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How to Leverage LinkedIn for Lead Generation and Sales LinkedIn can be a powerful sales tool. Here are four tips for taking advantage of the platform to grow your business.

By James McKinney

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

With 700 million users, LinkedIn provides a massive opportunity for businesses to increase sales leads and revenue. In this video, the creator and host of "The Startup Story" shares tips for leveraging LinkedIn to start conversations with cold contacts, namely:

  1. Research, learning more about the contact you're reaching out to from their profile as well as other social media accounts
  2. Requesting to connect, adding a personal message using the information you've discovered in your research and suggesting next steps
  3. Delivering on your promise to follow up, inviting your contact to a phone call and requesting their assistance (as opposed to selling)
  4. Nurturing the relationship with engagement via the platform by liking, sharing and commenting on their posts, keeping your name top-of-mind for when they enter a buying cycle

Related: Finding Validation in Serving Customers

James McKinney

Creator & Host, The Startup Story

James McKinney is the Founder & Host of The Startup Story, a multi-channel brand platform that brings the lessons of highly successful founders directly to the everyday founder. Whether it is through The Startup Story podcast or via the Startup Story LIVE event series, entrepreneurs everywhere can receive tactical and practical guidance from founders who are a few steps ahead.

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