When I started on LinkedIn in 2011, there were very few LinkedIn or Social Selling experts. I could count them on one hand. Today, there are tens of thousands. Some of them are brilliant with years of success under their belt, but there are some that have very little experience or are selling a method that doesn't work for businesses outside the social media / marketing bubble.

It's important you find the right social selling expert for you, because the last thing you want is wasted money and no success.

So, I've compiled some things to consider before you decide who to work with:

1. They've never done anything else: It's almost like their career started with being a social selling expert. There are many of them and unfortunately, their clients are paying for them to gain experience. Having years of experience outside of the LinkedIn bubble gives a perspective that someone who has just done LinkedIn doesn't have. Just because you can go viral and you know the algorithm, doesn't mean that success can translate to other people and industries. So check what roles they had before - so you can gauge what life experience they bring to the table. It's easy to sell LinkedIn on LinkedIn - it's not so easy to sell complex cyber security solutions on LinkedIn.
2. They've never stuck at anything: If your LinkedIn guru has never stuck at anything, that's red flag. If you see inconsistent work history, a pattern of pivoting - be careful. Often this is a sign they just jump onto bandwagons and when the going gets tough, they do something else. There are social selling gurus out there, who sell courses to people on how to be a social selling guru - it's sold as a business opportunity. You don't want to hire someone to give you strategic advice on guidance on making LinkedIn a revenue source who cannot stick at anything for long enough to see the good, the bad and the ugly.
3. They offer guarantee's: This is a red flag. You're probably confused as to why this is a red flag. Surely if someone guarantee's their work they have more confidence. But how can you guarantee success when it is contingent on your effort, prospect timing and a range of other factors. Also, a guarantee is empty words. There is a trend of some experts offering "X result or you don't pay" - except when you get into the detail - you have to pay a deposit and the don't pay guarantee has caveats. I prefer to offer clients a "we'll work with you till we get the result" - not as sexy but more realistic.
4. Engagement behaviour: You may or may not know that many influencers and LinkedIn gurus participate in engagement groups or more loose engagement for engagement tactics. If you've ever looked at some popular content and questioned why it is doing so well, it's likely some form of engagement trickery. Check out their commenting history in their activity section and see if they are putting down lots of comments and those same people are commenting back. 
5. Reviews and case studies: This is a funny one. I've spotted of late, many of the LinkedIn gurus case studies are other LinkedIn gurus or people also selling some form of sales or marketing service. You want to hire a social selling expert that has reviews and feedback from clients outside of the marketing bubble and have worked with industries like yours. Like I said before, it's easy to sell marketing on a marketing platform - everyone wants more clients - but does everyone want an MSP specialising in AWS? 
6. Do they practice what they preach: Because Meta knows me, it understands I an interested in LinkedIn. So, I see all my competitors ads. Some of the biggest names will put out ads selling how to organically get clients on LinkedIn. I know of two recently, one who has the audacity of saying "I don't need ads to make money" - in an ad. Then there is the one claiming to be No.1 LinkedIn expert, who runs ads for his $6k course that where he teaches how he has made $10m on LinkedIn. Look for the signs they live what they teach.
7. They're not just a content creator: Content is important to your LinkedIn and social selling success - but it isn't the only part. Content creators often sell courses which are in essence 'be like me' - if you want to be a content creator - buy their course. Often their model of posting content to make money requires selling a low ticket course or getting paid to post by brands. 96% of content creators make less than $50k a year, which is a decent income for posting - but it doesn't scale to give you a $250k business - and the model of making money is totally different.
8. Volume or value: Many social selling and LinkedIn "experts" will focus on volume rather than value. This doesn't work in most industries. If you're selling highly complex services that have long decision making cycles - cold pitching 100 people per day will cause you more harm than good. Likewise, chasing virality will force you down a path of appealing to the widest possible audience. Look at how they approach LinkedIn. For most people a high value, low volume approach performs better - fewer more quality conversations works.

These are some of the things I'd focus on, social selling is a little easier than cold selling, but it still requires focus, commitment and determination. 

Don't fall for fake urgency, take your time to consider which social selling expert is the right one for you.

How I help you

I help experts to win clients on LinkedIn without waiting for referrals. I teach people how to leverage social selling to build a predictable pipeline.

I do this through 3 vehicles

• Social Selling Accelerator - A six month implementation programme with 1:1 coaching.
• One Day Strategy - I work with you and your team 1:1 at your offices.
• Public classes - I host public workshops across the US and UK

No paid ads. No pushy tactics. No posting every day.

Most of my clients launch within 30 days (depending on your bandwidth) and start seeing leads in the first 60.

If you'd like to know more schedule a call here.

Who is Dean?

If you're new here, I'm Dean Seddon, a global social selling expert, founder of Maverrik, and a 15-year practitioner who has trained over 25,000 salespeople and business owners. If you enjoyed this content, please follow and subscribe to see more.