Over the past few years, LinkedIn has proven itself to be a legitimate business tool for many, helping small business owners to develop and nurture targeted opportunities. And if the numbers of “friend requests” in my inbox are any indication, the strength of the site isn’t decreasing. In fact, it’s growing.
There are lots of opportunities for small business owners to leverage LinkedIn to build traffic, branding, authority and even their real life Rolodex.
According to comScore, LinkedIn had 16 million worldwide monthly unique visitors and 331 million page views in June 2009, up from 7.7 million and 114 million a year ago, respectively.
The company was valued at around $1 billion in its last (2008) round of financing, and says they’ve been profitable for 2+ years.
There are some ways that I want to share with you that will help you utilize LinkedIn to its fullest:
• Be sure to list your company name in the list of companies on LinkedIn. While selling on LinkedIn is frowned upon, there is nothing wrong with listing your company name to gain some exposure for your business. It’s often an overlooked resource that free and well worth the time investment.
• LinkedIn is a great resource for your job search. Use your connections as well as their connections to establish relationships that can lead to interviews. Personally, I have been contacted several times through LinkedIn to interview with local companies. It can work for you, too.
• Be passionate about what you do. People who are going to bother to read your profile want to know what makes you tick. If you merely put down that you’re manager at a small to mid-size company, that’s all they have in their minds about you. Add that you’re passionate about Italian wines and that you enjoy travelling. Make sure people know about YOU, not just your job history.
• Ask and answer questions. Using the Answers feature brings your name and profile around to people you’re not exposed to directly. This means more opportunities for someone to recognize your authority in some field, and to reach out and contact you for something further. It means sharing the fruits of your networking with others, and potentially connecting 3rd parties to each other for something bigger. This comes in handy when it becomes obvious that you’re also a good connector.
The trick to using Social Media is to actually put time into it, like any other social media resource. You must put into it before you will get something out of it.
Do you have any other tips to add? Would you like to share any experience while using LinkedIn that changed your opinion on it?
