The number of social networking sites a business can use to promote itself through Internet Marketing strategies and interact with existing and potential clients is very high at the moment. Just to mention few of the most popular at the moment: Facebook, Twitter, FriendFeed, Bebo etc. However, there is one social network with very unique features, due to its focusing on a particular niche. LinkedIn is an interconnected network of experienced professionals with a huge potential of helping both you as a person and as a company. Some of the benefits one could get from having a complete and well developed profile on LinkedIn are: increase visibility, improve your connectability, enhance your search engine marketing results, increase the relevancy of your job search, ask for advice, as well as research one your competition, customers or partners.

According to the official statistics published on LinkedIn, the network

• Has more than 60 million members
• A new member joins LinkedIn approximately every second
• Executives from all Fortune 500 companies are LinkedIn members

The main steps to consider when integrating LinkedIn as part of your Internet marketing strategies are:

1. Create your complete profile!

When you will interact with others on LinkedIn, your profile will be the first item users will see. Therefore, it needs to be complete!  Make sure you fill in all relevant information about yourself, your area of expertise as well as your experience.

Upload a professional photo of yourself. People tend to give more credibility to profiles with pictures and they engage more as well to those profiles.

Keep in mind that the better you optimize your profile, the more relevant it will be in the searches.

Therefore, follow some basic SEO Marketing techniques:

• Hyperlink using targeted keywords! Include in your profile URLs for your blog and your company, but customize them with your keywords. For example, instead of linking your blog to just ‘My Blog’, you can choose keywords such as ‘SEO blog’.
• Use keywords in descriptions! When writing your summary, specialities or experience, include your keywords, to make your profile more searchable.
• Include the links to your blog and website to your profile.
• Set up a vanity URL for your profile.

2. Build a strong network of contacts!

Once your profile is complete and well optimised, you need to start adding connections. First you can search for friends and work colleagues. However, you can also find those that are considered authorities in your industry and try to get in touch with them. Also, if you are interested in people working in a particular company/industry you can try the advanced search options from LinkedIn.

3. Promote your profile!

There are two ways to promote your profile:

• On LinkedIn
• Through other channels

On LinkedIn, you can do that by joining groups on topics in your industry and start engaging by answering questions and participating in discussions.

Outside the social network by posting your profile on your website, your blog, your business card, your e-mail signature and integrate it in other social networking sites you are using.

4. Stay engaged on LinkedIn!

The more you engage the more feedback you are likely to get. Also, if the LinkedIn community sees you as a valuable contributor, you will gain trust and credibility.

You can engage frequently by:

• Participating in discussions
• Updating your status on a regular basis
• Ask questions yourself

5. Keep your profile updated!

As mentioned above, the process of gaining credibility involves active engagement. Therefore, updating all information of your profile on a regular basis is essential.

6. Use third-party applications to make the most of your profile!

There are a great number of third-party applications on LinkedIn that can help you promote yourself, your website and your blog effectively. You can use Slideshare for sharing with your network your business presentations, Company Buzz to monitor messages sent out on Twitter about your company or subjects of interest to you or Box.net to add links to files like resumes.

You can also synchronise your Wordpress blog and it will add a box to your profile which will show your last posts and a summary of them. Since I have mentioned above the importance of updating your status, but since we are all using so any social networks, I would suggest synchronising your Twitter with your LinkedIn profile. This way your profile will be automatically updated from Twitter.

7. Get recommended!

Your profile is not complete as long as you do not have at least a recommendation. You can request for a recommendation from previous employers, current employers or other business contacts that could provide you with a recommendations. Why getting a recommendation is a must? It adds credibility to your profile. Your expertise is this way recognised by a person who has actually collaborated with you.

8. Start a group!

Show your involvement and desire to share information on a certain industry by creating a group. To get it started right, you need to keep in mind the following:

• Choose a relevant name. The name of your blog needs to contain keywords. It needs to be searchable for all those who might be interested in that industry.
• Add a logo. Just as a profile picture is important to gain credibility, a good logo takes your group one step further in its popularity.
• Make sure the size of your logo fits the required size.
• Use the available option to display your group in the Group Directory and on member’s profile.

9. Promote and manage your group!

Creating a group and abandoning it will not bring you any benefits. You need to promote it and manage it. Get members and then keep them engaged.  In order to get members, you need to promote your group.  Of course, you can start by inviting your connections that might be interested in that industry. But your group should not be limited to your connections.

Therefore you should promote it through:

• Adding the linked logo of the group on your website/blog;
• Sending an email newsletter to your subscribers to announce them of your new group,
• Promoting the group on other social media groups.

Some tips in managing your group effectively are:

• Add discussions and news,
• Post jobs, if relevant,
• Send announcements to the members of the group,
• Import your blog RSS feed.

LinkedIn is a social network for professionals that are looking to promote both themselves and their company.  For business purposes, LinkedIn gives you an amazing opportunity to generate new leads.

If you have any comments or questions regarding using LinkedIn for your business, we would love to hear from you!

SysComm is an Internet Marketing, Search Engine Marketing, Social Media and SEO Company. We provide a complete service package including Internet marketing strategies, SEO services and search engine marketing. SysComm is also an SEO consultant. To know more about our services or to claim your free social media marketing analysis, fill up the contact form or email us on info@syscomminternational.com.

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