteria and I had found out they had bought my product from a competitor in the past.

I did what most salespeople do...

PICKED UP THE PHONE AND STARTED COLD CALLING THEM!

They didn't answer

They didn't reply to my voicemails

They didn't reply to my emails

They didn't call me back (like the gatekeeper promised)

Several weeks went past, with regular cold calls attempts made, regular voicemail messages left, regular emails sent.

NOTHING.

After a few weeks I wrote and published a blog on LinkedIn. A couple of hours after publishing it, I went to check on the engagements.

Something stood out to me...

Whilst looking at the likes and comments, I noticed that a sales rep from the company I was trying to reach had clicked "like". Now it wasn't the IT Director who I was trying to speak to, but it was still someone from within that company.

This is where I saw an opportunity...

Now a lot of salespeople would look at that and go straight in with a sales pitch message, something like:

"Hey John, thanks for liking my blog. I'm trying to reach your IT Director, could you connect me by any chance?"

Cold, aggressive and unlikely to get a response. I chose a different approach and sent this message through LinkedIn:

"Hey John, thank you for clicking like on my blog today! What's your experience been with *INSERT BLOG SUBJECT*? Kind Regards, Dan"

They replied straight away and we started having a conversation. A few messages back and forth earned me the opportunity, when the time was right, to then mention the IT Director. I explained how I had been trying to reach them for a few weeks and was very confident I could help them with the particular solution I was offering.

I'd earned respect and credibility through the value in the blog I had shared, and they had liked. I had then built rapport and earned trust by taking the time to TALK to them and actually have a conversation (not go straight for the pitch, showing no value for them).

They were more than happy to help, provided the introduction, got me the phone call, which I was then able to turn into a meeting and not long after, a sale.

LinkedIn blogs can generate inbound AND outbound opportunities

A good blog done right on LinkedIn will generate inbound leads. People will read it, hopefully, enjoy it, learn what you do and if it's right, send you a message enquiring about what you sell. Earlier this year I won one of my biggest sales all from a blog I wrote and published on LinkedIn.

This story, however, shows how you can also generate OUTBOUND sales opportunities through LinkedIn blogs.

By looking at the engagement, finding potential prospects and STARTING conversations with them, you're creating OUTBOUND opportunities as well. Real salespeople are hunters, they don't want to write a blog, sit back and wait for inbound leads. They want to hunt for opportunities and will hunt through the likes, shares and comments looking for potential prospects, or people that may help them get through to potential prospects.

I wrote a blog earlier this year called "The Rise of OUTBOUND Social Selling" which explores this in a bit more detail.

Obviously, it all starts with a blog...

Now that you've seen the sales potential sat within LinkedIn blogs, let me give you a few top tips on how to write awesome ones. If you're keen to learn more, I'm delivering a free to attend webinar on Wednesday 13th November where I will share LOTS of tips and tricks to creating effective LinkedIn content that generates sales.

LinkedIn Blog Writing Top Tips

1) Ideally, a LinkedIn blog should be 500 - 1000 words long.

2) You need to have an eye-catching title and blog image to attract readers.

3) Pack the blog with value, it's all about the reader.

4) Use clear spaces between sentences and paragraphs to make it easier to read.

5) Have a strong call to action at the end

6) Include an "about the author" section to tell people what you do

7) Include media within your blog (images, quotes, links, videos)

8) Include links to previous blogs at the end

9) Share stories and make the storytelling engaging and enjoyable

There you go, a few ways that you can turn LinkedIn articles and blogs into sales opportunities along with a few tips on writing good blogs as well!

I've got an eBook I'd love to share with you...

I've written an eBook which is exclusively only available on my online LinkedIn/Social Selling course, however I'd like to offer a copy of it to you for free.

This eBook breaks down the anatomy of a successful LinkedIn article/blog, from title, structure, call to action, all of the key components in putting together successful LinkedIn articles.

All you need to do is click "like" on this blog and register a place on my upcoming webinar "How To Create LinkedIn Content That SELLS" coming up next week. Not only will you learn how to create all forms of LinkedIn content in the webinar (videos, posts, quotes, images, and blogs), but I'll send you a copy of this eBook after the webinar as well totally free.

If you can't make the date/time of the webinar, don't worry. As long as you register a place I'll send you a full recording of the webinar along with the eBook as well :)

Thank you for reading this blog! If you enjoyed it please do click LIKE and click SHARE to share it with your network.

If you enjoyed this post please take time to read some of my other recent posts.

LinkedIn Sales Navigator Is Like Going To The The Gym...

Just Pick Up The Phone and Call!

The ABC Of Social Selling

The Modern-Day Sales Prospecting Stack

The 10 Things That Will NEVER Change In Sales

About the author: 

Daniel Disney is one of the world's leading Sales, Social Selling and LinkedIn experts and is the author of the #1 Amazon Best Selling book, "The Million-Pound LinkedIn Message".

Daniel is also a highly in-demand international keynote sales speaker, is the UK's leading sales blogger and is also the Founder and Owner of LinkedIn's most popular sales publication, The Daily Sales. With a global audience of over 500,000+ followers and growing by thousands each week, his content reaches millions of salespeople far and wide.

To inquire about Daniel keynoting or speaking at your company or event, or to find out more about his 1-day and online LinkedIn/Social Selling Masterclass please email [email protected].