LinkedIn For Business

Marketing With LinkedIn

 

 

Table of Contents

 

Learning How to Use LinkedIn

 

Learn How to Receive Recommendations on LinkedIn

 

Website Success Using LinkedIn

 

Changing How I do Business Using LinkedIn .

 

How Professionals Can Benefit From LinkedIn

 

Improve Web Traffic Combining LinkedIn and Facebook

 

Is Your Private Information Being Leaked on LinkedIn

 

8 Ways to Maximize Your LinkedIn and Your Personal Branding

 

Getting the Most From LinkedIn Searches

 

Building Meaningful LinkedIn Relationships

 

Building Strong Business Connections on LinkedIn

 

6 Top LinkedIn Open Networkers you Should be Following

 

Top Ways to Maximize Your LinkedIn Profile

 

Adding Admins to Your LinkedIn Company Profile

 

Top 5 LinkedIn Marketing Tips for Business

 

How to Brand Yourself in LinkedIn

 

How to Create Your Personal Brand Using LinkedIn .

 

How to Use LinkedIn to Drive Traffic to Your Site

 

Maximizing the Value of Your LinkedIn Company Page

 

Marketing With LinkedIn

 

FREE BONUSES

Learning How to Use LinkedIn

 

You have likely already heard a great deal about LinkedIn. While eight years old it is only in the

last while that word is really getting out about just how powerful this site can be to your

business. If you have not yet used LinkedIn or you are relatively new to the site, you’ll find some

great tips here that can help you maximize this social media platform and get the most out of i.

LinkedIn is an excellent tool for building your business and establishing relationships with

individuals within your niche market. If you use the following tips, you’ll see results. It won’t take

you long to build a strong following and accumulate connections. Your connection to other

professionals will grow daily. One of the most important things about LinkedIn is finding the right

persons to connect with to get the best results if you are using powerful strategies to target

followers.

 

The best way to start building your LinkedIn network is to join groups. The key is to not hesitate.

Instead, jump in with both feet and start participating in discussions and making those

connections. Make yourself a goal to add at least one new connection every day. Over time, the

results will become evident.

 

It is really important that you have your LinkedIn profile 100% finished. Incomplete profiles have

the potential to hinder your ability to be found on the site. The more information you are willing

to share the more trust you will build and the more likely you are to enjoy success with your

LinkedIn profile.

 

When creating your LinkedIn profile makes sure you upload a good picture of yourself. Don’t put

up glamour and don’t put up your company logo. Use this spot to help to create to a visual for

those individuals that look at your profile. Let them see who you are.

Make sure that you obtain at least a few recommendations, which give you credibility. The

easiest way to get a recommendation is to give a recommendation. Continue to build these over

time. The more the better.

 

Finally, seek out groups that are relevant to your niche, your industry, your profession, etc. The

more groups you join the more opportunities to promote yourself and your company. Don’t

forget to take advantage of the company pages that you can build for no cost. It is yet another

tool to help you promote and grow your business.

 

LinkedIn is a social media site just as Facebook is. However, they are much different. There is

no place for children or teens here. This is a site that’s for business owners, professionals,

entrepreneurs, and freelancers.

 

 

 

Learn How to Receive Recommendations on LinkedIn

 

When others recommend you on LinkedIn, it aids in you in establishing credibility. These days,

a LinkedIn recommendation could be the difference between you getting a position and not

getting a position. SO how do you get someone who you have done business with to write a

recommendation for you? Glad you asked. Read on to find out how.

 

Even when the other party says “sure” they will write you a recommendation, the question

becomes can they write a good one. Just because a person is an excellent business owner

doesn’t mean they are a great writer.

 

A recommendation needs to be professional and it needs to tell those reading it why you are

recommended. Are you reliable? Do you do excellent work? Are you affordable? Are you top in

your field? You get the idea.

 

If you write a recommendation for the party you are asking for a recommendation from, it

accomplished two things. First, they will feel more obligated to provide that recommendation to

you. Second, if you write a good recommendation about the other party, then they can use that

as a bit of a template for writing yours and it is much more likely to be exactly what you want.

Make sure there is no swearing or cussing in the recommendation a person writes for you. A

recommendation should begin with the ‘best’ thing about the person. It should be brief, concise,

and to the point.

 

However, you should never write a recommendation for someone you have not worked with

personally, because you are putting your reputation on the line when you do so. Go ahead and

link to anyone that you link to anyone that you like, just be a little more cautious when it comes

to who you will write a recommendation.

 

This brings up another point. If someone you haven’t worked for directly offers to write a

recommendation for you, it is a good idea to not accept that recommendation. The reason being

is you do not know anything about that person and as a result if they are less than reputable

that will reflect on you and could be very detrimental to you in your quest to nail that perfect job,

to get freelance contracts, etc.

 

Recommendations are one of the most powerful tools that LinkedIn offers, and they certainly set

the site aside from other social media sites. Make sure you get the maximum value from them.

 

 

 

Website Success Using LinkedIn

LinkedIn – it seems to have become one of the buzzwords but still only, a few actually

understand much about LinkedIn other than its stock continues to grow in value. LinkedIn is

where you will find 100 million professionals who have gathered. It’s a forward thinking concept,

that’s smart and focused.

 

There are a lot of people that still think of LinkedIn as a site where online resumes are stored.

What many don’t realize is that LinkedIn is eight years old. It came to being long before the

 

Great Recession. Moreover, while it is useful in connecting people to job that was really is only

a small portion of the creator’s vision for the site. Today the site is so much more than that.

As the economy changes and adapts, LinkedIn will be able to continuously offer value to

professionals in a number of ways, not just to find jobs. We already have had a taste of where

the creators are taking the site. We have seen:

 

Signal – It’s a tool that allows you to see what is happening in your network by letting you sort

through relevant tweets, status updates, and connections. Are you ready for the next rollouts

that LinkedIn developers are going to introduce?

 

You will be happy to know that it’s as easy as can be. Make sure your profile is credible. Take

some time to review it at least a couple of times for accuracy. Check to ensure it is complete

and that there is no important information missing. Is your story consistent?

 

Give your connections the attention they deserve. If you do not have enough connections, you

will miss out on the powerful tools LinkedIn offers. If you have too many connections then these

phenomenal tools also become useless because your network is really just junk. So choose

your connections wisely.

 

Do not be afraid to connect with your connections. Every now and then drop by their profile and

say ‘hi,’ ask how their family is doing, or how they have been feeling. If you are aware that

someone is completing a major project and find out how things are going and if they are coming

together.

 

It really is very simple. Whether you are looking to find a job, get yourself promoted, or find out

more about what is happening in your particular field you will be ready. When you use LinkedIn

as the powerful tool, it is you can enjoy website success.

 

Changing How I do Business Using LinkedIn

 

If you find yourself wondering if LinkedIn could have a positive affect on your business, the

answer is an emphatic yes. Many online business owners will tell you that LinkedIn is one of

their most valuable tools.

 

Participating in LinkedIn is a great way to bring in questions and queries that are later converted

into paying sales. Many businesses have been able to get business directly from LinkedIn. The

key is patience. You won’t generate revenue overnight but the customers you do establish often

become long-term customers.

 

If you are targeting B2B companies, LinkedIn will be a very valuable tool, as it is preferred over

Twitter and Facebook according to a recent study. However, it is not enough to just put up a

profile. You will need to take the time to create a detailed profile, and then you need to

participate on the site. Groups are a great way to do that.

 

When it comes to groups, the more the merrier. Seek out groups that meet your profession,

your industry, or your niche. Then make sure you engage in conversation on those groups. Over

time, you will increase traffic to your website, and you can improve your Google ranking. Make

sure you use Google Analytics so that you can see where your traffic is coming from.

 

Do not make the mistake of thinking LinkedIn is just a source of business. It is so much more.

You can use it to seek our vendors; find consultants, hire professionals, and these same people

can refer business over to you.

 

Group discussions can be a valuable source of information. You can learn all kinds of great

things like streamlining business procedures, learning how to use LinkedIn to change how you

do business, finding ways to find better vendors and suppliers. The groups are a wealth of

information. If you participate in the groups you are a member of, you will also be a source of

information for others. It’s a two way street and when used properly can be very beneficial.

 

The internet has changed the way we do business. Social media has changed the way business

is done even more, and LinkedIn, which prides itself in being a business resource, simply takes

things a little further keeping things focused and business related. If you are not yet using

LinkedIn, the time has come for you to sign up and begin to enjoy the benefits it has to offer.

 

 

 

How Professionals Can Benefit From LinkedIn

 

Professionals turn to LinkedIn as a method of communication. By creating relationships and

sustaining those relationships, they can enjoy the full benefit of LinkedIn. LinkedIn builds

credibility, which in turn provides networking opportunities to professionals.

 

Referrals that are obtained through a professional LinkedIn network offers a number of

opportunities These referrals are also more qualified and because LinkedIn offers a very

efficient method to build your referral base, it’s extremely popular. LinkedIn is an excellent forum

to network and to build referral systems that are strong and reliable.

 

When you connect with individuals on LinkedIn, you then are able to take advantage of what are

referred to as second and third tier contacts. You can take advantage of these levels in order to

further build your referral base. It can quickly gain momentum and before long, it will be growing

rapidly.

 

Quality not quantity are the best motivators. When you are connecting with individuals on

LinkedIn, it is more important that you look for quality connections. Qualify your connections

before you start sending out he invites. When you are communicating with any of the referrals,

you should reference “LinkedIn Today.” The news section will provide you with relevant industry

news that can help you determine quality and relevance.

 

LinkedIn continuously adds new products and apps that help to improve the professional lives of

those using LinkedIn, which is more than just a place people go when they are looking for jobs.

LinkedIn focuses on building relationships through groups and by using “LinkedIn Today.”

Other like-minded professional contacts, which was made so that you can communicate freely.

You will be updated with industry news that is relevant, so you will be prepared and ready.

 

LinkedIn is able to use a vanity URL specified for the business, which can be more professional

and easier to find on LinkedIn. LinkedIn offers job postings and it offers tracking of information

such as when individuals leave a company, along with day-to-day tasks.

 

Groups are one of the most powerful tools that LinkedIn offers. Not only should you join relevant

groups, you should participate in those groups. Doing so can be far reaching and it can lead to

new business, which translates to more jobs, and increased revenues.

 

When you use all or some of the tools that LinkedIn has to offer you can create a profile that can

have maximum impact. As a professional, you’ll discover opportunities you never dreamed of.

 

 

Improve Web Traffic Combining LinkedIn and Facebook

 

Many have willingly dove into using Facebook, but those same people are often hesitant to try

LinkedIn. That’s mostly because they do not really understand what LinkedIn is. Let’s look at the

difference between these two, and why it is important to actually use both.

 

It was on September 26, 2006 that Facebook went public. Anyone that was age 13 or older was

allowed to join the site. Since then, teens, moms, dads, young adults, grandmas, grandpas, and

adults alike have arrived in droves at Facebook so that they could stay in touch with friends and

family. The site has few restrictions and is all about personal social networking. You post you

landed that new job, you tell your friends that your boy just scored the winning goal, or you post

pictures of your kid’s birthday party.

 

This is where LinkedIn differs. There’s really no place for children’s sporting events, or birthday

parties here. LinkedIn is a social network for professionals. On LinkedIn, you can connect with

coworkers, colleagues, and professionals and others that you meet while you are networking.

It’s an excellent place to connect with others that like-minded, gather ideas, and find career

opportunities with potential.

 

Resume is setup rather like a resume that’s professional and polished. Make sure you take

advantage of all the features on the site. The LinkedIn groups are of great value and an

excellent way to network and meet others.

 

LinkedIn is not just for you to connect with those you know or with people from within your own

industry. Make sure to think outside the box. Thinks about what industries might compliment

your own. Then connect with individuals from those industries. Join groups and then seek out

those with the same professional interests you have. Then you can connect with them.

 

On Facebook, find people you know and people who share your interests or your profession.

Join groups and pages, then reach out to those individuals within the groups or pages, and

connect with them.

 

 

So let’s recap what each has to offer.

 

Use Facebook to:

Connect with friends and family

Reveal your personal feelings and thoughts

Keep up-to-date with friends and family

Chat with friends

Post personal photos and videos

Share fun information

Follow brands you like

Participate in groups

Connect with professionals, colleagues, and coworkers

Post your online resume

Connect with like-minded people

Find potential career opportunities

Share your expertise

Learn from others

To keep up-to-date with your professional networks.

 

When you understand the differences between Facebook and LinkedIn, you can use both to

bring traffic to your site. Both are very valuable tools to bring traffic to your site.

 

Is Your Private Information Being Leaked on LinkedIn

 

One of the most common concerns that arise by those using LinkedIn is whether or not their

private information is being leaked out to the internet and to the public. What you may not

realize is that this leaking of information can be very beneficial to you and your business. There

is a lot of information on social media sites like LinkedIn.

 

There’s plenty to take away from the company information that can be found on LinkedIn. The

competitive intelligence and marketing information is invaluable. There are tons of valuable

information on this social media site for anyone who is seeking to get their hands on corporate

data.

 

On LinkedIn, individuals are busy promoting their professional credentials and tend to share a

lot of information. If you use some of the LinkedIn search tools that are available for free, you

can pull out the information that you need.

 

You may be surprised at just how many corporate secrets are actually floating around on

LinkedIn. Employees have a tendency to share information that they think is harmless, when in

fact it is often providing the competition with information they need.

 

For example, Company A’s employees writes in his status “I just signed the largest Wi-Fi

contract that’s ever been signed at a whopping $10 million dollars.” Company B is wondering

what the competition has been doing with their Wi-Fi contracts. They obtain this information on

LinkedIn, which otherwise may have been very difficult to obtain.

 

While what you find might not be earth shattering. If you take just 10 minutes to surf the site

looking for information on Apple you would discover:

 

*In 60 days Apple shipped 2 million iPads.

*On launch day, there were more than 300,000 iPads available.

*Apple HR had more than 30 internal sites.

 

If your company has strategic information that you do not want to find searchable on LinkedIn,

you should consider using one of the software programs that will monitor your LinkedIn profile(s)

watching for posts on your company.

 

So what does your LinkedIn profile or your LinkedIn company page say about you. What are

you sharing with the world, and is it information that you wanted to share? Have a final look to

make sure you have no ‘company secrets’ floating around that you didn’t intend to share, and

instruct your employees on what is considered acceptable posts about what is going on in within

the company.

 

 

 

8 Ways to Maximize Your LinkedIn and Your Personal Branding

 

Personal branding is key to your success and LinkedIn is an excellent tool to help you achieve

that. Let’s look at 8 ways to maximize your LinkedIn and your personal branding.

 

1. Make the Most of your Profile

Using your LinkedIn profile properly is very important. When you communicate with others on

the site, your profile will speak for you. Don’t just upload any photo, upload a good photo. Don’t

upload your logo here. People want to see what you look like. Make sure you completely fill out

your profile – do not leave any areas blank.

 

2. Build Your Contacts

When you first join LinkedIn you need to build your contact base. Connect present and past

colleagues along with your alumni from your university or college.

 

3. Recommendations

Recommendations are very important. In fact, it is one of the most powerful tools that LinkedIn

has to offer. That’s because people recognize recommendations as sincere and trustworthy.

Other people must write them and they are very hard to fake or forge.

 

4. Use Groups

There are three ways you can use groups: lead generation, increase your LinkedIn profile

development, and personal development by learning from

 

5. Promoting Events

Using LinkedIn to promote your events is a very wise move. You can easily target your

audience and you can spread your information quickly all the while establishing your personal

brand.

 

6. Use Your Status Updates

The LinkedIn status updates are not used to their full potential. However, that’s been changing a

little bit thanks to the integration of Twitter with your LinkedIn profile, a move that was much

needed. Update your LinkedIn profile with relevant blog posts and news. When you use your

status updates wisely they can play an integral role in your person branding.

 

7. Using Applications

LinkedIn offers a very good learning center to help you get the most out of the various apps that

are available including the best way to go about creating your personal bonding.

 

8. Networking for Lead Generation

LinkedIn is a very powerful tool for you to use to connect with others who are looking to

individuals from within the corporate community. When you take full advantage of the tools

LinkedIn offers you can build a powerful personal brand. It will not take as long as you might

think, and it is worth every bit of time you put into it.

 

 

Getting the Most From LinkedIn Searches

 

There are plenty of social media sites out there and LinkedIn is one of them. Unlike Facebook,

which caters to users of all ages over 13, from all walks of life, and with all kinds of interests,

LinkedIn is far more focused. LinkedIn is the best social media site for professionals,

businesses, and freelancers alike. There is no room here for teens or hobbies. This is a site that

allows you to promote yourself and your company and to network with other businesses within

similar markets.

 

One of the powerful tools that LinkedIn has to offer is the ability to search. When you know how

to get the most from your LinkedIn searches, you can truly get the most out of the site. LinkedIn

is built on a highly evolved platform with a well-developed search platform that is broken into six

separate sections. Each of these sections will offer you a mix of suggestions as you type. The

advanced search is a very powerful tool.

 

6 Sections for Advanced Searches

Here is the brake down for the six individual sections for your advanced searched.

Updates – You can filter your results based on your connection level. You can set updates from

your immediate network – from friends of your friends, friends to friends, or your third level

marketing. You can also filter by time, location, range, etc.

 

People – You can filter by relationship, location, school, and industry. There are several more

options available if you have a premium membership.

 

Jobs – You can filter by how current the jobs are, the industry they are in, the experience that is

required, etc. There are a number of other search options available in this section.

 

Companies – You can filter by industry, location, company size, relation, fortune, etc.

 

Groups – In groups you can filter by language and category.

 

Answers – You can filter by categories, and you can even add multiple categories.

 

With so many options, you shouldn’t have too much difficulty seeking out exactly what you

need, especially if you also use the search Boolean operators. Using these operators, you can

exclude words, add words, combine two or more phrases, and add that final touch to your

search. Tweaking ensures you get the exact results you were looking for.

 

Understanding how to use the LinkedIn searches to their fullest capability offers you stimulating

opportunities that will inspire you to search more creatively not just on LinkedIn but on other

social media sites too.

 

 

Building Meaningful LinkedIn Relationships

If you have any type of professional life, which most of us do, you should have signed up at

LinkedIn. You will create a profile just as you do on other social media sites. However, just

setting up your profile is not enough. You need to make sure your profile is complete and

working effectively so that you get the most benefit and value from it.

 

LinkedIn is recognized as a very effective way for professionals and businesses to build

relationships that eventually will lead to business opportunities. It is also recognized as a great

way to strengthen your network, maintaining it and keeping it strong, and ensuring you get the

most out of your business.

 

To begin with, you will establish connections that will help you increase your exposure online

and help you to boost your reputation. Make sure that you have filled out the business profile so

that those who are surfing and visiting the site can check it out. You should include people from

within your company that you work with.

 

Once you connect with others, you need to do more. To build a relationship you have to go

deeper. If you just connect but you never interact, there will be nothing for either of you to gain

from the experience. It’s critical that you interact if you want LinkedIn to be a successful

component of your business.

 

You might be surprised to learn that it is all in the timing. As soon as you make a new

connection, you respond to a question, you are introduced to a business associate, etc. you

need to make the move to communicate directly with this person. There are tons of ways to

bridge that gap and open up communication. You can ask a question, show interest in what they

are saying, give advice, etc.

 

Make sure that you make the most of every event. Pay attention to events and activities that are

happening in LinkedIn and that you are involved in. There are likely a number of events that you

business could benefit from. Try to find live events in your area, or follow web events.

Be a resource to other LinkedIn members. If you know how to listen to other, it can be a very

valuable tool. Sharing your expertise with others is an excellent way to build significant

relationships within LinkedIn and these relationships are far reaching to your business and may

eventually translate to revenue.

 

Knowing how to build meaningful relationships on LinkedIn will help you to create a viable tool

that can benefit your business in many different areas.

 

 

Building Strong Business Connections on LinkedIn

You may already have a LinkedIn account. Are you using it in the manner that you should be to

get the maximum benefit from it? It’s important for your profile to be complete and then you

must leverage the connections you have made.

 

If you find LinkedIn isn’t doing a whole lot for your business, you may be concentrating your

efforts in the wrong place. A common mistake is to spend all your time building your online

connections so that you are able to strengthen your visibility and credibility. That is important;

however, that’s not your toughest challenge. A much larger challenge that you face is to take

the connections that you establish and deepen them so much that those people are buying what

you are selling.

 

The success of all social media relies on relationships, and LinkedIn is no different. Meaningful

interactions are a must to the success of any business whether that interaction occurs face-to-face

or online isn’t significant – it just must occur.

 

You need to pay close attention to the connections you are making and what they are doing.

You are connected to them online, so it’s highly likely that they will be posting the events they

plan to attend. If you see that those events are occurring in your region, you should also plant to

attend them. If the events are live, you should attempt to set up an appointment where you can

meet face to face. It will do wonders for the growth of your business.

 

Your timing is of the essence. The goal is to build deep relationships with the most important of

your connections. In a perfect world, you would do this with all your connections but initially start

with the connections that you feel can have the greatest value to your business.

 

Don’t be afraid to ask for advice on LinkedIn. There isn’t anyone who doesn’t just love to get

their opinion in there. Everyone wants to feel valued and important. You will be quite surprised

at the number of very good responses you receive. When you reach out you are able to

communicate with one of your connections and begin to build a relationship with that person.

LinkedIn is a powerful tool for building strong business connections providing you understand

how to use it properly and maximize your relationships on LinkedIn. We’ve started you down the

right path. There is plenty of other helpful information available online – make use of it!

 

6 Top LinkedIn Open Networkers you Should be Following

Open networkers can be a powerful tool for you on LinkedIn, so let’s look at the 6 tops LinkedIn

open networkers you should be following.

 

However, before we do that we must remind that it is against the LinkedIn User Agreement to

invite someone into your network of professionals if you do not know them personally. The

reason for this is LinkedIn was built on the philosophy of trust, which means you need to know a

person in order to truly trust them.

 

LinkedIn has added the follow feature, which allows you to follow a group discussion, and then a

little later on you can invite them to join your network.

 

1. Olivier Taupin – Linked HR is the largest LinkedIn Group at 850,000 members and more than

350,000 professionals. Creating a community of this magnitude is no easy task. Definitely, this

group's worth exploring.

 

2. Chris Brogan – Most of you already know who Chris Brogan is, a well-known, powerful online

marketing guru. Be sure to read the many posts Chris has on in LinkedIn blog. Chris is a very

smart networker and you would be wise to hook up with him on LinkedIn, because you can learn

a lot.

 

3. Gerald Haman – This is a man who is known as the ‘solution man,’ on LinkedIn and he is also

the creator of tons of ‘innovator’ LinkedIn groups including “Innovative Marketing, PR, Sales,

Word-of-Mouth & Buzz Innovators with more than 100,000 members. Gerald Haman is a

professor at Northwestern University, and he has also helped clients generate more than 2

billion dollars in revenue from 3 million ideas.

 

4. Thubten Comerford – This is a man who has a deep spiritual connection, and who has been

ordained as a monk in the Tibetan temple in the past. He also has an incredibly successful track

record in his business ventures. He is a social media consultant and you should definitely have

a look at what he offers.

 

5. Jay Deragon – This may be a name you are familiar with since he was one of the social

media bloggers for 2011 that was mentioned a number of times. Jay’s goal is to have us all

become part of his new ‘Social Flights’ venture. Jay is a very smart and business savvy man

and most of us could earn a lot from him.

 

6. Gary Zukowski – Here is another one of the top connectors. If you have the opportunity to

hear the story of Gary Zukowski’s company TweetMyJOBS be sure to do so. TweetMyJOBS is

the largest job board and recruiting station on Twitter. Gary is a very savvy person when it

comes to the twittersphere.

 

Top Ways to Maximize Your LinkedIn Profile

 

Your LinkedIn profile can be an excellent tool that can help you to grow your business and

ensure increased sales. LinkedIn groups are a great place to start your focus. Find groups that

are relevant is a good place to start.

 

No matter what your industry, your business, or your profession, there are groups that are a

great match, and that will benefit you. There are benefits to both joining and then participating

in these groups. There are many really powerful groups with thousands of members. The

largest is 32,000. These powerful groups can be a real help when building your business.

Take it one-step further and connect your LinkedIn and Twitter accounts. That way both

accounts can receive an update. When you sync from Twitter it tends to stay on top longer than

it usually does in a Twitter stream. The more interaction that occurs the more people that see it,

which can be very helpful. So, be sure to connect your Twitter account to your LinkedIn account.

 

Next, you want to add your company profile. LinkedIn is always improving its platform and until

just recently, the company page section has been lagging. Now you can share information on

your products and services, you can add a video, and you can provide insights on the people

who work for your company, and on your company itself.

 

Take the time to perform search engine optimization. People are always searching for other

people and/or companies on LinkedIn. They might be looking for freelancers, employees,

industry experts, employee candidates, and so many more. Just imagine how happy you would

be if suddenly you were being continuously contacted for the products and services you offer.

By taking the time to do your search engine optimization so that you place better in the search

engines you, open up these doors.

 

Finally, take some time and add some advanced applications that can help you. One of the

biggest improvements on LinkedIn has been that they have added a number of useful

applications. It does not matter what your industry is, there is at least one application for

everyone that will help to get your messages across faster and more efficiently improving the

LinkedIn experience. Take advantage of the applications and tools that are available to you. It

can make your LinkedIn experience that much better.

 

Now that you have some of the top ways to maximize your LinkedIn profile, what are you

waiting for?

 

 

Adding Admins to Your LinkedIn Company Profile

 

There is a lot of buzz around the LinkedIn site. If you do not already have a LinkedIn account,

the time has come to set one up. LinkedIn now allows you to ‘add Admins’ to your LinkedIn

company profile. This is a handy feature that was certainly needed. Some businesses have a

dedicated employee that administers the LinkedIn company profile, but others share the tasks

and it makes it much easier when each person can have their own admin log in.

 

LinkedIn used to be that when you created your profile for your business or organization you

were the only one that would be able to edit that profile. Then they added another feature that

allowed anyone with a company domain email to access the profile. Finally, now you can add

people in your network.

 

You will still maintain total control of the profile because you are the creator of the profile.

However, this is a great feature for those that hire a consultant outside of the organization to

manage their social media. You can now manage that account without having to have access to

your account.

 

If you would like to use this option for your LinkedIn company profile, just click on the ‘edit’

button, which you will find on the right corner. Then under the ‘Company Pages Admins’ section

you will need to choose ‘Designated users only.’ Here you will type in the box the name of the

person you want to add. It says “Start typing a name.” If you are adding more than one ‘Admin’

person than you will just need to repeat the process.

 

Having other administrators ensures someone is available at all times to answer questions, post

commentary, and follow what’s going on in the groups. Not only does it diversify the workload, it

also diversifies the posts, different ideas, different dialogue, and different ways of discussing

things.

 

LinkedIn is a social media tool for businesses, professionals, and entrepreneurs of all sizes. No

business should be without a LinkedIn account, in this day and age. Don’t worry. It’s relatively

easy to set up an account and to use the site. LinkedIn itself provides you with tons of help and

there are all kinds of information available online as well.

 

If you have a LinkedIn account, why not add another administrator to take some of the pressure

off of you. If you are just setting up an account then be sure to share the administrator

responsibilities.

 

 

Top 5 LinkedIn Marketing Tips for Business

LinkedIn us such a useful business tool, and yet far too often its true value is overlooked. This is

by far one of the best tools available so make sure that you take advantage of it.

 

1. Complete your profile – Your profile is at the heart of your online business branding. Your

LinkedIn profile will almost always rank very well in a Google search. You want to have a solid

profile because first impressions can make or break you. Make sure your profile is completely

filled out with no missing information.

 

2. Connect with all – You should connect with as many people as you can. Begin with those you

know and trust and then you will be able to make recommendations to other users when they

are looking for an introduction. If you want to find the opportunities that are out there, you need

to keep your communication lines open on LinkedIn. The more connections you make the more

you will be able to grow your business and improve your sales.

 

3. Create a call to action – It is easy to do and so important. You need to create a call to action

on your profile. When people arrive and read what you have to say they’ll feel inspired and

much more likely to click through on your links that will take them to your website.

 

4. Make sure you are compelling – Most LinkedIn profiles will put you to sleep. Yawn – they are

so boring and show nothing of the personality of the individual. Make it interesting and

compelling. Tell people who you are, who the people are you help, what you offer for sale in

services or products, and anything else that could be important to making you interesting for

those that find your profile.

 

5. Recommend Others – Give and you will receive. If you recommend then you will be

recommended. When you recommend others without them asking you to do so, they return the

favor and this will help to improve your profile and build credibility, which will improve your

business.

 

 How to Brand Yourself in LinkedIn

LinkedIn has become a key business networking tool, and it can be an incredibly powerful

resource when you want to develop your personal brand. To maximize LinkedIn take advantage

of all the features it has to offer and make the most out of your LinkedIn branding campaign.

 

1. Edit your LinkedIn URL – As part of developing your brand, you can leverage your name.

Click on ‘Profile,’ then click on ‘Edit Profile.’ A blue box appears. Scroll down to the bottom to

‘Public Profile.’ Click ‘Edit,’ and a page comes up. Enter your name in the box on the right hand

side.

 

If you have a more common name, you can try using your ‘first name + middle initial + last

name.” This will let you expand your name brand. Your LinkedIn profile will appear higher in

Google search rankings, which means if someone is looking for you, they are much more likely

to find you.

 

2. Modify your Headline – Modify your headline and take advantage of the branding power

LinkedIn can offer you. If you are attempting to position yourself to advance your career, you

should not overlook the power of the headline. LinkedIn defaults your last job title in the

headline. However, you can modify this, simply by going to ‘Profile,’ then ‘Edit Profile,’ and then

click ‘Edit.”

 Use a keyword or keywords that potential recruiters are likely to search. If you were most

recently a Director of Marketing, you could create a headline that supports that.

 

3. Create a Flawless LinkedIn Profile – Consider hiring a professional writer to create copy

that’s compelling and engaging, as well as keyword rich. Make sure that it is 100% free of

errors.

 4. Ask for Recommendations – Ask former or current superiors, subordinates, or colleagues for

recommendations. Click ‘Profile,’ then click ‘Recommendations.’ Type a short note asking for

the recommendation. When hiring managers and/or recruiters see the positive comments in the

recommendation they care more likely to look to you.

 Finally, join groups and then participate in them. In fact, the importance of groups cannot be

stressed enough. They do a great job of extending your reach. When you use them smartly, you

will enhance your professional branding and that’s important. By participating in the groups your

name will become recognizable and you will be able to build your branding, one of the most

powerful strategies around!

 

How to Create Your Personal Brand Using LinkedIn

These days just about everyone has a LinkedIn account. LinkedIn is an excellent site to

promote and sell yourself as a professional, and your company, or organization. Follow these

steps and you will be way ahead of the crowd when it comes to using LinkedIn for personal

branding.

 Step #1 Determine what you want your LinkedIn profile to do for you. LinkedIn is about much

more than posting a picture. It is a chance for you to stay connected to people, showing them

who you are and what your goals are.

 

Step #2 Don’t be boring. There are 40 million members. Make what you have to say interesting

enough to get read. Stand out in a very big crowd! You can pull in other content such as your

blog, books you are reading, etc., to keep things interesting.

 

Step #3 Now it’s times to write a summary – rock it! You can write it in the third person if you

like. It may feel strange like you are bragging about yourself. When you write in the third person,

it gives you the opportunity to write your full name. Of course, you can always write in the first

person too. Remember to incorporate your company name, your keywords, and anything else

you want associated with your LinkedIn profile.

 

Step #4 A photo is important. Even if you are self-conscious about how you look in a photo,

remember this – those that are thinking of working with you. If a person is going to pass

judgment on you by your appearance then they might as well do it right away rather than later.

Have a headshot taken if you must. Professional photographers can get a good shot of

everyone.

 

Step #5 For your url get a vanity url. For example, if your LinkedIn profile looks a bit like this

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/joe-blow/3/231/438

you can make it available at

http://www.linkedin.com/in/joeblow

This is much easier to remember than the first url.

 

Step #6 Show our profile to another person and get their feedback. Then you can tweak it. In

fact, show it to a few people. At least once a month you should tweak your profile.

 

Step #7 Now it is time to start using LinkedIn. You can begin to recommend people who you

work with, look for old co-workers that you really liked and respected.

 

There you have it – Seven simple steps to help you create your personal brand using LinkedIn.

 

 

 

 

 

How to Use LinkedIn to Drive Traffic to Your Site

 

LinkedIn is a social networking site for professionals and it now has more than 100 million

users. Almost 60% of LinkedIn users are in consultant positions or at the executive level. As a

result, LinkedIn has the highest number of decision makers in one place over all social media

networks. LinkedIn is one of the fastest growing sites – one new user arrives every second, or

translated that’s around one million new users every week.

 

Just as you would with other social media sites, you need to use the white hat approach. Rather

than transparently advertising your goods or services or outright asking for work, try to interact,

help, and engage people.

 

Your LinkedIn goal should be to establish yourself in your niche or your industry. Take the time

to connect with colleagues, and customers that you have already established a relationship with

and then build on that relationship.

 

Groups are one of your most popular tools on LinkedIn. You can drive traffic to your website and

reach an endless stream of targeted professionals. There are more than 870,000 LinkedIn

groups with memberships varying from 1 to 400,000. Most of the groups are business related,

although there are nearly 130,000 corporate alumni and academic groups.

 

WordPress is one of the favorite LinkedIn groups because of its knowledgeable and engaging

members. You can easily get your questions answered, and you can participate in a lively

discussion. Every application you use will have a LinkedIn Group that represents it. The same

applies to every type of job you might do, there is a group for. Whether you are a photographer,

an illustrator, a Photoshop user, a marketer – there is a group for you.

 

Are you already on LinkedIn? If you have not yet signed up to use LinkedIn now is a good time

to do so. LinkedIn members are not there to look at their friends’ photos or to give their friends a

minute-by-minute description of their day. Rather, it is an excellent place to make the types of

connections that can grow an income.

 

Take the time to update your profile so it clearly and concisely explains what you are all about

and what it is you have done. Make sure that you take the time to get at least a couple of

recommendations. The best way to do this is to offer to write a recommendation for someone

else. Now start driving traffic to your site.

 

Maximizing the Value of Your LinkedIn Company Page

If you are looking for an inexpensive, powerful marketing tool for your business, you will want to

read on. One of the best tools around for promoting your business is the LinkedIn Company

Page, which costs you nothing to set up. You just need to have an existing LinkedIn profile, and

then you can create your company page.

 

Are thinking what’s the difference between a Facebook page and a LinkedIn company page and

why is this better? The main advantage of LinkedIn is that it allows companies to build their

brand through the use of customer recommendations, which is an extremely powerful tool that

all LinkedIn users should take advantage of.

 

There are tremendous benefits to taking advantage of this. If a person is looking for a service or

product and they see that you have been recommended by someone in their network, then they

are more likely to buy from you than they might be otherwise.

 

The full power of the company pages is that LinkedIn members are able to recommend services

or products on the company profile and those recommendations will show on the personal

profiles too.

 

Yet another LinkedIn benefit is the tabs. This is especially true now that Facebook has removed

the tabs from their pages. The company page lets you feature specific services or products

using three different sizes of banner images that will link directly to your company website.

 

The LinkedIn company page lets you bring your business alive. Millions of LinkedIn members

can easily stay in the loop with your company’s news, job openings, business opportunities, and

products/services. From a central hub you can tell your company’s story all the while

highlighting your services and/or products. You can easily showcase any career opportunities

and brand your company. You will be able to use word of mouth to drive your company and

maximize the value of your LinkedIn company.

 

Now is the time to spread the word. You can do that with a company page by posting regular

status updates in the same manner you would on Facebook. Only, here you will tell your

followers about new products and services, make recommendations, provide ideas and tips,

and promote any career opportunities that may arise.

 

Your LinkedIn company profile will allow you to develop meaningful relationships and engage in

conversations. Your analytics will allow you to learn who is visiting your page, what’s drawing

them there, and what visitors are learning about your company. You can then use this

information to formulate your status updates and draw traffic to your page.

 

 

 

Marketing With LinkedIn

There are many different social networking sites. However, t when it comes to professionals and

businesses there is no question that LinkedIn s the leading site. There are tons of opportunities

here that will let you build your own brand, advance your career, and market yourself. Let’s look

at some of the tools that LinkedIn provides to help you market yourself.

 

Your Profile

In addition to creating your own personal brand, you should list your other qualities in the

subtitle. For example, you are a blogger, you are an entrepreneur, or you are a writer. Make

sure you post only designations that are relevant to the market you are targeting. You should

also make sure you list your experience. You can list yourself as the CEO or Founder of your

company if you are the owner. This will help promote yourself.

 

Use the summary section to introduce and describe what it is you are offering. Use it to describe

your service, your product, your blog, whatever it is you are promoting. You should also

customize all of your website links. Turn to your external profile links to connect your profile

viewers to your blog directly or any other offers you are sharing.

 

 

Your Groups

It is important that you join groups. LinkedIn lets you join around 50 groups. There are groups

from every industry so finding groups that are relevant to what you are doing, your product, your services, etc. There is more to it than just joining. You need to participate and openly discuss issues at hand. Of course, we are assuming you know something about the topic and so your expertise will bring you rewards in the form of new customers.

 

Make sure to participate in the conversations and posts that take place. Engaging in an open dialogue will help you to build your presence. When these posts are 100% relevant, you quickly

begin to build credibility.

 

You might even want to start your own group if there a niche that isn’t currently being covered.

Even if there is another group, there may be room for your group as well. Running your own

group provides you with an excellent marketing tool.

 

Marketing with LinkedIn is a skill that once you develop can take your business far. You will

grow and prosper as a result of the work you do on LinkedIn. That’s why all these large

companies can be found on LinkedIn – they already know the secret and are reaping the

benefits. Now it’s your turn!

LinkedIn For Business 

Contents

Introduction 4

1. Setting Up Your Account 8

1.1 Making a Business Page 11

1.2 Company Details 12

2. Page Optimization 16

2.1 SEO 16

2.2 Backlinks to Your Site 17

2.3 Driving Traffic to Your Site 19

3. Business Tools 23

3.1 Adding a Product 23

3.2 Recruitment 28

3.3 Contact building 32

3.4 Events 34

3.5 Analytics 37

4. Brand Building 40

4.1 Marketing and Advertising 41

4.2 Group Emails & Warm Calling 44

4.3 Market Research 46

5. Interaction Tools 48

5.1 LinkedIn Groups 49

Setting up groups 49

Branded vs. Interest groups 54

Keeping Groups Active 55

6. Conclusion____ 58

Introduction

2 

Whether you have read our LinkedIn Reader or not, you will, now that  LinkedIn

is the no.1 growing site for business professionals. It is a site  that is used by

both professionals and whole businesses alike. 

The website was founded in 2002 and launched in spring, 2003. IT was  founded

by Reid Hoffman. Hoffman began his career at Apple and  Fujitsu after

graduating from Stanford and Oxford universities in the  1990s. He was a

member of the founding board of American financial  transaction website PayPal

and along with several other members,  founded LinkedIn after PayPal was

acquired by eBay in 2002. 

By 2011, LinkedIn had amassed 135,000,000 users from across the  world. This

includes all the executives from the Fortune 500 and all  major industries and

industry leading companies. 

As the map below demonstrates, LinkedIn members are fairly spread  around the

world with the largest group being Americans. Approximately  one in six

Americans is a member of LinkedIn. The same proportion of  Brits are also

members.

3 

The following images demonstrate the gender and age balances of  LinkedIn

members: 

As you can see, the majority of users are men between the age of 24  and 54.

According to statistics, approximately 33% of users access the  website at least

once a month. In 2011, there were approximately 4  billion people searches on

the website. As well as allowing individuals to join LinkedIn, the network allows  variouscompanies to register themselves as members. The reasons for  this will be

outlined in Part 2. The following graph illustrates the most  popular sectors or

industries from which the companies come. The most  popular industries are

hi-tech, manufacturing and finance.

4 

These companies can also be broken down by their size. This graph 

demonstrates that there are many large companies involved in LinkedIn  as well

as smaller ones. 

Vincenzo Cosenza’s infographics demonstrate the growing reach  of LinkedIn. The website has become a site where professionals can find  work, find employees, connect with likeminded people in the same or  related sectors and to pool resources.

5 

This eBook is designed to show you how to set up and maximize your  LinkedIn

business page. This book is a step by step guide to make sure  your page helps

your website rank well on search engines, to help you  find and organize your

staff, to advertise your business and to build up  your relationship with your

customers and fans.

6 

1. Setting Up Your Account 

Before making a business page, you need to make sure your personal  account

has been optimized. You will know about most of the content  already, but think,

does it reflect the right you? Are you actively  promoting your current business or

company well? 

Common SEO practices can be applied to any public profile on the  internet and

your LinkedIn profile is no different. If possible, make sure  there is a good link to

your company home page and to any relevant  business and group pages on

LinkedIn, (these may need to be done  once you have finished building them). 

You should also keep a continuous eye on the quality of your network.  Are they

good links to have? Alternatively, are they more social links?  Do they perform a

function or have the potential to if you need them?  Once you have finished with

your personal page, you are ready to build  a LinkedIn Business Page. 

Premium Accounts

7 

Having a regular LinkedIn account grants you only so many privileges.  You can

contact certain members and you can add only certain people.  However, if you

are serious about business, then it is well worth you  investing in one of 3

LinkedIn premium packages. 

1. Business 

The business package allows you to: 

Contact 3 people directly through InMail with a guaranteed  response 

See 300 profiles when you search 

Access to premium search filters 

Automatically see expanded professional profiles 

Full list of people who have viewed your profile 

5 folder profile organizer 

See first names for third degree contacts 

Access to reference search 

Priority customer service 

2. Business Plus 

Meanwhile, business plus has: 

Contact 10 people directly through InMail with a guaranteed  response 

See 500 profiles when you search 

Access to premium search filters 

Automatically see expanded professional profiles 

Full list of people who have viewed your profile

8 

25 folder profile organizer 

See first names for third degree contacts 

Access to reference search 

Priority customer service 

3. Executive  

And the executive package gives you: 

Contact 25 people directly through InMail with a guaranteed  response 

See 700 profiles when you search 

Access to premium and total search filters 

Automatically see expanded professional profiles 

Full list of people who have viewed your profile 

50 folder profile organizer 

See full names for third degree contacts 

Access to reference search 

Priority customer service 

Upgrading to a business or executive account is not essential to doing  business

on LinkedIn, but it does make the whole process a lot easier.  For example,

if you are planning to approach someone for a contract or  as potential employee

and you do not know them, you stand a chance of  interacting with them.

The same cannot be said of a normal account.

9 

1.1 Making a Business Page 

In order to set up a company, you need to log into your personal  account. From

there go to the company home page, which you can find  on the main bar under

the masthead. You will now notice there is the  option to “Add a Company.”

Click this. You will be taken to the following  page: 

Enter your company’s name, your company email address and the tick  the box

to verify you are the official representative of the company. Once  done, click the

“continue” boss.  

You will then receive a verification email from LinkedIn. Click on the  confirmation

link in the email and you will be taken to a “confirm” page.  Click the confirm

button and then log in with your primary email address  and password

(for your personal page).  

At first, your page will be as barren as Svalbard in the winter:

10 

1.2 Company Details 

To edit your company details go to the right-hand side of your main  panel and

click on the dropdown menu entitled “Admin Tools.” Then click  on edit. You will

be presented with a three-part details page for your  business. 

Part One: Basic Company info. 

As the following graphic demonstrates. The section on the right-hand  side allows

you to determine the type of business you are running. 1. Company Type: Choose from eight options that include “public  company” and “self-employed.” 

2. Company Size: Range of sizes depending on the number of  employees. 

3. Company Website URL: Your website address 

4. Main Company Industry: What type of company do you run? 5. Company Operating Status: Ranges from operating to out of  business 

6. Year Founded

11 

7. Company Location: City, country, state etc…  

Part 2: Permissions and Logo 

LinkedIn gives you the opportunity to decide who has the right to modify  your

business page. The first option allows anyone with an email  address registered

to your company website. The second option allows  you to nominate specific

employees who are connected to you on  LinkedIn.

12 

Second, you have the option of adding two logos. The standard logo is a 

rectangle and then you also have the opportunity to add a square logo 

as shown below: 

To add a logo simply click on “edit” and find the right file on your  computer then

press “upload.” 

Part 3: Company Description 

In part 3 you have the chance to outline what exactly your company  does.

This is divided into four parts: 

1. Company Description: Write about your company. Use short and  simple sentences, keep to the point,

be factual and remember your  SEO.

13 

2. Company Specialities: You can add as many of these as you like.  Think of them like tags. For example

, your company might publish books  or it might specialize in different types of

cleaning service. 3. Company Blog RSS Feed: Add your RSS feed to help your SEO. 4. News Module: Toggle between showing news about your company  and not showing it. 

Once you have finished adding information about your business, press  the

“Publish” button. You will now be taken back to your company  overview page,

where you will see the changes.

14 

2. Page Optimization 

2.1 SEO 

SEO is short for Search Engine Optimization. Ever wondered why some 

websites rank better than the others do? Search engines send out spider 

programs to assess websites. The search engine then ranks the  websites

according to certain criteria placed against keywords put into  the search engine. 

In an ideal world, a website about vacuum cleaners will rank high on a  search

for vacuum cleaners. The search engines take into account the  size of a website.

The number of pages it has. The quality of the pages  on the website.

This is balanced against the number of keywords and  links within and to the

website. 

When writing any page on LinkedIn, you need to abide by a simple set of  rules: 

1. No spam. Keep to the point. 

2. Don’t become a super advertiser. 

3. Choose your keywords and stick to them. 

4. Do not stuff your pages full of keywords. 

5. Fill out all information boxes.

15 

2.2 Backlinks to Your Site 

A backlink is a web-link that, if clicked, takes a user from one webpage  to

another. Search engines find backlinks to be extremely valuable  commodities

for a webpage, however, there are conditions. For  example, each link should be

one-way only and should link between  reputable sites.  

LinkedIn counts as a reputable site, so creating links between your  website and

LinkedIn is a must. One way you can do this is by putting  your website’s URL

into the main company info section (see above). 

The second method is by putting a link in as a status update for your  company.

Go to your main company page and you will see the status  update bar below

your main options bar like this: 

As you will note, just below your status bar is the option to “attach a link.” 

Click on this and paste the URL of the page you want to link to. For 

16 

example, you could link to a news update, a blog post or a product  launch.

The choice is yours. 

The “Careers” and “Products & Services” sections also give you scope  for

attaching links to your company webpage. Make smart use of them to  help

promote your company and its services. 

Passive backlinks are those that you have no control over. On LinkedIn,  this

includes recommendations and status updates written by your  customers and

fans/followers. In order to maximize these links, you  need to provide excellent

content that is going to get people talking and  get people recommending.

17 

2.3 Driving Traffic to Your Site 

There are a number of other ways you can drive traffic to your website  via

LinkedIn. Here’s a few: 

1. Use Sociable on Wordpress (or LinkedIn Share button) If your company

employs a Wordpress, blog as part of its website go to  the plugin section of your

dashboard. From here, click on “add new” and  then search for “sociable.”

Install the plugin then activate it. You can  decide which social sites you can

allow users to interact with. I  recommend you use all of them: 

Other blogs allow you to install a specialized LinkedIn Share Button. To  make

one of these you need to go to this address: 

https://developer.linkedin.com/plugins/share-plugin-generator 

You will then be taken to the developer screen. There will be a series of  options

on the left and a preview on the right (see below). 

The process is simple. First, paste the URL to your LinkedIn company  page and

then decide on the shape of the button. Click “Get Code” to  generate the HTML

code to paste into your website.

18 

2. Put a link in your profile 

If you have a company profile on LinkedIn, chances are you also have a 

personal profile too. This profile reflects who you are as an individual  and

professional. You can also use it to link to your company’s website. 

3. Auto post blog updates to your profile 

By doing a search online or by accessing more Wordpress plugins, you  can get

software to automatically post blog updates from your website to  your personal

or company profile.

19 

4. Applications: Wordpress & Blog Link 

Alternatives to finding an automated software programme to post blog  updates

to your LinkedIn profile are the “Blog Link” and “Wordpress”  applications you

can find by clicking “more” on your LinkedIn homepage. Blog link allows you to

enhance your profile by giving you links to other  people’s blogs from your

network. By virtue of this, it also allows other  users to see your blog updates in

their news feed. 

Quite simply, the WordPress app allows you to synchronize your  Wordpress

blog posts and your status updates on LinkedIn. This  removes the need to

manually update your status feed on LinkedIn. 

5. Join Groups (see Section 5.1) 

Join or set up your own group to facilitate discussions. See Section 5.1  for more.

20 

6. Answer Questions (appropriate blog posts only) 

If you click on the “more” section you will also find the “answers” page. In this

section, users are able to ask and answer questions on any  professional topic.

You can take this opportunity to answer questions  

related to your company’s industry or your own personal skills and  experience. 

If you answer a question and you have a relevant webpage on this  subject

within your website, then you can attach a link to that page. The  better the

answer, the more questions you answer well and the accuracy  of your links,

will

help to give you and your company a reputation for  good quality solutions.

21 

3. Business Tools 

3.1 Adding a Product 

The first and most simple step in monetizing your LinkedIn page is to  create

products and services on the business page. First, go to your  business page

and then click on “Products.” 

If you have no products or services listed on your page, there will be an  option

to add one in the main panel. If you already have some, then you  go to the

admin menu on the right hand side and select “add product.” 

Adding a product is potentially an 11-step process. 

Step 1 

Toggle between a product consumers can buy or a service they can  hire. 

Step 2 

Choose from dozens of categories to find the one that suits your  product.

22 

Step 3 

Quite simply enter the product or service name. 

Step 4 

Upload a small image or logo for your product. Make sure it is small  enough for

LinkedIn to accept it. Sometimes this function can be a bit  sticky and the image

might not load. Just try again later. Step 5 

Now enter a description of your product. You should have one ready  prepared

for press releases, blogs and news sections on your website. 

23 

No doubt, you can also use the product description as found in  catalogues and

other websites. 

Make sure you keep to standard SEO guidelines. Pick a keyword to use  two or

three times in the description (product name or type of product),  then a subset

of minor keywords about its function or benefits. Keep  these down to 2-3 word

clusters and do not stuff the text full of them. 

Step 6 

Add the key features of your product. Treat this section like a tag bar on  a

blogging site. Choose 1-3 word keywords that aptly describe what your  product

does and why it is good. 

Step 7

24 

Your product or service should have a dedicated webpage introducing it  in full.

This should be on your company’s homepage. This page can  either link to a

place where the product can be bought or has a buying  function embedded into

the webpage itself. Either is fine. Copy and  paste this URL into part 7. 

Step 8 

Now add the contact information for your product. This could be yourself, 

members of your sales team, the project manager, your PR/Marketing 

department, departmental manager or even the designer themselves.  

These people should be LinkedIn members associated with your  company.

25 

Step 9 

Are you running a special promotion on your product or service? Such  as a

prize or a discount? Add the URL, title of your promotion and some  details

about it in step 9. This may help drive customers to you.

26 

Steps 10 and 11 

Add the URL and title of any YouTube promotional video here.

3.2 Recruitment 

When looking for new staff you have the option under “Careers” to post  a job

advertisement on your company page. Select the careers option  and you will

be presented with two types of job advert: 

1. Post a Job 

Like with creating a product or service, creating a job vacancy is a multi step

process. However, it also costs money. LinkedIn will give you a  calculated cost

for posting a job for 30 days based on the location of  your company. 

Step 1

27 

Enter the job title and the location of the job. This can be on site or even  off site.

LinkedIn will automatically insert the name of your company.

Step 2 

Multiple sections to be filled in here. First, what type of job is it? Is it full time,

part-time, contract-based, temporary or other? Then decide what  experience

level you are looking for (from entry level to executive).  LinkedIn will

automatically select what industry the job is related to, but  you can change this

if necessary. You will then get to choose the  function of the job, what the salary

or compensation is for the job and  announce what the referral bonus will be.

These last two options are  optional. 

Step 3

28 

As with your company and product/service descriptions, make sure you  SEO

your job description. You need to outline what the job is for, what  the duties of

the job holder will do and whom they report to and/or  oversee. 

Step 4 

Enter here what your desired criteria are for selecting the person and the 

process by which you will do that. 

Step 5 

LinkedIn will automatically enter the company description from your  business

page, however, you can modify it here if you so desire.

29 

Step 6 

Finally, LinkedIn provides you with some options about whether the  applicants

apply through LinkedIn or through your own website.

2. Premium Career Pages 

In addition to this basic service, LinkedIn provides a premium career  page

service, which helps you to develop your company’s brand as an  employer as

well as a service provider or product manufacturer.  

In order to set up such a service you need to deal directly with LinkedIn. 

This is because the social network understands that each business is  unique

and has its own requirements and quirks. We can, however, go  through some

basic details about what the Premium Career Pages offer  you and your business.

30 

Additional features include videos, featured employee pages, banners  and a lot

more. The showcase feature also allows the page to display  the most relevant

jobs to the person browsing the page.

31 

3.3 Contact building 

As well as providing tools to find new recruits, LinkedIn offers a platform  for

networking with likeminded individuals and companies. There are a  number of

reasons for wanting to build a network of contacts on  LinkedIn.

These include: 

Future Jobs: As noted above. LinkedIn gives you the tools to hire new  workers and executive

s for your company. By networking, it helps you  headhunt or cherry pick your

employees or to ask members of your  networks to recommend good potential

employees.  

Advice: Sometimes it is good to get advice from outside the company.  This can range

from professional advice on a subject you are not well  versed in or from

someone in the same capacity as you, but at a  different company. 

Contracts and Services: Building up a network that is re-enforced by  recommendations, follows and a

good working relationship helps  companies get and maintain contracts, allows

them to know who to  approach when services need outsourcing or who to go to

when  products are needed. 

Normally this works on an individual level. A person finds contacts that  they hold

as friends, current and former colleagues, fellow group  members and so on.

The problem for businesses is that it can only have 

32 

a list of employees (self-declared) and a list of followers. How then  should a

business create a suitable network of contacts via LinkedIn? 

1. Staff Networks: Simply put, companies can exploit their staff’s  personal networks on LinkedIn.

This requires close communication with  your staff and having them willing to

turn to people on their networks for  advice, recommendations and to find

service providers. 

2. Groups: You can set up a company group for your business (see  section 5.1). An open

group can be accessed by anyone, but you can  create a more closed group

based on invites and approved applications.  This could allow you to find other

business leaders and create a private  forum on LinkedIn where you can interact

on behalf of your businesses.33 

3.4 Events 

Events are another tool for getting your brand and your business out  there.

If you are about to launch a new product, open a new office, or  even discontinue

a much beloved but now out of date service/product,  you can arrange a

LinkedIn event. 

The advantage of the event is that it publicises your product, service or  new

office, and it includes your followers in the project. This is also a  great

opportunity to run a promotion or to get feedback. Similarly, it can  be used as a

private function, so employees linked to your company  know exactly when the

office party is. 

The events page can be found by clicking on the “more” button and then  clicking

“events.” This will take you to a home page for events. On the  top left will be an

event search option, which is followed by a list of 

34 

events you might be interested in. On the right-hand side, you will find a  list of

your events and above it, a “create event” button. 

Creating an event is a simple process: 

1. Click “create an event.” 

2. You will now be taken to step 1 of three. The first step will ask you to  enter

the name of the event, for example, Bob’s Birthday Party, when  the event is

taking place, where (you can make it a virtual event) and  then a logo for the

event. 

3. In step 2 you will be asked for more details about your event. First,  write a

description of the event. This should include the basic SEO  tactics we have

discussed before. 

35 

4. Now decide what industry your event is related to (LinkedIn will  automatically

select the same as your company, but you can change  this). Then add labels

(think of tags) and the website where people can  find out more information.

Also, if your event requires registration on  your company website, then tick the

appropriate box. 

5. Step 3 allows you to promote your event via Twitter and Facebook.

6. Click “Create Event” when you are finished. 

3.5 Analytics

36 

Now go to your company homepage and click on the “analytics” option  next to

careers and products. As you might expect, LinkedIn provides  you with 4 means

of testing the visibility and popularity of your company  page. Having a large

number of followers and staff is one thing, but  keeping them active is the key. 

1: Page Views 

At first, this graph will be bare like this one. Hopefully, however, this will  pick up

as you attract fans and viewers. First, you get to see how many  people are

viewing all your pages. You can then select an overview, see  how many are

viewing your career pages and then your product and  services pages. 

2. Unique Visitors

37 

One page view rarely equals one individual. Sometimes people will view  one

page and leave and other times one person will view every page  multiple times.

This graph lets you check out the exact number of  individuals who have looked

at your pages. 

3. Clicks: Products and Services 

Who has been clicking on your products & services page? And what  have they

been interested in? 

4. Members Following [Company Name]

38 

The front page of your business page will tell you how many people  follow your

company, but with this graph you can find out if that number  is rising, holding

steady or actually declining. 

Analytics are just one way of monitoring page activity. In addition to this,  you

can keep an eye on how active your business page is. Are people  liking and

recommending your product? Furthermore, if your online  shopping cart includes

a “where did you hear about this product” feature,  you may be able to track

some sales directly from LinkedIn. Also, you  can check your website’s statistics

to see how many people linked to  your site from LinkedIn.

39 

4. Brand Building 

The point of many tools mentioned in the previous section is to help you 

organize and run your business. Other tools, as outlined in this section  and in

the next too, are designed to help you build your brand. Brand  building is

essential to monetizing your LinkedIn business page. 

It is very important for companies to promote themselves. As well as  marketing

and advertising (see below), companies want to get a positive  message out to

current and potential customers. Having a perfect profile  is one thing, but

LinkedIn has several tools that allow users to prove  their quality. Outlined below

are ways you can actively promote your  business. 

The problem for this book in terms of some of the aspects of brand  building is

that LinkedIn tailor makes each ad campaign with you. This  means there is no

simple 10 step guide to making adverts and  sponsorships. Instead, we’ll provide

you with some information and then  you contact LinkedIn in order to develop

your ad campaign.

40 

4.1 Marketing and Advertising 

1. Display Ads 

There are three basic types of display ads. These are more or less the  standard

type of online advertising that hark back to traditional real world  ads such as

billboards. 

Standard Ad Units and Text Links will be displayed on profile and  other

LinkedIn pages in a traditional manner. These include IAB compliant ads,

text links to your product page or homepage, and  premium ads. 

Content Ads are more dynamic and engaging. 

Homepage Takeovers are designed to reach specific target  audiences

and are designed to be high impact.

41 

2. Social Ads 

There are three basic types of Social Ads available on LinkedIn. These  ads are

more attuned to social networking and peer recommendations. 

Follow Company Ads allow you to highlight your company  followers and use them to attract new followers. 

Recommendation Ads allows you to showcase and promote your 

endorsements in order to inspire additional recommendations. Join Group

Ads allow you to create an advert out of your group  discussions.

42 

3. Sponsorships 

Display and Social Ads are designed to show off your products and  services.

They are active means of promoting your brand. However,  these can have a

negative aura because it is out and out marketing.  Good will can also be created

by sponsorships. This can range from  sponsoring products, interns, events or

students. 

LinkedIn has a number of groups that specialize in bringing together  sponsoring

individuals and businesses. Many of these are specialized by  industry.

43 

4.2 Group Emails & Warm Calling 

Done correctly, messaging potential clients and customers can reap  many

rewards. They can lead to sales and to spreading the word about  a product.

However, if done badly, they can be treated as spam and  even in some cases

harassment.  

LinkedIn has created Partner Messages to allow businesses to utilize  the

network’s InMail system for messaging. These can be customized,  personalized

and hand-delivered to your targeted recipients. The subject  range can vary

from advertising products to advertising jobs. 

These messages should be utilized because: 

1. They are guaranteed to be kept at the top of an inbox pile

2. The number any one user can receive is limited, so they do not  become

spam.

44 

3. They can be personalized 

4. They can be sent to specific people or types of people. 5. They make a

great impact. 

In order to activate Partner Messages you will need to contact the  LinkedIn

team to work out your messages, how you personalize them  and who you send

them to. 

The main advantage of a message is that the user will be notified that  they have

received a message and they will see it in their inbox. The  advert will not change

or disappear because the user has refreshed their  webpage. The message will

also stick around at the top of the user’s  inbox longer than a normal message. 

Each user can only receive the one partner message per 60 days. This  means

your message becomes exclusive to this person for that duration.  Combine

that with the high visibility and you have a winning  combination. 

When composing your partner message make sure you know what you  want to

say to your potential customer, client or employee. You do not  have to worry so

much about keywords. Instead, keep the sentences  short and simple, keep to

the point and make the message as human as  possible. Avoid advertiser speak

and jargon as much as possible.

45 

4.3 Market Research 

Many elements of LinkedIn insights or analytics have been covered  already.

Your adverts, banners and other marketing techniques can be  analyzed using

these analytic tools. You can check clicks, page views  and follows therefore,

assessing the impact of your advertising  campaigns. 

In addition to this, LinkedIn insights act as a means of market research. 

This can be done in terms of short term and long term impact. The data 

collected should be compared to actual product sales, likes on other  social

networks and keyword trends on Twitter.  

In section 5 you will learn about how to conduct more personal market  research

using groups and polls. Before that, you can use the data from  insights and

analytics to examine responses to certain products and  certain styles of

presentation. For example, are users responding more  to web links than to

videos or vice versa? What kinds of messages are 

46 

getting more comments and likes than others? Which products are  selling well

and which ones are not? Do these compare to positive and  negative impressions

expressed by users on LinkedIn? 

Before you answer all these questions, you should interact with your  customers.

47 

5. Interaction Tools 

In the 21st century, traditional business models have been shaken up by  the

internet. First this was because of the spread of ideas and  information, then the

ability to create virtual shop fronts at a fraction of  the price of their bricks and

mortar equivalents.  

However, in the last few years, since the rise of MySpace, Facebook  and Twitter,

social networking and more specifically, interactivity, have  become the

buzzwords for modern business. 

The modern user, especially those between 16 and 40, expect their  companies

to be more than the faceless purveyors of quality goods and  services.

They want a face. They want to feel a part of the company.  They want to feel

like their voice matters. This section will show you how  to make that happen on

LinkedIn.

48 

5.1 LinkedIn Groups 

LinkedIn groups present an opportunity to gather employees and fans  together

in one place. This gives you the chance to begin discussions  with these people,

to run polls and to post content for just your fans to  see. 

Setting up groups 

Setting up a group is very easy. You do not access it through your  business

page, but through your personal profile. Go to the top bar of  your home page

and click on “groups.” Click the “create a group” button  on the dropdown menu.  

Step 1 

Create a logo image for your group page. First, choose between a 

company/branded group or an interest group (see below for more  information

on the difference between the two). If you choose the former,  use the same

square logo as for your company page. If you choose the  latter, it will be better

to use a picture related to the nature of the group 

49 

or the nature of your business. Next check the box to say you have the  right to

use the picture (make sure you have the right of course). 

Step 2 

Enter the group name. Naturally it can be the same as your company if  you like

or something related to your company’s interests. Then choose  what type it is.

The choices are: Alumni, Corporate, Conference,  Networking, Nonprofits,

professional and other. 

Step 3 

Write a quick summary of your group. This could be the same as your  company,

however, this might not play well to your prospective  audience. Orientate the

summary towards what you want the group to  achieve. For example, this is a

group that is designed to allow users to  discuss our products, to help form the

future of our company and reward  our leading supporters with exclusive news. 

Remember your SEO when writing the summary. It should be short and  to the

point. Keep focussed on the most important information and  remember that

you can put more details into step 4. 

Step 4

50 

Your group description should be a longer version of the summary. This  is your

chance to expand the basic points you made in the previous  step. Keep using

short sentences and keep them to the point.  Remember your SEO by choosing

a couple of keywords so you group  turns up in search engine results. 

Step 5 

LinkedIn requires you to state a contact email address. This can be your 

personal email address or you can use the same company email  address you

used when setting up your company page. Also include a  web address.

While this is optional, it is a good opportunity to create  another quality backlink

to your website. Perhaps use a product page or  a blog page or even your

contact page. The choice is yours. 

Step 6

51 

The access section allows you to decide how individuals join your group. 

Auto-join allows anyone to join by simply clicking the “join group” button 

when viewing the group. This is the best option for promoting your  business

for two reasons. First, users prefer open groups as it gives a  good impression

and second, if your group becomes popular you will not  want to have to approve

or reject potentially hundreds or thousands of  applications. 

The closed “request” join option is better if you want to filter your group’s

  members. If you want the group to only be open to employees or if you  want to

create a select group of people in the right industries and so on,  this is a good

means of doing that.  

You can further develop this option by deciding if you want to display the  group

in the group directory or not. In the same theme, you can decide if  your group

name and logo turns up on the user’s profiles or not. Then  you can decide if

group members have the right to invite others or not.  And finally, you can

pre-approve certain users who are already on your  contacts list. 

Step 7

52 

The final element of the set up allows you to select the group’s  language.

By doing this you help LinkedIn filter groups according to the  search requests

of users. The location is really only useful if your group  is location based.

This might be good, for example, for a temporary  group that is looking to bring

together people for a specific project such  as building a new store in a city and

so on. 

By linking your group to your Twitter account, you can automatically turn  new

discussions and comments into tweets.  

Finally sign the agreement and click “create a group.”

53 

5.2 Branded vs. Interest groups 

While there are many types of possible group for you to create. There  are two

main themes to bear in mind. These two types revolve around a  single question.

Do you want group members to know this group is run  by your company? 

A branded group is upfront. This means the user wanting to join your  group know

s exactly what it is going to be. They know people will  discuss your company,

your products and your services. A lot of people  appreciate this honesty and will

make an informed decision about  whether they want to join it or not. 

Interest groups have the potential to discuss a wider subject than just  your

company. You can use the group to gather opinions and feedback  on a range

of subjects without using the group to overtly promote your  group.

The risk is that users will feel betrayed if they later find out you  run the group

or if the group is then used as a promotional machine.

54 

5.3 Keeping Groups Active 

Setting up a group is not the end of the process. If you do this the group  will sit

empty and unloved. Like an un-watered plant it will shrivel and  die. 

Share 

Click the share option on the right-hand side of your group page.

This  gives you 4 basic sharing options. The first is to share on LinkedIn, the 

second is to share on Twitter, the third on Facebook and finally to  personally

invite others. With the latter option you can name specific  contacts on your

profile and ask them to join. 

Populating your group with fans is an essential part of building your  brand.

It also helps to entice new group members. People want to see  an active

group with a good number of members. If a group has no logo,  no members

and no activity, it will struggle. 

Discussions

55 

The best way to interact with your fans and group members is to start a 

discussion. You could do this as a kind of press release, but perhaps it is 

better to get users to review products or to discuss possible  improvements to

said product. 

When starting a discussion, you first title the discussion then you write  your

basic point. Again, remember your SEO and keywords. The  discussion’s

content does not have to be business related and it does  not have to be an

advert. What it must be is engaging and interesting for  your group members. 

Finally, you have the option of attaching a link. This means you can link  to one

of your web pages or to a news item. It is up to you. 

Polls 

Polls give you the chance to find out if your customers like a product or  service.

Or you can use it to ask which products need upgrading, which  is the best or

even what colour the new one should be. First ask a  question, then list a

number of answers. You can decide when the poll  closes and if you want to

share the poll on Twitter. 

Members

56 

This part of your group allows you to find out who your members are and  who

are the most active. Rewarding these people or getting on well with  them could

help the group develop. 

Promotions 

These are created using other pages or through your business page, but  they

will show up on this section of your group. This is helpful because it  remove

your promotions from your discussion section. 

Jobs 

Rather than being a place to create jobs or post job adverts, this section  is for

you to create job discussions. The layout is the same as the  general

discussions section, but gives you the opportunity to identify  positions you are

interested in, get people involved in informal  applications for a position and

more. 

More 

As with other areas of LinkedIn, there are many more options available: 

1. Check out your own activity on the site. Is it enough? And is it  well targeted? 

2. Check the settings to make sure the group is optimized 3. Start a

subgroup within your group 

4. Check out the group profile. Is it attractive? 

5. Look at the group’s statistics.

57 

6. Conclusion 

Well, I hope that you enjoyed reading this ebook and that you really take  action

with what you have learned.  

LinkedIn is a powerful platform that you can use very successfully for  your

business.  

Your next step is to print out the Checklist that you received with this  course

and start implementing all the strategies you learned. Tick them  off one by one,

as you complete each step. This will help you to track  your progress and make

it easier to take action with this course. 

I wish you all the best with your business.

LinkedIn For Business

Checklist

Tick these off as you do them to help you track your progress.  You can also use

 this document as a template and add your own to it.

 

1.□ Create a company page

2. □ Fill in your company details

3. □ Remember your SEO

4. □ Backlink to your company website

5. □ Create a LinkedIn like button on your homepage

6. □ Ask connections to become fans

7. □ Add employees to your company list

8. □ Create product pages

9. □ Post jobs on your company careers page

10. □ Ask staff and connections for recommendations

11. □ Regularly update your page

12. □ Create tailor made adverts for your products and services

13. □ Create events for product launches

14. □ Network with likeminded people and companies

15. □ Answer questions on the LinkedIn Answers page

16. □ Create a group

17. □ Invite your connections to become members

18. □ Create new discussions and polls

19. □ Use your group for market research

20. □ Reward active group members