Painters can use LinkedIn to find decision makers, connect with them, and start conversations that turn into meaningful business relationships. In fact, painters not using LinkedIn are missing a huge opportunity to grow their business. Whether you are brand new to LinkedIn or a savvy veteran, these tips will help any painter drive more leads from the world’s largest professional networking site.

1: DEVELOP A GREAT LINKEDIN PROFILE

Put ‘Your Company Name Nearby Major City LinkedIn’ into Google and hit search. If you have a LinkedIn profile, it will almost always be the first result. This is how easy it is for anyone considering doing business with you to evaluate your LinkedIn profile. By extension, they can also discover mutual business contacts and review your professional background.

LinkedIn has easy-to-use prompts painters can follow to set up their profile. The most important thing is writing relevant content and not leaving major sections blank. Try to add at least three to five sentences under your most recent work history and professional summary.

2: POST PHOTOS OF PROJECTS

On every social media platform, including LinkedIn, people love to see and engage with images. Leading social media management platform Sprout Social reports LinkedIn posts with images receive 200% more engagement than text-only posts.

Painters can use the LinkedIn mobile app to quickly upload photos on the go. It’s fine to post photos while work is being done or of completed projects. Do not worry about coming up with brilliant captions. The best length for a LinkedIn post is 50 to 100 characters—or roughly the length of this entire sentence.

3: SEND LINKEDIN CONNECTION REQUESTS

A rolodex works because it is full of relevant business contacts. LinkedIn is no different. Painters need to send connection requests to clients, referral sources and prospects. For a commercial painter this could mean property managers, bid coordinators or business owners. Residential painters can connect with realtors who may be a source for referrals.

It is perfectly acceptable to connect with contacts you have never met. Just make sure they are a relevant contact, and that you include a personalized connection request message. A hidden benefit of building a large LinkedIn network is that every post is seen by more and more people you want to do business with.

4: SEND MESSAGES AND EMAILS

This is how painters truly use LinkedIn to grow their business. Once a prospect accepts your connection, you can send them messages. LinkedIn messages should be short and include a hard ask for their business. Try sending a quick introduction message with less than 500 characters and attach a PDF copy of your brochure. Make sure to include your email address and phone number.

If your LinkedIn messages are not getting through, try following up with an email. On a contact’s profile page, to the right of their photo, after you click on it, it will say ‘See contact info.’ Simply click to reveal their email address and other contact information. This is easiest on a desktop computer and only works after they have accepted your connection request.

INPUT EQUALS OUTPUT

Like any other marketing effort, painters will only get out of LinkedIn what they put into it. Unlike other marketing efforts, it is easy to target exact decision makers. While it requires a consistent effort, LinkedIn is worth the time investment. Where else can a simple message start a business conversation with six-figure sales potential?

Aaron Hockel is a partner and VP of digital marketing at AltaVista Strategic Partners. He can be reached at aaron@altavistasp.com. For other tips on how to run or market your painting business, visit inpaintmag.com