To those less familiar, LinkedIn is an online social media website specifically designed for businesses and other self-employed professionals. LinkedIn is arguably the largest such service across the globe, with members in excess of 100 million and an additional one million new members every week.
Launched in the year 2002, LinkedIn has since matured into an online networking giant and is widely acknowledged as an indispensable tool for business promotion.
You can use LinkedIn to create a profile with your personal, professional details that other members can view. You can connect with other users and build a network of members with whom you can interact. LinkedIn has a host of features, including forming common interest groups.
LinkedIn can stimulate your business growth in multiple ways. Using LinkedIn build your own community. LinkedIn is a fabulous way to forge new connections. Linked has over 100 million users spread across 200 countries – of which12 million are business owners. Thus, there is a limitless potential of new contacts. By building up your own network, you can lure fresh clients, attract investors and conclude partnerships.
With LinkedIn, you can stay in touch with people that are in the same industry as you are, exchange ideas and information of common interest. Through your community, you can find out about industry events, or plan your own events, promote them and invite a large audience.
LinkedIn allows you to raise thought-provoking questions. Other businesses similar experiences can offer their insights. You can also use your extensive experience to answer other people’s questions and become a thought leader in your industry.
This will further help expand your client and contacts base, which can later be used for direct marketing. Similarly, clients can post recommendations on your profile, a fabulous way to get referrals.
The good news is a basic account on LinkedIn is free, and takes only a couple of minutes to set up. Managing your profile may be tedious, but it’s a cost-effective alternative to expensive marketing. For a more strategic approach, consider hiring a professional agency to run your LinkedIn marketing for you.
If any one of your clients explores your profile on LinkedIn and leaves a recommendation praising your business, that will help you expand your customer—base and help your business grow. Further, this activity will be picked up by search engines, like Google, to increase your site’s rank.
Thus, when someone searches for a service related to your business, your site will appear on the first page of search results, making it significantly more likely to be visited.
To entice new visitors, you will need to use apt keywords so that your profile pops up in someone else’s search. LinkedIn can be a fantastic platform to grow your business— if you use it right.
Definitely the network for professionals 😉 Thanks Sathish!