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Photo Source: LinkedIn Booth by Dynamic Network Services, on Flickr

LinkedIn – Get Linked in With the Right People

Linkedin is a great network for professionals but do you know how to build your brand and get new leads for your websites? Check out these 5 tips.

With millions of professionals from 130 different industries, Linkedin represents a potential gold mine for high end leads for your websites. Many members are looking for new job opportunities but this network’s real value to you is the incredible knowledge base and new business opportunities that can strengthen your personal brand and increase your websites’ potential.

Here is a list of five simple steps to get the most out of your Linked in account.

Don’t gloss over your profile

A basic first step is establishing your profile and you should take the time to make this look like an executive bio and not just a resume. Insure that you have included all of your educational credentials and memberships to professional organizations (particularly if you held a leadership position) as well as relevant job titles.

Don’t waste copy on your ego. Give specific examples of what you have contributed to former employers and what you have done to grow your own business. Cite a case study if appropriate.

The objective here is to make you as attractive as possible to potential new business opportunities including those who may want to do a joint venture with you.

Link up your profile

Linkedin gives you three opportunities to link out to your websites. In the profile page click on edit and then click on “more” and this will allow you to edit the default settings for My Website and My Blog.

Change these titles to keywords that are relevant for both. For example if you have an accounting business you may change My Website to accounting service or tax accounting. The same goes for your blog. Use these opportunities to build backlinks to your websites.

Company Page

Here’s an opportunity to look like an industry leader. Include your logo and sell the benefits of your operation. Make sure you include your websites as well. If you have employees, make sure they link to this page.
Create a group…join a group

Linked in groups are where the action is at and you’ll want to participate in them for two reasons. The first is to develop potential leads by creating or joining a group that would be of interest to you market.

This is a social network so get social. Respond to articles, answer questions and put yourself in a position to be viewed as an expert in the field or at least as a reliable source of information. If you start your own group you obviously have considerably more control over what direction interactions are going to take.
Don’t look just for end users
If your websites all promote consumer goods you probably won’t find end users in Linkedin. What you will find are distributors and manufacturers’ representatives and these can be great resources for distribution and new sales opportunities.

Keep that target audience in mind when you create articles or respond to questions and comments. Developing relationships with this group can give your websites the extra marketing boost that turns them into home-runs.

If your business is B2B you’ll find a gold mine of potential distributors as well as end users it’s simply a matter of being active and getting recognized.
Use the Q&A

The Open Q&A is a great place to participate in and draw attention that can lead to connects. Focus on participating in this at least two or three times a week and you will go a long ways in developing a reputation as a valued source.

You can also use this forum as a market research tool and evaluate what your target audience is interested in or wants answers to. His can obviously help you develop hot, relevant content for your e-commerce website.

Online business networking really is no different than offline events. The obvious advantages include access to a far larger network than you could possibly create offline and far better tools to get your brand out to the world. But remember it is networking which means this is not a fire and forget strategy but one you have to work on consistently if you want your websites to benefit.



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