How to make use of Linkedin to Showcase what you are Promoting

LocalNet360-As we continue our series on helping small companies expand onto the Internet as a means of improving business, it’s now the time to discuss Linkedin and its uses to get discovered on the web. While it’s still early for most small businesses to buy into the concept of social networking, the truth is that now is the time to get started. This article will discuss the benefits of using Linkedin and other social networking sites to help promote your business, as well as some of the potential methods that can be implemented.

Marketing on Linkedin-Good or Bad?
Linkedin is a business-related social networking site. It has 27 million registered professionals and about 8 million unique visitors each month. The idea is to connect or stay connected with past companies, and join new groups and forums. It is mainly used for professional networking. We consider LinkedIn to be one of the "Big 4" of social media (others are Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube).

If there’s one thing a business networking event needs, it’s people to network with. LinkedIn exists to help businesses market themselves online, therefore it’s unsurprising that the site includes plenty of ways for its members to indulge in a little shameless self-promotion.

Like other forms of Internet marketing, marketing a small or home business on LinkedIn is relatively inexpensive and provides a lot of bang for the buck. Let’s use the example of developing readers for a book about a subject you have knowledge in. If that's the market you are trying to reach, you need to get in the game.

Start using social media network LinkedIn. Not only can you post links to your "wall" but also participate in LinkedIn Answers using keywords. By answering multiple questions posted by other members each week, you'll establish credibility and attract links and sales leads. You can also leave the link to your Website as a reference which will help with your link building efforts. When you're done answering a question you can also ask the person who asked it for a link back to your site.

Build a list of contacts and engage in community. Publishers want to know just how many potential readers there are for your book. The number of fans you have from Facebook, followers on Twitter, connects on LinkedIn, and subscribers to your blog provide tangible figures. Producing a weekly or monthly e-zine or newsletter is an effective way to grow your list of contacts. Your website and blog can include an opt-in page to capture subscribers.

There are some ways organizations can benefit from LinkedIn such as group, events, company profiles, jobs, and more. LinkedIn groups function as a forum for members to have real-world conversations about products, issues, opportunities, events, and referrals of information while LinkedIn Events correspond to real events, such as tradeshows, conferences, and training events. This emerging segment will become a mechanism for events to be accessible to networks of members where professional interests align. Another is LinkedIn Company profiles which companies are making it a priority to see that these descriptions, information, and company logos are used correctly on Linkedin.

Linkedin also has jobs information. The beauty is that if one person is not interested in the position, the position can be referred to someone who might be a good fit for the role. Ensuring that your advertised positions go beyond jobsites online and into LinkedIn. This extra link can assist in finding the right candidates in a tough hiring market.

The price is really right! Most of LinkedIn services are free, so why not take advantage of the extra placement? While the risk of not embracing social media for organizations is not quantified, the cost of embracing it is low.

Of course, this is just a brief overview of how technology improvements and the internet can help improve your small business. And assuming the market for online marketing continues to grow in popularity, many small businesses can begin to use this inexpensive resource to help grow their businesses and expand their resources to the fullest.
As you begin to develop and/or expand your presence on the Internet for your business consider this: Linkedin and other social networking sites combined with special promotions is a good way to increase traffic to your site, as well as improve its search ranking inexpensively. However, you will need to develop more comprehensive strategies, since no one way will work for all businesses as you begin to build a customer base that you can then market to online on a regular basis. As stated earlier in this series, in order to rise above the crowd you will need more than just a website. Therefore, implementing several Internet based solutions over the next 12-24 months will be critical to the long term success for virtually every small and local business in America.
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