Linkedin.com

[the mayor]

I don't know, I get a lot of inquiries through LinkedIn for writing, but most don't actually seem serious about doing business, just curious. I'll probably upgrade once I actually see some return on the time I've invested in the site, but until then they won't get a dime.

I'm in the same place as you. Made a lot of contacts on Link'dIn and Plaxo. Got a few inquiries, but nothing solid. In talking to a lot of business people( I do Commercial P&C), they all say the same thing....and many have backed off from using it.

I do have a friend who is a fund raiser for a mega non profit that has had some success with it, though.

To me, it's like that funny shaped knife that comes with a cuttlery set....it's probably great for something, but no one knows how to use it.

 

[moonlightandmargaritas]

To me, it's like that funny shaped knife that comes with a cuttlery set....it's probably great for something, but no one knows how to use it.

 

[sunkist219]

If you're using the free version of LinkedIn, join a ton of groups and post articles on them under the news sections. I used to do this with my blog and a lot of the group members will get emails every day stating what's been posted, so your blog articles will actually show up in people's emails. I tried this on my own blog and I got tons of visitors and comments on my blogs, all because of LinkedIn.

 

[the mayor]

But did comments and visits turn into business$$?

 

[sunkist219]

But did comments and visits turn into business$$?

I experimented with my own blog that was all about online marketing, and it didn't have a way for them to contact me - so no. However, I have worked on blogs for insurance agents where they've gotten tons of leads (quotes submitted) that we were able to track that came from the articles that they wrote on insurance. So if you put 2 and 2 together, hopefully it'll turn into business. I want to try it out again soon with a site that could convert them, so I'll let you know how that goes

 

[the mayor]

I am interested in how it turns out for you.
I just could not see how to make it work for me....and with plenty of things to do, I put Link'dIn aside.
But, if I am missing an opportunity, I want to know about it.

 

[sunkist219]

okay you've officially challenged me. I'm going to try it on a few different insurance agents I'll see how it goes!

 

[Y.L. Prinzel]

That system works...if the Bucs go 16-0. See me in August. and you'll be fine.

I'm going to hold you to this promise. I have a lot of bad fantasy football PR to overcome.

 

[sunkist219]

So far, I've got slight traffic to the insurance site, but not a lot of activity. I think it might not work as well for the insurance industry as it does in the marketing industry. A lot of advertising professionals like reading each others blogs but I don't think that's true for every profession. Most of the traffic to my blog/site is still coming from search engines. The top traffic sourses are Google, Yahoo, MSN, AOL, this forum, article sites, and then Live.com. Personally, I think it's better to invest time into getting a higher placement on what's already working. I'm still going to try getting more traffic from LinkedIn, so if the situation ever changes, I'll update you

 

[Y.L. Prinzel]

The thing to remember is to go where your clients are, not where your competitors are. If I were selling insurance, I would join the small business and entrepreneurial groups. There is no point to getting traffic to your website that isn't going to convert to sales. I join some writers groups fr my own networking needs, but I join insurance and finance groups for clients. It does me no good if other writers visit my website.

I've now moved up to sending a three page proposal to a prospect who contacted me on LinkedIn to create her website content. I think this one might actually pan out into a sale--we'll see.