Business Dating App
Today is April Fool's Day, and I don't want to throw any jokes at you guys, but instead I want to talk about thinking about social media in a slightly different way. What if you started treating LinkedIn like Tinder and make your profile swipe-stopping? Alright, so you may or may not know what Tinder is. It's a dating app on your phone, and what you do on Tinder is look at a bunch of pictures and if you see somebody that you like, you swipe right. If you see somebody you dislike, you swipe left. It allows users to chat only if both parties liked each other in the app. Wouldn't that be cool? I think it could be a little creepy, too, but anyway, you have to start thinking about LinkedIn as if it was a dating site, right?
Let's Get Married
I've often said you wouldn't walk into a bar and tap somebody on the shoulder and ask them to marry you. Would you do the same thing on LinkedIn? Dating takes time. You usually have a little bit of courtship going on. Think of LinkedIn as kind of dating site, where you start to get to know people. You have to be more than just a pretty face in order to make really good connections.
First and foremost, make sure you're on the right platform. LinkedIn is a business-to-business platform. It's not a place like Facebook or Instagram or Twitter or other places where you're doing things very casually. You want to be a lot more business direct and to the point. Should you be on Tinder or should you be on SilverSingles, which is another dating site? The bottom line is, more people on LinkedIn tend to be a little bit older, in their 40s to their 60s. They tend to be more successful, so you cannot treat LinkedIn like Facebook.
Hire A Private Detective
The second thing you want to do is research before connecting with people, whether you're connecting with them or they're connecting with you. You want to make sure that you're a good fit. You want to make sure that you have some potential connection that's going to make sense. You wouldn't want to try to sell dog food to cat people, right? Well, you want to make sure that your connection with somebody is gonna be mutually beneficial, not that they're just trying to sell to you, or you're just trying to sell to them. It really has to be a mutual relationship, just like a dating relationship would be.
Be Fabulous
The other thing that you want to make sure is you want to make sure that your profile is swipe-stopping. The bottom line is people put on their best face. As a matter of fact, I heard something today where Tinder is actually asking people to take a picture next to a building so they can verify their height. Now, I'm not on any dating sites. I've been married for many, many years, but from what I understand, people tend to exaggerate some stuff like their height. Tinder is actually making it so that the information is correct, or at least they're trying. The bottom line is you want to make sure if somebody's researching you, whether you connect with them or they connect with you, that your profile tells people the truth of who you are, what you have to offer, and why they would want to stop and connect with you.
REAL Tinder Blog Titles
The next thing I want to do is give you actual titles from the Tinder Blog, and these are titles from blog posts on their website. I think it offers some insight on how you can use LinkedIn better.
I've Got News For You. Your Crush Is Attainable.
The first one is, “I've Got News For You. Your Crush Is Attainable.” In other words, on LinkedIn, there are new relationships to be found, so don't go into it like you're having a first date conversation. In other words, “Where are you from? What do you like to do? You have a cute cat.” No. You don't want to go there. You want to make sure that you're setting the stage for future conversations. You should be short and to the point and say, “Hey, I hope to connect again in the future.”
13 Memorable Messages That Sealed The Date Deal
Headline two is, “13 Memorable Messages That Sealed The Date Deal.” In other words, leave a quick comment. Don't overexplain yourself. Don't expect people on a first connection to take action, like, “Read my blogs”, or “Watch my webinar.” Start off by just saying hi, but don't be too casual. Don't say, “Yeah, how's it goin'?” That kind of stuff. You want to be business-like, so get to the point. Say, “Hi. I thought we'd be a good connection because we have these mutual relationships. We're in the same business.” Whatever it is, leave it open for a connection in the future. Just say, “Thanks for connecting”, and move on.
I Went On Three First Dates In A Day, and Here's What I Learned.
Tinder Blog number three: “I Went On Three First Dates In A Day, and Here's what I Learned.” Here's the thing. If you send somebody a message, not everybody's going to respond and take action, but if they do, you want to be prepared for it. Don't play games. Be honest about your intentions and why you wanted to connect with them, and again, keep it short. It doesn't have to work out to work out for you.
In other words, they don't have to be somebody who's going purchase from you. They could be somebody that leads to great referrals. You never know, especially if you stay in touch with them. What I want you to be is crystal clear as to who's connecting with you and who you're trying to connect with and why. Do it in a way that's going to continue the conversations to that second and third date, if it makes sense.
Final Thoughts
Let me leave you with these three final thoughts.
First, make sure that you're doing your research. When somebody connects with you, spend the time to go look at their profile. See what you think. Is it somebody that's swipe-worthy? Is it somebody you want to connect with? Is it somebody that makes sense for you and your business? If they're just trying to sell you something or if they're not in your industry, that's your call, but try to make quality connections. The other thing, too, is you want to make sure that your profile is swipe-worthy. Make sure that you have a good profile picture, that you have good content in there, and that it makes sense when somebody sees your connection request and they research you. Are you somebody they want to connect with?
The second thing is, if they are a good connection you may want to invest the time to actually do some emotional intelligence research on them. I use a tool called Crystal. Go to brianloves.info/crystal and check it out. It's a great tool that helps you promote quality communications with people.
The final piece of advice is if you think they're a good connection for the future and you've started those conversations, get them into a CRM. Make sure you collect as much data as possible and set up a reminder to connect with them in a week, in two weeks, or whatever. Don't be creepy, but be consistent.
Hopefully, this helps you see LinkedIn in a new light. It's kind of like a dating app for your business to find that perfect relationship for now and the future.
I would love to hear your thoughts on this. Comment below and share your thoughts, ideas or questions about showing the concepts presented. Have you had to overcome any of the presented concepts? What worked and what did not live up to expectations? Do you have any ideas or advice you could share?
To learn more about this and other topics on Internet Marketing, visit our podcast website at http://www.baconpodcast.com/podcasts/
