 Do you ever jump on LinkedIn and wonder, what on earth am I doing here? And now that I'm here, what am I going to do? Well, my friend, you're not alone. I used to ask myself that all the time. And while I'm more intentional now about my time on LinkedIn, it took me a while to find my why. As in, why should I be spending my time on LinkedIn? So today, I'm brainstorming a bunch of potential whys for you as well. Stick around. Hi, it's Leanne. And LinkedIn is my social jam. But it wasn't always that way. When I first started on LinkedIn, it was more of an online resume. And since I wasn't looking for a job, I wasn't really sure what I was supposed to do once I got into the platform. Now, the platform has changed a lot over the years. But what has also changed is the way I view LinkedIn as a sales and marketing tool. So today, I'm outlining some of the reasons why you should spend more time on LinkedIn. But before we dive in, don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel and click on that little bell to be notified of new content. I post content each week about personal branding and LinkedIn. And I don't want you to miss out on the tips that will help you grow your brand week over week. And stick around to the end of the video. I have one bonus tip or reason that you should be on LinkedIn, especially if you're a sales professional. So stick around for that one. And so without further ado, let me show you seven compelling reasons why you as a sales professional should be spending some time on LinkedIn to grow your personal brand. Reason number one, you can find decision makers. As the world's largest business to business, social media platform, potential clients and decision makers are on the platform on the daily. So using LinkedIn to find these individuals, create a connection and start to engage with them is probably one of the biggest reasons that you should be using LinkedIn. Reason number two, you can learn about your ideal client and community. LinkedIn is a treasure trove of information as other people share in discussions and post interesting topics on the home feed. These are your clients and you can learn a lot about what they're talking about, what their challenges are, even what their successes are and then you're able to speak their language and bring them into your world through some inbound marketing. I did do a post about inbound marketing not too long ago, you can find a link to that video right up here. Reason number three, you can showcase your abilities for job opportunities. LinkedIn is still an incredible place to find opportunities and where recruiters are hanging out to find people like you. So spending some time on LinkedIn, ensuring your profile is complete and engaging in conversations will help those recruiters find you and potentially offer you a new opportunity. Reason number four, showcase yourself as an industry thought leader. This is a huge one if you're not only working on your personal brand, but you wanna create incredible relationships with your clients that will feed into referrals. So consider writing some posts on LinkedIn, contributing to discussions or even writing a LinkedIn article to start showcasing your abilities as an industry thought leader. Reason number five, you can attract other branding opportunities. So similar to four, as you start to position yourself as a thought leader, once you engage in the platform, people will see your activity and see that you are contributing in a positive and healthy manner. This is going to lead like opportunities in the volunteer sector or perhaps even speaking opportunities, interviews on podcasts or video series, et cetera. Reason number six, you can learn new skills. Not only does LinkedIn have its own learning library, but of course you're going to be learning from your colleagues, your connections and even other individuals on LinkedIn whose posts have been engaged on by your connections and followers. It's a treasure trove of information and a great place to hang out for some professional development. Reason number seven, you rank higher in Google. As you engage in the platform and have a complete profile, your profile will drift up in the search results when someone Googles your name. If you have a common name, this is incredibly important to gain eyes on what it is that you're doing. In addition, this is the way that you control the messaging that's out there on the worldwide web about you. And finally, here is my bonus reason, especially for all you sales professionals. The number one reason you should be hanging out on LinkedIn is because your competitors are there as well. They're talking to your clients. They're talking to your prospects. They're making a name for themselves. So I encourage you to spend some time on LinkedIn, make a name for yourself, position yourself as an industry thought leader and start to attract your ideal community. Do you plan on spending more time on LinkedIn in the upcoming year? I would love to hear what you would like to do with your LinkedIn presence. Please make some comments below this video. And if you'd like an introduction to growing your network, I'm hosting a LinkedIn challenge, five days to 50 connections. You can learn more about the challenge and sign up at liankulderwood.com forward slash challenge. For more LinkedIn inspiration and tips, check out my LinkedIn video library here or check out the blog posts over at liankulderwood.com. I look forward to hearing about your LinkedIn journey, my friend. Please stay in touch and we will see you next time. Bye for now.