I find a lot of insurance agents and sales professional struggle using LinkedIn. They seem to have an account, maybe a couple of hundred connections and maybe in a group or two. But when I ask do you make money using LinkedIn, the answer is almost always, “NO”. Why not? Why aren’t you learning to use this awesome networking tool, LinkedIn? Let’s explore the importance of LinkedIn for your insurance business or sales profession business.

The absolute crucial first thing that needs to be done is to get your profile up to “All Star” status. Fill in every single thing that LinkedIn suggests on your profile you need to complete. Have a professional photograph, a good headline and a good summary about you, not your company. People want to do business with you when you are being searched on LinkedIn. If they wanted to learn about your company, they would go to the company website or company page. You are the summary, your company is under experience. Also, when you write your headline and summary make it keyword rich. For example, I want to be found for life insurance on LinkedIn, so my profile is keyword rich with life insurance. If someone searches for a life insurance agent, I come up near the top. This is the first way to make money using LinkedIn.

The second way to make money using LinkedIn is your connections. There was a TV show on recently about six degrees of separation from any person on Earth. That anyone is just six people away from meeting anyone on the planet. Think about it this way. Everyone on average since high school knows about 100 people. But those 100 people know 100 people. So when you meet a new person, essentially, you have the potential of connecting to quite literally 10,000 people. I don’t mean to make you nervous, but next time you meet a new person, “don’t screw up!” But it grows exponentially from there. Harness the power of LinkedIn. As you build your connections,  keep in mind it is not about this particular person as much as the 100 people this person is connected to. For example, I personally have over 900 personal connections on LinkedIn but I am two phone call interdictions away from over 11 million people. This is really where money is made using LinkedIn. Instead of spending time cold calling or buying leads that hang up on you, use LinkedIn to meet your clients. The most efficient way is to find a good referral source. In other words, look for the Goose not the Golden Egg. An insurance agent with enough good referral sources has inbound referrals calling he or she daily and spends their time writing applications to solve problems versus trying to set appointments. Just go into “advanced search” and type in the persons name or company position you would like to meet. LinkedIn will show you within seconds who you both know in common for a personal introduction. That is way more efficent than “cold calling“. Did I mention this awesome system is FREE? You just need to learn how to properly use LinkedIn.

There is an argument of quantity versus quality when it comes to adding connections. Should I just invite anyone to be in my network or just people I’m close to only? The answer is no and both. Be diligent, not lazy. You want a strong network of good people you know and those who know good people. But you also want as large of a network as possible. It does take some time to learn and it must be worked regularly. But in a bit of wisdom, work smarter not harder. Learn as much about LinkedIn today as possible. View online videos, attend workshops, even hire an online LinkedIn expert, like my friend4life, Mitch Comstock here in Nashville, TN, you won’t be sorry.

“When you’re finished changing, you’re finished.” –Ben Franklin

Image courtesy of renjith krishnan at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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Tim Wilhoit is owner/principal of Your Friend 4 Life Insurance Agency in Nashville, TN. He is a family man, father of 3, entrepreneur, insurance agent, life insurance broker, salesman, sales trainer, recruiter, public speaker, blogger and team leader with over 26 years of experience in sales and marketing in the insurance and beverage industries.