Using Linkedin For Your Business

I value LinkedIn. If you think of LinkedIn as a large database of resumes and nothing else, you’re so wrong. It’s a rich source of information and a social network. If you’re in sales, and you’re not using LinkedIn, I’m surprised. If you’re hiring and not using LinkedIn, I’m even more amazed at you.I  Here are the ways to strengthen your business using LinkedIn.

Use Linkedin To See What Your Competitors Are Doing

What your competition is up to  should shape your business strategy. If you don’t know much about your customers’ other options, you can’t develop an edge and keep gaining market share.You can use LinkedIn to unearth answers to many of your questions about competitors. Here’s some basic information that a LinkedIn search will reveal.How many employees does a competitor have? How many did they have six months ago - in other words, how fast are they growing? What kind of employees are they hiring? In general, recent hires provide clues to a company’s current focus. Furthermore, in many small-to-medium businesses, there are star employees, who are responsible for significant amounts of development, sales, marketing and other important aspects of the business. Knowing who to target and getting them to defect and work for you instead can really help your business.

Use it for networking.

“I’d like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn” sounds a bit redundant these days but that’s mainly because the website is so ubiquitous. Every professional has a LinkedIn profile.Some are better than others.  I add people I know to my network, but I also turn to Linkedin to find "key" people I know who will help my business grow and help me find contacts.  Many of your contacts will get you an introduction to other people you might want to network with. 

Use it for advertising.

LinkedIn Ads enable excellent targeting for any kind of enterprise outreach. They provide roughly the same media options as a Facebook Ad, with an audience of purely professionals. You can narrow down that audience by using criteria like industry, company size and job title. The fine-grained targeting means that none of your ad spend is wasted on people you don’t care about. Let’s say you’re selling software to make real estate agents more productive. Target every real estate agency in whichever geography you want, and then drill down to specific job titles so you’re reaching the people who make purchasing decisions.LinkedIn Ads are the quickest way to contact this audience without doing hundreds of hours of laborious legwork.

Use it for recruiting.

This one should be a no-brainer. LinkedIn is the first place I look for specialists. No better way to target specific skills and experiences so that you find exactly who you’re looking for. LinkedIn is also a great way to find desirable hires who aren’t actively seeking a job. If you’re the one looking for a job, keep your profile updated, add a summary, and add depth to your list of previous work experiences. Make sure to include a professional photo.  I have seen some images on Linkedin for head shots that I could not believe.  And these so called business professionals think anyone will take them seriously?  Time to grow up and get into the real world. You are not in college anymore my friend. LinkedIn is much more than just an online resume database. The information and network can used for all sorts of different purposes, Take advantage of what Linkedin has to offer in research, their internal website for your business and groups you can join. 
​-Roy