Are you a professional business owner? Have a product you are selling that is designed for the professional crowd? You may want to consider joining Linkedin.com. Linkedin is one of the many social networking sites available today, as well as one of the most popular, bringing professional networks of people from all across the world together. Around 45 million people are members of LinkedIn.com.
What can LinkedIn do for you?
There are several things that one can do with LinkedIn.com. These things include:
- Build an online reputation
- Make new contacts in your respected field
- Sell products
- Find qualified candidates for jobs that you have available
- Promote your business and personal identity
- Find other communities that coincide with your offerings.
Creating a LinkedIn profile is simple, and puts you on the forefront of all of these opportunities at once. It is imperative, however, that you strategically create and manage that profile to ensure that your company’s credibility is there, thus resulting in greater sales, traffic and customers.
How to get Started with LinkedIn
The first step in using LinkedIn.com to build your company is with the creation of an account. Creating an account with LinkedIn is free and pretty simple to do. You’ll need to create your profile first. A current photo is needed for the profile, and you must connect with the proper geographical location so that you are reaching the right audience. Selecting the appropriate category for your business is next. You must list your past jobs, educational background and highlight your work. The more details you provide, the better. Although you know your skills and what you do well, other members do not. You want to sell yourself with the information that you provide.
If you have people that can recommend your work, which should be listed as well. This is an easy way to increase your credibility and grow in no time at all. Those that are “endorsing” you should be people that you trust. Commonly people will list past customers in their recommendations; however colleagues and former employers also work well. Specify the exact work that was performed or received, if you are listing past customers or employers, and always make that information seem realistic.
On your page links can be included and should be. Members are allowed to link up to three different websites on their profile. This allows the chance to list links to your blog, website and other pages relative to your services. If you are a blogger, posts can be fed into LinkedIn automatically if you wish. Simply visit the Applications tab in Linkedin to start this blog post feed. Ensure that your blogs are of high-quality. Customers may read these posts and decide that they want what you offer before having any actual interaction with you. Make it count!
What LinkedIn.com can do for you
Once your profile has been created, you can begin to utilize what is being offered. You can find work, increase the credibility of your business, increase your search visibility and so much more, all with a few clicks of the mouse.
When social media can help build your company, why not take advantage of it? LinkedIn is one sure way to build the clientele that you are after without worry of attracting those you do not want to attract.