Using Linkedin for Professional Networking

When marketing a business in social media, people tend to focus on two fronts: Facebook and Twitter. As a matter of fact, most people even skip the second and focus on the first. Facebook is a great marketing tool, of course, but it is certainly not the only one.

Linkedin tends to be tossed under the bus when it comes to social media. People aren’t as active on Linkedin as they are elsewhere, so the site is sometimes considered out of date. Unfortunately, this means that it is often neglected as a social media marketing tool. While it may not be the most popular social network, Linkedin has its own niche—professional networking.

Linkedin Social Networking

Linkedin was built for professionals, and if you fall into that category, you should be networking there. Although the layout may remind you of Facebook, the position it plays is completely different. Linkedin describes itself as “the world’s largest professional network on the internet.” With more than 100 million members, they’re absolutely right; this is the kind of network that you want to be a part of.

Your Profile on Linkedin

It’s easy and free to sign up for Linkedin, and worth the time that you’ll have to put into it. You can start out by filling in past employers, your current job, a picture, summary and your specialties. You can also add your business website and Twitter account!

But the most important part is connections. You can import your email contacts or search for friends and co-workers, but it’s very important that you grow your connection list as much as possible. If you have a large amount of connections, you’re considered an influencer—something you want to be seen as in professional networking.

You can create a personalized URL on Linkedin by going to your profile page and clicking ‘Edit’ next to your Public Profile link near the bottom. You can then change your public profile URL in the box on the right. Be sure to pick something memorable and lasting. Although you will be able to change it, you shouldn’t. You will lose people who have bookmarked your profile in the past, as well as search engine traffic.

Be open and be visible on Linkedin; share business-related posts, and be sure to interact with your connections. Make sure that your profile is connected to your business, and that you share a few links back to your website every so often.

Linkedin Business Marketing

We’ll be posting another blog on Linkedin this week—but focusing specifically on Linkedin company pages. Check back this Thursday to see!

If you want to see what a Linkedin company page looks like on Linkedin before our next blog publishes, follow our Linkedin page!