LinkedIn Smurfs Lunch
When people write and talk about LinkedIn, they usually focus on getting a job, connecting with the right network, and marketing your individual profile. All of this is career based and is focused on the individual. LinkedIn is a great platform for businesses, too, especially for startups, small and medium size businesses. LinkedIn can be a valuable business tool if you’re able to use it effectively. Here are five effective ways you can use LinkedIn for your business:
1. LinkedIn company profile
In order to have a brand presence on LinkedIn, you must have a company profile. Click here to start one now. It gives your company a face and the visitor an overview of what you’re all about without having to visit your website. Read more about setting up a LinkedIn company profile here. This gives your online presence a boost.
2. Network with thought leaders and potential strategic partners
LinkedIn groups are one of the best places to network with thought leaders in your industry and listen to what others are thinking and saying about in your industry. You’re allowed to join 50 groups on LinkedIn but don’t join all the groups in your industry. Pick and choose wisely because there’s a lot of messages that comes through active groups. You’ll have to test and see how it will work out for you and respond to discussions if they’re useful. This is a place where you can meet professionals who have the same interest and are on the same level as you are.
3. Do market research and get feedback
Depending on how active the people in your industry are on LinkedIn, you’ll be getting a lot of answers if you put your question out there. Ask a question in the LinkedIn Q&A Section it’s one of the best places that experts in your field will respond because they are listening. This is something that you can incorporate into your marketing research. Now you can even use LinkedIn Polls and get sample data from your professional network.
4. Become a LinkedIn expert
Just because you can ask questions doesn’t mean you can’t answer them. Make sure you’re monitoring questions that are related to your vertical, industry, or area of expertise. Depending on how often you answer and how you answer questions, it may take a while before someone marks you as an “Expert”. It’s worth your time if you can answer things the right way, and really think about the answers. If you’re an expert in your area already, you won’t have to think about it much. Besides, you’ll be getting good LinkedIn karma by helping someone out, and others will contact you if your answer is interesting enough.
5. Nurture and generate leads
eMarketer reports that online social spending happens because of marketing — not ads. While online ads still can’t be ignored, it’s the personal one-on-one connections that will make you network grow. In my experience, the contacts I get are usually people who are curious and have specific questions, or want to clarify things before they invest in online marketing. You might get different questions from different people but usually they all want to start a conversation. Now, it’s up to you to keep that conversation going and see if it leads to something else. [non-ad conversational online marketing spending rose from $650 million to $800 million between 2008 and 2009. It's expected to rise to $1080 million this year.] Small and medium size businesses might not have a big marketing budget, but spending the time to engage with your network can yield results, give you other sources of traffic, and get you leads. Engaging in conversations will get you prospects to look at you as an expert. If you have the right answers, they might even hire you, but first you need to put yourself and your business out there and market your expertise the right way.
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Photo by 99Zeros used under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.
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