LinkedIn is the next big thing for small business owners, and the time to be on board is now.
Since 2002, LinkedIn has been the place for social networking for professionals. LinkedIn has more than 200 million registered users in more than 200 countries.
LinkedIn is more popular than Facebook for social networking, says Performics, which recently sponsored a study of nearly 3,000 people who actively use the Web for social networking, as reported on CBS MoneyWatch. Some 59 percent of those who use social networking sites – like Facebook – say that their most important social networking account is their LinkedIn account.
Do you have the vague but nagging notion that you should be on LinkedIn to help grow your business and spread the word about the good work you do? Have you set up an account but not made it much past the basic info screen? Maybe you are completely set up in LinkedIn and just sitting back to wait for leads and sales to roll in, which hasn’t happened yet. There are some tricks to make your profile work for you, and we are happy to let you in on what they are.
We will take you through, step by step, how to set up and best use LinkedIn to your advantage to grow your business and showcase your greatest assets: yourself and the work that you do.
Through an exclusive series of ten posts, you will learn how to:
- choose the best photo (and yes, you do need a photo)
- harness the power of keywords in your professional headline
- personalize and utilize the website links section
- understand and add recommendations and endorsements
- summarize your summary with keywords
- show off your skills
- make connections
- use your email address book to be found and make connections
- customize your profile link
- join some groups
The great thing about LinkedIn is its ease of use and accessibility. You don’t need to be a computer whiz to be on LinkedIn, and it doesn’t have to eat up your valuable time. Follow us through these few easy steps and in no time you will be back to focusing on your business, leads, and clients – now with a powerful presence as part of the LinkedIn community.