Do You Really Need a LinkedIn Account?
I don’t know anybody who doesn’t have one. What’s great about LinkedIn is that you can proudly show just how many connections you have and positive recommendations from people you worked with. It’s like having a 24/7 resume that comes with fabulous testimonials; you got to have one!
I’m Not Convinced! What Makes LinkedIn Different?
Unlike Facebook or YouTube, where users get to mix their own personal stuff – LinkedIn is purely professional and catered to a business crowd. You don’t have to spend hours of searching for your business leads. All you need to do is build a network and start a group.
Like any other social networking sites, you need to update and interact with people too. This is where your marketing mix will come to play. You can sync your blog posts like using this WordPress LinkedIn Application tool, update your status like you do on Facebook, or ask questions and shine like a pro. LinkedIn also lets you put a link to your site in your blog posts, email signatures, or business cards. You can also optimize your profile with keywords specific to your industry so people can find you faster on the search engines. These are just the tip of the iceberg!
What are the Benefits of Using LinkedIn for Your Business?
People think that LinkedIn is just a place to post your online resume (or CV). LinkedIn has more to offer and it can help your business too:
1. If used correctly, you can let LinkedIn Groups drive traffic and potential customers to your website.
2. If you’re low on budget for your market research, tap into the power of the crowd and use LinkedIn Polls. Creating a poll outside your network has a small fee ( minimum $50/response ).
3. Get expert answers related to your business through LinkedIn Answers. Unlike Yahoo Answers and Facebook Pages, you get an audience made up purely of professionals.
4. You can receive referrals or get introduced to prospects, whether you’re inside or outside LinkedIn.
5. It’s easier for you to connect the dots and see relationships between your colleagues. This is especially useful when you’re doing sales calls; puts out the embarrassment of you calling the same prospect just by reading their profiles.
6. LinkedIn is a great way of making your brand visible on the Web, where businesses and groups can find you even if you’re not online. All you need to do is let others spread the buzz about you.
7. Rise and shine by answering questions and get into meaningful conversations in your network. That’s self promotion minus the sales talk.
8. Reach more people on the go with LinkedIn’s new feature that allows people to check updates from an iPhone.
9. If you still love your good old inbox, you can get new LinkedIn group posts sent to your email each time a new discussion pops up. This helps you stay in touch with everyone worth knowing.
10. If you’re in the creative biz, LinkedIn now lets you showcase your design portfolio and sync items with a free service on Behance Network that lets you upload unlimited multimedia items.
Need We Say More?