LinkedIn – are you there? It is the place to be as it’s results (which consistently out-perform what the analysts predict) show – share prices soared by 20% when its’ recent quarter results were published. That’s because it is a place where business people go to do business and if you’re not on there – you’re missing out.
Yes, you might be in B2C, so your direct customers might not be on LinkedIn, but how about suppliers, or potential partners for joint ventures or strategic alliances. How about those one or two influential people who could potentially change the fortunes of your business … if only you could get in front of them?
LinkedIn lets you do everything you could do at a networking event, and more …. For one, it allows you to get you in front of people who don’t go to networking events, plus it allows you to be strategic in terms of who you meet and think before you speak, so you’re always presenting yourself in the way you wish to be seen – something that can get tricky at a big networking event. It also allows you to have one – to – one conversations with people without someone else coming over and joining in.
And what else? Well, you can use LinkedIn to grow your database, to carry out market research, to build your reputation (and also hear what people are saying about your business and your sector), drive people to your website and offline events … and to check out what your competitors are up to.
Of course, to use LinkedIn effectively, you need to have 2 things – a decent profile and a plan. Without a decent profile you won’t be maximizing the effectiveness of your time spent on it. However, just writing a great profile and leaving it there doesn’t cut it either. You’ve got to get active – in the right way.
The profile we’ll cover in forthcoming blogs. The plan? Well, the start of that is simple – think about the top 3 things you’d like to achieve from being on LinkedIn and focus on working that through.
If you’d like help with getting that sorted, then please come back here to catch the next few blogs, or get in touch and I’d be happy to help. Alternatively, sign up for my free guide to getting the most from your social media and you will find that I walk you through planning a strategy.
So – are you on LinkedIn yet? Are you making the most of it – please comment below and let me know!
This is all done by hiring a social media professional to tweet and post up-to-date information and videos on their events, products and services.
Such information is accessed by sales professionals and other workers and
is to be totally secured. Social media is always opening
doors for new companies, but if you approach it incorrectly it
won’t be as advantageous as you would like.
I agree that for many businesses, hiring outside help works best, but they need to be very careful who they take on for this very important work.
If there is resource in-house, I would always recommend getting a professional trainer and strategist in, but getting the social media work done in-house.