Tech and Web, Trends and Profile NEWS

Linkedin is a networking winner

By Jeff Bressler for CEOWORLD Magazine Updated:July 16, 2009

I am becoming ever more convinced that Linkedin (www.linkedin.com) is the one social networking tool that really delivers if you are involved in business. I use it every day, belong to groups and gain new knowledge consistently. It is the only social networking site I visit numerous times each day.

In many ways, although most people are familiar with the Linkedin name, it remains a well kept secret. I guarantee you this FREE site will bring you new contacts and business if you know how to “mine” the system. Please feel free to link with me (Jeff Bressler).

Linkedin can be used as a valuable tool to promote any product, service, cause or issue. The question is how to get the optimum use out of the tool?

The cardinal rule for anyone using Linkedin to promote, however, is that you must give more than you get. That means your first contact with people who have connected with you can’t be an invitation to buy something. You must lay the groundwork long before asking for the sale.

You can actually do business through Linkedin contacts but to promote on the site you have to carefully use these steps:

1. Create a complete Linkedin profile so people can find you.

The best place to start is with your resume. Give a complete work history, and also list the high school and college you attended. Former classmates might be searching for you, and if your profile doesn’t mention schools you’ve attended, you might miss the chance to connect with somebody who might someday need what you’re selling. The more complete your profile, the easier it is for people to find you when they use the search box at Linkedin.

2. When making connections, concentrate on quality, not quantity.

Compiling a long list of connections can actually work against you. If you send a message to one of your connections, and they don’t know you, they might flag you as a spammer and Linkedin can suspend your account. If someone asks you to connect and you don’t know them, it’s best to reply and ask “How do we know each other?” before accepting the connection.

3. Use the question and answer feature to ask a question.

Linkedin can be a valuable tool for research. The question-and-answer feature lets you ask a question, and people who are connected to you can respond. Use this feature to take an informal survey, learn about the kinds of problems your target audience is trying to solve, learn about the solutions they’ve found to a particular problem, collect people’s predictions about how something will turn out, and find out what’s on their minds.

4. Use the question-and-answer feature to answer a question.

This is one of the best ways to promote your expertise because other people can see your answer. Linkedin also has a nifty feature that lets the person asking the question to tag an answer as “best answer.” On your profile page, people can see instantly how many times you have given the “best answer” to a question.

5. Offer recommendations to people you know or have done business with.

This gives you exposure on their profile page. If you give them a recommendation, it’s a good chance to ask them to return the favor. The more recommendations you can accumulate, the great the chances that someone will be inclined to do business with you.

6. Ask your connections to help you spread the word about something you’re doing.

People don’t like sales pitches. But many of them are more than happy to help you. So if you’re planning a live event and you’re trying to promote it, for example, don’t ask your connections to attend it. Ask if they can share the information with others via their blog, newsletter, website and word of mouth.

7. Link to your websites and blogs.

Your profile page lets you link to three pages. Be sure to include your websites, blog and any other places people will find helpful, like the Free Articles page at your website.

CEOWORLD HIGHLIGHTS:

Dan Nye, CEO of LinkedIn. Says “LinkedIn is not a dating site”
Dan Nye, CEO of LinkedIn. Says "It’s not a place where you waste two hours of your time trying t ...
Uses for Twitter in Business: Ideas, Tactics, and Strategies
Twitter is definitely all about “now” - a live commentary of people’s lives shared with friends ...
Why You Should Join a Business Networking Site?
If you aren’t part of the next beckon of the future just yet, you most likely want to ask yourse ...
Tips for Successful Business Networking strategies at ceoworld.biz
CEOWORD.BIZ continues to grow. This is such a beneficial tool for online networking, and I conti ...
Unemployed? Tips to Use Twitter for Your Job Search | Careers
The free, social-networking site (www.twitter.com), founded in 2007, allows users to update thei ...

Like this article! ‹ How Twitter can benefit your business? Marketers selling cars as ‘mobile experiences.” ›


Share this Post: Get It Delivered To Your Inbox