Crash Course for Entrepreneurs

Top 10 Tips to Maximize LinkedIn for Small Businesses

What is LinkedIn and Why Should You Use It?

A business social networking website designed to help professionals connect with colleagues, clients and referral sources. LinkedIn currently has more than 200M users. Some of the main uses of the program for the site are as follows:

Create awareness and reputation Selecting and generating leads Traffic building Listening and gaining insights

1. Develop a game plan and stick to it.

Define your business goals and reasons for using LinkedIn. Create a messaging platform and concise “elevator pitch”

that clearly state what your company does and the unique benefits you bring to your clients or customers. Rather than simply listing the services your company provides, focus on the value you bring and how you help your clients or customers.

Determine who at your company will be responsible for LinkedIn and allocate the time and resources they need to get the job done.

Track and measure your results, and make adjustments as needed.

2. Create a company profile.

Fill out the entire profile for 100% completion. Improve your profile by adding a variety of applications. Be sure to promote your LinkedIn profile by adding “follow”

buttons to your website and email signatures.

3. Share your expertise.

Identify topics that interest your target audiences, and develop a calendar of posts.

Make sure your posts have a unique point of view and highlight your industry expertise and knowledge while supporting your company’s messaging platform.

Double-dip with your Twitter base by sharing updates from LinkedIn to Twitter.

4. Begin connecting.

If you’re new to LinkedIn, it might feel overwhelming. You have to begin somewhere, so take it one step at a time and begin now.

LinkedIn works best when you have a large base of connections.

Import your e-mail contacts and spend time sifting through them.

5. Generate leads.

InMail guarantees a response through an introduction request or you’re credited for another InMail.

Use InMail to generate leads and facilitate meaningful connections.

6. Ask for referrals through LinkedIn.

Use your best contacts to get quality referrals by searching through their LinkedIn contacts.

Select specific individuals to whom you want to be referred.

7. Join LinkedIn groups.

You’re not likely to get much business from groups comprised primarily of your industry competitors and peers, so don’t spend much time with those groups. Join groups that are frequented by your target audiences.

Develop an action plan for how you will appeal to them. Begin by joining at least 12 groups – LinkedIn caps users at

50.

8. Conduct competitive analysis and recruitment.

Use LinkedIn to keep track of competitors’ progress and personnel moves.

Leverage LinkedIn as a potential recruitment tool.

9. Build your LinkedIn presence from the bottom up, with a little help from your employees.

Every employee should have a completed LinkedIn profile that highlights his or her role and position at your company.

Ask employees and staff members to connect to your official LinkedIn company page.

Ask employees to use the “3 free backlinks.”

10. Execute with precision in 10 minutes per day.

Spend three minutes listening to conversations and assessing dialogues on LinkedIn. Keep an eye out for interesting articles and information that you may be able to repurpose and share.

Spend the next three to four minutes crafting and posting a compelling comment and also commenting on others’ posts.

Complete your routine with three minutes of community building by inviting others to connect with you or asking connections to refer you to others.

Conclusion:

LinkedIn can be a powerful business driver for small businesses looking to support their business, marketing and sales goals. The proven strategies and tactics provided in this presentation can help you leverage this powerful platform.