The popular business social media website LinkedIn is an effective tool for entrepreneurs, helping them gain awareness for their business, network with other companies, ask and answer questions, and hire new employees. With a network of more than 65 million members in over 200 countries, entrepreneurs can use LinkedIn in the following six ways.
- Create Both Individual and Company Profiles
LinkedIn is free to join so the first step is to set-up both an individual profile and a company profile. The reason for both profiles is that people can search on individuals and companies so it’s important to market yourself and your company so that you can be found easily.
When creating your individual profile, be sure to include employment history (past and present companies), education, skills, interests, your company’s website URL, and any groups and association memberships. You can also share videos and your company’s blog, if you have one. The more information that is included in your profile, the more likely you will be found in searches. Once the basic profile is established, ask for recommendations from clients, vendors, colleagues, managers, and employees.
Also, customize your public profile URL with your full name, e.g. http://www.linked.com/in/johnsmith, and then save the profile as “Full View” (only if it’s okay that the general public sees the entire profile). These two things help strengthen search engine visibility.
When creating your company profile, click on “Companies” in your profile navigation bar (under the “More” tab) and then click on “Add a Company” located in the lower right sidebar. Include in your profile: a brief company description, location, industry specialties, publicly or privately held, company size, and website URL. If your company has employees, have them create profiles, including where they are presently employed, then they will be listed under the company profile as well.
Finally, be sure to include a link to your profile as part of your e-mail signature. This allows people to efficiently see all your credentials in the form of an online resume as well as your references and shared connections.
- Networking to Market Your Business
Actively networking can provide leads, ideas and talented employees for your business. Perhaps you are looking for a partner in a start-up or you want to join a start-up company. Adding connections and increasing your network, will not only help your profile to be found, but also provides a referral system based on the concept that people would prefer working with other people who their friends know and trust.
So build your network by reaching out to former colleagues, clients, friends, and family. Also, include vendors and other industry contacts such as people you have met at conferences and trade shows.
- Join Groups to Learn, Communicate and Market Your Business
LinkedIn Groups has over 200 groups from Alumni to Professional. A group is a sub-network within LinkedIn that you can join and participate in online. For example, some popular LinkedIn groups for entrepreneurs include: On Startups – The Community for Entrepreneurs (95,000+ members) and Startup Specialists (46,000+).
By joining a group you can start a dialogue with like-minded people, keep up-to-date with what’s happening in your industry, and stay in touch with associated organizations and schools.
You can also start a group where you provide a brief description of your company and converse with your customers, share news about your company, offer incentives, and announce events. This is another way to target your customers and keep them informed.
- Ask and Answer Questions to Increase Brand Awareness
LinkedIn offers an excellent tool for entrepreneurs that allow them to obtain advice on their business from experts. From web design to angel investing, the “LinkedIn Answers” lets a person ask any question. Some questions might be, “How can I determine if social media is right for my company?” or “What are your challenges in running a small business?” Answers will then come across from experts in that field, and these experts can also be a source whenever you have a particular need.
You can also promote yourself as an expert. This can be done by monitoring and answering questions that come across in your field. For example, if your area of expertise is product management, then begin to answer questions under that category.
- Post a Job for Recruiting Employees
You can recruit employees for your company by posting positions from your profile. The cost is $195 per 30-day posting, or they offer discounts with job credits. The listing reaches over 65 million professionals, and they even have an automated talent matching service.
LinkedIn has a reference check tool where you can enter the company name and years that a person worked at the company to search for references. The search will find people who also worked at the company during the same time period. Now you can choose to contact a person within the company to find out more about a candidate or, if the candidate has a profile, view the references on his or her profile.
- Advertise on LinkedIn at a Low Cost
LinkedIn offers text-based advertising called “DirectAds” for smaller budgets, where the ad will be shown to LinkedIn members on their profiles. These ads run for 30 days and you can target your advertisement based on company size, industry, geography, and age. Advertisements start for as little as $10.00 per day. You can set a daily budget, paying by clicks or impressions with the ability to stop ads at any time. LinkedIn also offers a dashboard where you can track the advertisement activity such as impressions and clicks through to your company.
For more information, entrepreneurs can access a user’s guide on LinkedIn’s Learning Center page that give more detailed descriptions of all the topics above. Also subscribe to the LinkedIn blog at http://blog.linkedin.com/ for news and tips.
