5 Top Marketing Tips for LinkedIn

Once upon a time, networking meant going to conferences and getting out there and meeting people. LinkedIn, however, has made networking on a global basis much easier and effective, allowing users to network with people worldwide from the convenience of their own home or office.

LinkedIn has quickly established itself as one of the top social networking sites for individuals and business owners who want to network with others, to widen their customer base, and to keep on top of what’s going on in their respective industries.

Succeeding at marketing with LinkedIn requires time and effort and trying the various methods for marketing with the popular social networking platform is important to find what works for your business.

1. Sell Your Skills.

Whether you opt for an individual or a company profile, your profile is the best way to market your product or service and to sell your skills. A LinkedIn profile is essentially an extended resume that includes a photo and recommendations from others. Fill it out completely to get the most of it from a marketing perspective.

2. Have others Sell You.

One of the most effective ways to win new business is to get recommendations from colleagues and current and former clients. LinkedIn allows you to request recommendations for each position in which you’ve worked and for your college experience. To take full advantage of marketing on LinkedIn, gather as many recommendations as you possibly can.

3. Position Yourself as an Expert.

LinkedIn offers an ideal platform to position yourself as an expert in your field or industry. In addition to individual profiles, LinkedIn allows users to post company profiles. Ideally, if you run a business, you’ll have one of each.

People want to work with experts in their respective fields. To build your credibility and share your expertise, become active in answering questions in LinkedIn’s “Question and Answer” section. Every question you answer will become a permanent part of your profile, allowing connections and others to see your wealth of knowledge.

Be sure to also join related groups and start answering members’ questions.

4. Network Offline.

Networking online provides great convenience, but sometimes you just can’t compare it to face-to-face networking. Find networking events in your city by looking at the “Networking Events” on LinkedIn. Major cities, like Los Angeles and Cleveland, also have their own listings of networking events.

You may also want to host your own networking event, which you can then market on LinkedIn.

5. Link to other Social Networking Accounts.

Keeping on top of all of your social networking accounts can be challenging, but LinkedIn makes it easy to merge your Twitter account and your blog with your profile. You can sync your Twitter account  and your blog with LinkedIn, so both are automatically updated when you publish something new. Signing up for syncing takes less than a minute. Interested connections and others can then easily click on your Twitter address, your website, or your blog to learn more.

LinkedIn can prove an extremely valuable marketing tool, if you’re willing to get involved and be proactive. Take some time to look through the website, to read what LinkedIn recommends for what works and what doesn’t work, and invest the necessary time to craft a strong professional profile and to establish your expertise to enjoy marketing success on LinkedIn.

More Reading

• How do You Use LinkedIn? [INFOGRAPHIC]
• 10 Steps To Promote Brand “You” With Social Media
• How do You Use Twitter? [INFOGRAPHIC]
• How to Optimize Social Media to Kick Start Your Career
• The Modern Executives Essential Social Media Toolkit Plus [INFOGRAPHIC]

Guest Author: Frank Anderson is a technology expert who works with web hosting and other related fields.  He also has a passion for writing and blogging about all things Internet.

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