IT.COM

advice Are you using LinkedIn properly?

NameSilo
LinkedIn is one of my favorite websites for connecting with other domainers (my profile is here if you want to connect).

However, many domainers either don't use LinkedIn or don't use it effectively enough. It's a fantastic website for forging new connections, but it's best use for a domainer (I believe) is used in outbound sales.

Take this very common scenario as an example:

You've found a medium/large company that you think would definitely be interested in buying a domain you own. You find out everything you can about the company, but there's one problem: you don't know who to contact.

Usually, you'll contact the CTO or CMO of this medium/large company, but without a name you have no hope of contacting them. (Hint: using a generic "info@" email address to try to sell a domain has never worked for me.)

This is where LinkedIn comes into play. Most professionals have a LinkedIn account, so you're likely to find any professional by searching for the company name on LinkedIn and browsing the list of employees. Free LinkedIn accounts can see minimal data on each profile compared to a premium account, but you should have enough access to be able to find who you need.

If not, a very useful trick is to use Google to search LinkedIn by searching for the following:

site:LinkedIn.com "at [company]"

This will show you all employees who are listed as working for the company. Search through the Google listings to find the contact you need.

Then, use the email format tip I showed you earlier this week to find their email address and send off your domain sales email.

LinkedIn can also be useful for buying domain names. There are a few domainer groups on LinkedIn in which members list domains for sale. From time to time there are domains which can be good investments.
 
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I just started using LinkedIn a month or so ago.
 
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Didn't realize there is a domainer group! Thanks for tip and well written article.
 
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@briguy : there are indeed quite a few groups dedicated to domains and domaining on Linkedin. Not all of them are worth joining as they might not be that active but some are quite good.
 
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I get endless spam from Linkedin, so I'm leery...
 
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@Ms Domainer surely there's a way to edit email notification settings?
 
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James,
You have opened my eyes.I have been holding a (FREE) membership in linkedin for years.But never used it properly.I have a domain which has been derived from the name and its application of latest teschnology in its core business operation.[I am not publishing the name of my domain here. May be it not supported by forum rule here]
I am going to sell it. If workers of that company can be contacted through linked in may be my domain will land on the hands of the end user.

Anyway, James, it's your article that has brought the idea to my mind.Thanks a lot
 
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@jamesiles do you think there is any value to using Linkedin's paid sales tools? at $79.99 a month it seems like a bargain if you could generate a few big ticket sales every month. The one limitation that bothers me is the limit on sending 15 "Inmail" messages a month. Not everyone is receptive to domainers and you could wipe out that allotment pretty quick on just one domain. What in your opinion is the best person to target in a mid-size to large company?
 
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@Amogul - I've never seen the need to use any LinkedIn premium plans.
 
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@Amogul - I've never seen the need to use any LinkedIn premium plans.
don't you think it's better to send the employee an inmail through linkedin as the method of guessing the email of an employee is mostly based off luck. E.g
James Drew could be [email protected] or something like that.

thanks.
 
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This is definitely very useful. I am normally able to get the information of the site owner/company though Whois but in cases I don't I always find myself going crazy searching to see if they have a Facebook or any other social media channel. That is a nice little technique to search in Google with. I am definitely going to implement this.

- Will
 
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____________________
YOU.ROCK...sorry couldn't resist
 
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Hi @James Illes,

Very useful post, I was wandering if you could give an insight into how you contact End Users, a template of a message you use, your strategy when contacting an end user etc.

Thanks.
 
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@HotDomainSales thanks. I don't give out the types of messages that I use :). Most of my strategies (whether they are the best way to do things or not is another matter) are posted throughout the NamePros blog and throughout my book.
 
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Thanks for sharing.. James..
 
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Thanks for your thought but i am using linkedin but they show me the older version what can i do and how can i find the email address for the companies employee
 
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@James Iles I want to fund employee email address of expedia.

I google:
site:LinkedIn.com at [expedia]


Is this the right format?
 
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@James Iles I want to fund employee email address of expedia.

I google:
site:LinkedIn.com at [expedia]


Is this the right format?



For that one I'd use something like this:
site:linkedin.com "at expedia" -job

I added "-job" to remove the "job" keyword from searches since for larger companies, LinkedIn related Google searches will usually bring up job opportunities
 
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