Switchfast Blog: The Future of IT
Optimizing LinkedIn: Features & Opportunities for Your Small Business
Thursday, April 29, 2010 by Bryan Anderson
In many ways, social media interaction is both useful and
difficult to manage. Websites like Facebook and Twitter have taken
the modern web user by storm. LinkedIn, having launched a year before Facebook in 2003, had a
business-oriented game plan, specifically focusing on professional
networking. To this
day, the popular "business-appropriate" website has over 65
million users spanning over 200 countries and territories
worldwide.
With an online arena dedicated to business relationships,
LinkedIn is a fertile social platform companies far and wide, big
and small. Dedicating time to establish a user profile and provide
information for your company page can go a long way in maintaining
fruitful relationships.
Unlike Facebook, LinkedIn is not application heavy, instead
relying more on concentrated content than glam. What can you do to
build an interesting user profile, an informative company page, and
a veritable reputation for providing honest, helpful content to
connections and contacts? Here are some actions that can help you
get more involved:
Set up an honest, descriptive user
profile. LinkedIn helps users set up a promising
profile by providing "Profile Completeness" and "Profile Completion
Tips." As previously mentioned, content is the name of the game
with business profiles, especially LinkedIn. Don't be afraid to
spend a fair amount of time uploading and editing profile
information - not only is it a good visual track record of your
current and past work history, it also informs the observers the
details of your experience and education. Unlike most social media
websites, this characteristic translates into a genuine connection
between LinkedIn members.
Add your company. Once you've established
yourself as an able member, head on over to the Companies Home
Page, where you can walk through the process of adding your
business to the landscape. A new feature you can particularly utilize is
the ability to "Follow" companies. Similar to Facebook and Twitter,
users can connect with businesses for employee opportunity or
business relationship news. This can be useful for small businesses
when it comes to growth and referrals.
Use LinkedIn to drive targeted traffic to your
site. Not many people give LinkedIn enough credit for
pushing web traffic. In an article over at Webpronews.com, author Chris Crum quotes an
entrepreneur who says that LinkedIn is one of the "top traffic
sources to my blog." He also points out that "you are targeting the
business decision makers" with traffic from LinkedIn. Here are a
few suggestions on how:
Post articles or blog posts on user profiles
Interact with other user news and updates
Control what content each connection (a stranger, friend, group)
sees
Participate in group discussions and events
While some people question the lack of innovative progression,
LinkedIn has been a steady stronghold for upper-level business
associates to connect with colleagues and network with similarly
experienced users. As a small business, it's a free, easy way to
establish a sincere reputation while networking with professionals
that have a great deal of advice and (hopefully) referrals.
In your experience, is there a specific area or activity on
LinkedIn that has helped your small business, whether it was in
growth or education?
Leave a comment below!
Until next time -
Matthew Hymel
Switchfast Technologies
Chicago IT Support &
Consulting
Rochester
IT Support & Consulting
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