LinkedIn’s “Sales Navigator” platform is by far the most useful tool that every entrepreneur should be using. How am I inclined to make such a bold statement? I have used this platform to make countless connections for my clients and have used it to advance my career as well. Our economy is progressively shifting from the Industrial Age to the Information Age, and business owners have to learn to adjust into the new way of networking. Sales Navigator grants us the opportunity to find who we need. Here are four unique ways to find African-American Professionals using Sales Navigator.
Targeting Minority LinkedIn Business Groups
Organizations and Associations love to create groups I believe it gives us a feeling of being a part of something that is bigger than ourselves. Depending on what group you are a part of some people wear it as a badge of honor. Within Sales Navigator we are able to find out who is in each group. So, if you elected to pick a group whose members are predominantly African American you have found your clients. For example, there is a group named “African American Business Owners.” You can actually become more granular in your group search by picking an industry. There is also a group called “African American Real Estate Agents of DC” if your services cater to Real Estate Agents, and you live in DC this group is for you.
Targeting Minority Professionals by Gender
Sense we were on the topic of groups I wanted to give this one special attention. Yes, you are able to find groups of minority professionals by gender. An illustration of this, would be finding professional women in the tech industry to promote an event. There is a group within the Sales Navigator platform called “African American Women in Technology” and guest what? It has over 3k+ members imagine the possibilities of connections you can make, and this is only one group out of many! There are groups for just black men called “Black Executive Men” which is filled with African American businessmen. By now, I am sure you guys are getting the drift of utilizing groups to find minority professionals.
Leveraging Universities & Colleges to Connect with Minority Professionals
This strategy is by far the simplest and as straightforward as you can get. When I started to use this strategy I said to myself “this is obvious.” We can search for HBCU’s to find our target market. I have also, used it to find students that haven’t graduated yet for black owned businesses that were looking for interns. So, please encourage young African American students to create a professional LinkedIn profile while they are currently a student. I would recommend highlighting current and past internships and volunteer work especially if it’s geared towards their future careers.
Using African American Brand Names to Connect to Minority Professionals
Within the Sales Navigator platform you are able to search for company accounts. The company account feature allows you to find everyone that has a LinkedIn profile that works for a particular company. For instance, if you wanted to find minority professionals that are in the telecommunication industry you could look up “Black Entertainment Television” BET. Sales Navigator will show you the number of employees that have LinkedIn profiles. You can make your desired connections at this point. As long as you know the company’s name you are able to find African American professionals.
As a final piece to note, I would like to explain that Sales Navigator is a treasure chest of people and resources. The more systemically creative you can become the doors of opportunities can and will open up for you. So, when you are putting your marketing plan together don’t forget about Sales Navigator it will be a great contribution to your overall success.
