4 Pillars to Leveraging LinkedIn for Business Development | Brynne Tillman - 1941

I’m digging into The Sales Evangelist archive to bring you another gem! One of the best parts about this podcast is that so many episodes share timeless sales strategies you can use for years.

This rerun features Brynne Tillman, CEO and “LinkedIn Whisperer” at Social Sales Link, and author of The LinkedIn Sales Playbook. If social selling feels like a mystery, you’ll want to hear Brynne break down her 4 LinkedIn Pillars for business development.

The Value of a Great LinkedIn Profile

· Your LinkedIn profile isn’t just an online résumé—it’s your first sales tool.

· When prospects visit your page, they’re not looking for your mission statement or how long you’ve been in business. They want to know how *relevant* you are to them.

· Head to getmyssicore.com for a personalized score that rates your social selling skills.

· The higher your score, the more likely buyers are to see your value.

· Write your summary like a mini blog post—something that instantly helps your reader.

· Highlight the challenges your buyers face, and share three to five insights they can use right away.

· When you lead with value, you build credibility faster and move through the sales cycle with less friction.

Pillar 1: Establish Your Professional Brand

· Your professional brand is your profile. By positioning your profile to offer insight and value, you build credibility and spark curiosity.

· You’re getting prospects excited to take your call. If they can learn something just by visiting your profile, they’ll imagine a conversation with you will be even more valuable.

· Position yourself as a subject matter expert and thought leader.

Pillar 2: Find the Right People

· How are you using LinkedIn to find your buyers and influencers? If it’s true that an average of 6.8 people are involved in every major buying decision, how are you identifying all the right people within an organization?

· Instead of focusing only on the champion, who else should you reach out to or engage?

· Prospecting and relationship-building go hand in hand. It’s about offering real value and leveraging your network to get introductions to your target prospects and buyers.

· Create search strings using your buyers’ titles, tailored to your target location or industry.

Pillar 3: Engage With Insights

· How are you sharing, commenting on, and engaging with content? Are you using hashtags to find the right conversations? Are you feeding your network with valuable insights that move them closer to your solution?

· It’s more than just liking or sharing. LinkedIn rewards consistent engagement—sharing, commenting, and contributing to conversations.

· Avoid “random acts of social.” Anything done without intention or purpose rarely leads to success, especially on LinkedIn.

Pillar 4: Build Relationships

· “Connecting and forgetting” is like collecting business cards that just sit in a stack on your desk. How valuable is that? That’s not a network.

· There’s more value in genuinely connecting with a few people at a networking event and having meaningful conversations than there is in collecting every business card in the room. Bring that same thoughtfulness online.

“There’s no reason to network differently online than you do in person.” - Brynne Tillman.

Resources

You can also check out episode 1088 to hear the rerun with Brynne Tillman. Connect with her on LinkedIn and grab a copy of her book, The LinkedIn Sales Playbook.

Sponsorship Offers

1. This episode is brought to you in part by Hubspot.

With HubSpot sales hubs, your data tools and teams join a single platform to close deals and turn prospects into pipelines. Try it for yourself at hubspot.com/sales.

2. This episode is brought to you in part by LinkedIn.

Are you tired of prospective clients not responding to your emails? Sign up for a free 60-day trial of LinkedIn Sales Navigator at linkedin.com/tse.

3. This episode is brought to you in part by the TSE Sales Foundation.

Improve your connection on LinkedIn and land three or five appointments with our LinkedIn prospecting course. Go to the salesevangelist.com/linkedin.

Credits

As one of our podcast listeners, we value your opinion and always want to improve the quality of our show. Complete our two-minute survey here: thesalesevangelist.com/survey. We’d love for you to join us for our next episodes by tuning in on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or Spotify. Audio provided by Free SFX, Soundstripe, and Bensound. Other songs used in the episodes are as follows: The Organ Grinder written by Bradley Jay Hill, performed by Bright Seed, and Produced by Brightseed and Hill.