In the digital world, LinkedIn is the professional equivalent of Facebook. Professionals can network online by sharing their thoughts and ideas, updating the career profile and connect with like-minded individuals.
Every business owner needs to take advantage of it by using the features to the fullest potential.
Marketing your business on LinkedIn
As with any online account there needs to be a fair amount of networking taking place. Fortunately, LinkedIn allows business owners to connect with their current list of contacts as well as potential contacts in the greater LinkedIn community. Those who are connected to you will be able to view your company profile to keep up to date with the latest news about your business.
Encourage employees to use LinkedIn
Have all your employees set up a LinkedIn account and connect to one another. By extending your network, you are creating exposure to the outside community. Not only does it benefit your company, but it is also beneficial to your employees for their own career growth.
Create your own LinkedIn group
The secret to finding potential clients is to create your own group on LinkedIn. Once you have your group set up, join as many groups as you can where you will find possible clients. The next step is to interact with the people on the group by clicking on Members and filtering the list of members further by searching for certain job titles. Choose job titles of members that best suit your client base and invite those people to your own group. Be sure to add a personalised message to the invitation. The invitees who have joined your group will be in one place and in your control, so you ensure that no competitors get in.
Creating a group with clients allows you to share content that can be of great value to members. You will be able to demonstrate your expertise but be sure to avoid overt sales pitches. An ideal benefit of all of this is that you have a built-in email list that you can use to your advantage by creating a focus group of your client prospects.
Develop relationships with key business partners
Relationships with business partners and media contacts are very important to have on LinkedIn as this is a clear indication of your influence in the market. If you want to infiltrate the market, you can be precise about who you want to reach. If your business needs to expand into the retail trade, you can reach out to industry leading designers. Further extend your reach by contacting members of the media who cover stories in your industry.
You will soon come to realise that you share a connection with many business people you would have never discovered without LinkedIn.
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