LinkedIn is easily the premier social networking site for businesses and business professionals. While Facebook and Twitter may get the lion’s share of popular attention, they simply do not offer the business building opportunities available with an active and well-crafted LinkedIn account. Many people fail to take full advantage of their LinkedIn profile to generate rewarding leads, and to market their business’s brand. And that’s a shame, because LinkedIn makes business outreach easy and effective.
So, if you have yet to tap into the full potential of LinkedIn for business outreach, now is the time to look at a few ways the social networking site can help you build your business and market your brand.
a. Search for opportunities
The heart of LinkedIn, like any social networking site, is making connections. This is the most basic way to reach out to potential new leads. You can begin by joining a few LinkedIn groups, all of which should have some connection to your niche industry. This will help to spread awareness of your brand to a wider audience. By using LinkedIn’s ‘Advanced Search’, you can begin to target a specific market. LinkedIn’s ‘Advanced Search’ allows you to fine tune your search parameters according to industry, company, educational background and job title. You can even perform searches that target specific keywords that are relevant to your industry.
b. The personal message
One of the cardinal mistakes people make when setting up a LinkedIn account, is to assume that their profile will do all of the heavy lifting. You have to be proactive, and the best way to be proactive is to reach out to your connections with a personal message.
c. Engage with the LinkedIn group experience
Creating a LinkedIn group is not only a good way to generate leads for your business, it is also a great way to make new connections and establish yourself as an authority in your field. Before you tackle starting your own group, however, spend some time reviewing some of the more popular LinkedIn groups. This will help guide you in setting up your own group.
While the kids are playing on Facebook and Twitter, the professionals are hard at work using LinkedIn to promote their businesses and establish their brands. These few tips should help to illustrate how you can leverage your LinkedIn profile to make new connections, generate valuable leads, and ultimately grow your business.
For more information, contact Karlien Theart at karlien@succeedgroup.co.za
This article is a general information sheet and should not be used or relied on as professional advice. No liability can be accepted for any errors or omissions nor for any loss or damage arising from reliance upon any information herein.