Dad you said LinkedIn helps you make money!

A few days ago I had a hilarious conversation with my 5-year-old.  I was impressed with his retention rate and application of key lessons, including 2 SOCIAL SELLING TRAINING lessons for the modern sales rep. 

The Conversation:

Son: Can you take me to school tomorrow?

Me: Sure!

Son: You can!? 

Me: Yep! Yes I can!

Son: What time do you have to go to work tomorrow?

Me: Well I don’t.  I no longer work for that company.  That’s why I can take you to school tomorrow.  

Son: Why?

Me: Well it was time to change and move to a different company.

Son: What company are you going to work for?

Me: I’m not sure yet son.  I’m looking for the next great job.

Son: Does that mean we won’t have my playground anymore in the backyard?

Me: (Puzzled look) What do you mean?  Why do you say that?

Son: Because you said before that you needed to go to work to pay for my playground, but if you don’t have a company anymore to work for, does that mean you won’t be able to pay for my playground?

Me: Ahh…  No son, don’t worry about that. 

Son: Why don’t you go work for In?

Me: (Puzzled Look again..) – In?

Son: Yeah you know the blue and white “IN”?  Let me show you.  (He runs to his bedroom and brings out his cap)

Me: OHH! The company is called LinkedIn.

Son: Oh Ok.  Why don’t you work for LinkedIn?

Me: Great idea!  I’d love to.  Why do you suggest LinkedIn?”

Son: Dad, you said LinkedIn helps you make money.  See there is a IN sign on your phone and your iPad and you get on it to find people to make money.

Me: Ohhh.  Correct Papa!  Very good.  Yes it does, it’s called Social Selling.

Son: (Now with a puzzled look) – Oh.  Dad, since LinkedIn helps you make money maybe you can make money by working there, then we can have lots of money!

Me: (Rubbing his head) I think that is a great idea!  I’ll try to find a job at LinkedIn!

Son: Dad – can I wear my LinkedIn hat tonight to bowling?

Me: Sure papa bear!  Why do you want to do that?

Son: You said you use LinkedIn to help people find you so you can make money.  So if I wear my LinkedIn hat maybe someone will find you so you can make money.

Me: Great idea!  Wear the LinkedIn hat so people will see you!  But bring your regular hat it’s cold outside and you might get cold!

Bowling Happy Dance with the LinkedIn Hat:

Don’t believe he wore the hat?  Here is a video of him at the bowling alley!  The best part is he gets jiggy with it at the very end of the video with his dance moves!  The dance alone is hilarious!

3 Key Lessons:

My 5-year-old (while not a user of LinkedIn) understood 3 key principles, 2 of which were straight from the book on Social Selling for sales people! 

Lesson 1 - A Life Lesson

Work = paycheck = paying for the playground set… We won’t cover that point in this article, but he gets it!

Lesson 2 - Brand Impression

The Blue and White “IN” which stands for LinkedIn, left a brand impression on my son’s mind. He has seen and heard about the brand many times.  Its icon is on the iPad, iPhone, hat, and clothing I had.  I had obviously spoken about it before.  He knew I flew to Las Vegas to be a speaker at LinkedIn Sales Connect 2015 and he watched the video too!

He saw the pictures from the event.  He knew I was a speaker at several other events discussing LinkedIn and its use for the sales community.  So what’s the lesson?

Take-away: Sales people who leverage social media are more likely to leave a “Brand Impression” in the minds of their buyers who are IN their network or are their followers on LinkedIn.  This can ONLY happen IF they regularly (but not overbearingly) see your company’s logo, brand and content in their news feed.    

If it's to show in your buyer's news feed on LinkedIn, it means sales people must learn how to CONNECT properly with their potential buyers.  If you learn how to be a master connector (please, no blind connection requests), then you’ll want to ensure you are regularly FEEDING your network with valuable content.  Marketing’s job will be to make sure that BRANDING is done correctly via these posts.  There are tools that can help marketing leaders assist with this effort including TrapIT, EveryoneSocial, GaggleAmp and others. 

When content sharing is done correctly, there is a higher probability of your buyer inquiring of you or your company when the need arises to purchase services you offer. 

Lesson 3 - Be Found

My son wanted to wear the LinkedIn hat. Why?  In his mind, he figured if he was seen, his dad would get a job at LinkedIn.  He got it!  In fact, someone asked me if I worked at LinkedIn.  I said I was just a speaker.  But it got him the visibility he wanted.  

Take-away: Just like my son wanted to put his hat on to be found, Sales / Marketing leaders and reps need to ensure they are properly inserting keywords into their LinkedIn profiles so they can be found!  This is a critical step to ensure that you outrank your competition. 

I’ve looked at thousands of profiles of sales and marketing professionals, from the reps of the company to the highest ranking executives (CMO, CRO, CSO, etc).  It’s shameful how many LinkedIn profiles are not social network ready or keyword optimized.  How do they expect to be seen or found?

Do you know what your Marketing team uses for SEO keyword optimization?  If not, go ask them what their top 8 keywords are.  Then be sure to optimize your LinkedIn profile with those key words in your Headline, Summary, Experience, Skills, and Interests sections.   

If my 5-year-old can get it… SO CAN YOU!  #SocialSelling—it’s not that hard!

Connect and message me if you'd like to request some 1:1 tutoring in Social Selling!  

About the Author:

Mario Martinez Jr., is a sales leader, speaker, social selling & LinkedIn expert with critical accomplishments in transforming small, medium and Fortune 100 sales teams to exemplary performance.  He has managed revenues of up to $300M.  He is well known for his leadership and turn around team expertise, along with his unique business and marketing planning capabilities within the Global, Enterprise, SMB & Public Sector channels.  As a Social Selling Expert he has been called on to speak & train other marketing and sales leaders by top brands like SAP, Linkedin and others.  He has achieved the coveted LinkedIn Social Selling Index (SSI) score of 99 out of 100!  As a Speaker he teaches, trains, motivates leaders and teams on how to take themselves to the next level & develop a CEO Mindset in managing their business.  Mario received his BA in Business Management from St. Mary’s College of CA.  He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife and two sons.  Connect with him on LinkedIn at www.LinkedIn.com/in/mthreejr, follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/M_3jr  &/or view his website at www.m3jr.com.

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