How do You Use LinkedIn? [INFOGRAPHIC]

LinkedIn is the poor second cousin of the social networking fraternity with its glamorous siblings Facebook and Twitter hogging the limelight.

Facebook wins the popularity contest with nearly 8 times more friends than LinkedIn and Twitter just keeps getting mentions in the newspaper’s society pages.

If LinkedIn had a personality, you would maybe say that it was quiet, professional and quite private.

How you use social media is dependent on what you are trying to achieve (goals) and who you want to meet (target audience) and if you want to make serious professional contacts for B2B then LinkedIn is the place to hang out.

LinkedIn is the Cocktail Party

LinkedIn with more than 100 million members and an average income of more than $100,000, is the social networkings equivalent of the cocktail party while Facebook is the backyard barbecue.

If you want to network with serious decision makers then LinkedIn provides the appropriate channel. So how do you Use LinkedIn to network and how do you generate business opportunities

4 Key Steps to Creating Leads and Opportunities with LinkedIn

Social media sites provide a platform to network with peers and people of similar interests globally and LinkedIn does this for professionals and executives with leverage and efficiency that provides networking opportunities on steroids.

So what are four key ways to take advantage of the LinkedIn for business.

1. Commit once a week to use LinkedIn to connect with several current or former business associates this will put you top of mind for opportunities that may emerge out of these strengthened connections.

2. Over the next month make the effort to join ten groups on LinkedIn. This will raise your visibility and personal brand.

3. Once you have joined these groups start a discussion in each of these ten groups you have joined. As you are an expert in your field people will notice your thought leadership and will want to engage your services for their companies.

4. Go to LinkedIn’s Answers section and answer 5 questions a week. This is a long term strategy but will pay off over time.

The goals of these 4 steps is to create new connections, strengthen existing relationships and position you as a thought leader and an expert that will provide you with leads and business opportunities.

So How do other Executives use LinkedIn?

Infographic by Lab42

More Reading:

• How do You Use Twitter? [INFOGRAPHIC]
• 20 Stunning Social Media Statistics [INFOGRAPHIC]
• 5 Fabulous Facebook Infographics

Image by nan palmero