The Benefits of Using LinkedIn to Grow Your Business

While LinkedIn is a great way to promote your career by highlighting your work experience, it is also a powerful tool that an entrepreneur can use to promote his or her business.  Businesses can use the social networking site to promote their companies as well and reach a broader target market.  LinkedIn can be used strategically to help grow your business and expand your operations.  By promoting your company via LinkedIn, you can be seen as a thought leader in your industry.  If you haven’t already created a LinkedIn profile for your business, now is the time to do so!  So how can you help influence your industry and grow your business via LinkedIn?

First off, you can network through groups.  LinkedIn has thousands of groups that you can join to meet and chat with other industry professionals and get the word out about your business.  Try joining highly trafficked groups that have several postings each day on topics that are related to what your business does and the goals you are trying to achieve.  This is a great was to share information by both giving it and gaining it.  Begin interacting with other members and offer useful and informative tips, insights and posts.

LinkedIn also allows you to give back to the business community.  By participating in groups and networking on LinkedIn, you’re not only growing your business but you can start to be seen as an expert in your industry by others.  The higher the quality of advice you offer, the more you will be perceived as a go-to source for information.  This will put your business in a position of power and helps to develop your reputation as a leader in your industry.

You can also use LinkedIn to launch new products and services that your business provides.  “While you don’t want to overtly market to your groups, you can use your profile, news feed and relationships within the LinkedIn community to help launch or advertise your products and services.”  This can be very helpful in gaining strategic alliances and forming partnerships with other companies who can assist you in promoting your business and brand.

Another benefit of using LinkedIn for your business is that it increases your discoverability in the marketplace.  Your posts and profiles become search engine friendly.  Your LinkedIn page will show up in searches on the Internet and helps make it easy for future customers to locate you and learn more about what you have to offer.  Search engines such as Google love high profile, well-established websites like LinkedIn.

LinkedIn also allows you to connect with other industry professionals.  You can use the site to recruit new talent to your company or connect with other business partners or vendors.  You can search LinkedIn by specific types of companies which will enable you to connect with others that can help you grow your brand in the broader marketplace.

Amongst popular social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest, LinkedIn is another great place to post content about your company and the industry you are a part of.  The more places you are able to post high-quality content about your business, the better your chances that people seeking products or services your company offers will read it  Because LinkedIn has such a unique user base, your business with be able to market its message in front of a new and targeted market.  “Also, by creating content specifically for LinkedIn, you will be able to drive targeted traffic into your lead nurturing system.”  This can turn into high quality leads for your business. 

LinkedIn might be one of the most overlooked social media networks by small businesses and it shouldn’t be.  Most small businesses assume LinkedIn is used by individuals looking to expand their resume.  However, the real honest truth is that LinkedIn can be an excellent resource to promote your own business and brand.  As I’ve discussed above LinkedIn can help you gain exposure in search engines, allow you to connect with likeminded professionals, businesses and organizations and become a thought leader in your industry – all which can help you grow and thrive as a young business in the marketplace.

Here are some articles you might want to check out about the benefits of using LinkedIn for business:

“3 Reasons Your Business Will Benefit from LinkedIn”: http://nuancedmedia.com/3-reasons-your-business-will-benefit-from-linkedin/

“The Ten Reasons Your Business Should Be on LinkedIn”: http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/print-edition/2012/08/24/reasons-business-should-be-on-linkedin.html?page=all

“10 Reasons Your Business Should Be on LinkedIn, Part 1”: http://blog.straightnorth.com/10-reasons-your-business-should-be-on-linkedin-%E2%80%93-part-1/

“10 Reasons Your Business Should Be on LinkedIn, Part 2”: http://blog.straightnorth.com/10-reasons-your-business-should-be-on-linkedin-part-2/

 Until next time...