In this episode we discuss:

5 things you can do to your LinkedIn profile to generate leads.

LinkedIn best practices for connecting and doing business.

The #1 thing that manages and sustains rapid agency growth.

A unique interview process to get the right people in the right seat.

Lauren Davenport is finding her name on all kinds of “Best of” and “Top” Lists… and for good reason! At age 27, she is the CEO of Symphoni Media, the agency she founded just four years ago and is growing at the rate of 400% year over year since then. She credits her agency’s growth to some great agency PR and her A-list talent, but mostly to LinkedIn. In fact, she shared her story, including the growing pains these first four years plus how she landed a $500,000 project using LinkedIn.

Lauren got her start when, as a journalism major in college, she created a social networking internship for herself a local bar. (Yep, back then it was the social “network” and you needed a college email account to be a user!) The bar’s business increased significantly and so did the popularity of Lauren’s services. She grew her freelance work into a roster of 15 clients, but eventually decided it was time to leave her college town and branch out into the agency business… In four years she’s grown from a very small agency to a team of 30 with 400% revenue growth each year.

5 Steps to Generating New Agency Business on LinkedIn

Lauren has become a LinkedIn LEADER  by using her profile for generating leads and converting them to clients. In fact, she landed a $500,000 project from her LinkedIn profile!

Lauren’s LinkedIn profile includes a promised ROI figure which her team calculates annually. In a new business meeting, the prospect client challenged that 500%+ ROI figure by offering up a $500,000 investment to see if her team could actually deliver on their claim. They did – and it was that simple.

So, here’s what you can do to your profile immediately:

* Have the end user in mind. Quit treating your profile like an extension of your resume. Instead, gear it toward the end user. Think of the people you want to connect with and what they’d want to learn about you.

* Change your title to an action oriented headline. Start with a verb that describes what you do. After our interview I changed my LinkedIn title: WAS:  I’m a media company for digital agencies that want to grow and scale their profit. NOW:  Scaling Digital Agencies Through Innovative Strategies and Setting Up the Right Systems

* Create a summary that shows you provide value. (Mine got an A+ from Lauren – no changes were made, so check it out here.) Expertly summarize how you are the person to address the struggles and solve the problems your viewer experiences.

* A headshot is vital. No avatar image, selfies or glamour shots allowed.

* Testimonials are the MOST valuable thing you can add to your profile. It’s a two-way street, so make sure you’re leaving testimonials for people, too. You can request testimonials from clients by sending them an email with a link to your site where they can leave a few words. Make it as easy as possible for them to help you.

More LinkedIn Best Practices