Linkedin is in a category all of its own, standard social media promotion strategies of Google Plus, Facebook, Pinterest and others will not work at all. The main reason behind this is Linkedin is essentially not a social networking website. It is a B2B (business to business) platform where professionals can find other professionals and thus increase their network of contacts. Business owners or companies search for new employees or contractors, and job-seekers search for businesses to apply to. Therefore it becomes clear that by posting pictures of cute cats or special offers won’t bode very well in the Linkedin universe.
What should I do?
Image
If you are a business then firstly you must make your Linkedin page as attractive as possible by getting a banner image made, which looks clean, distinguished, and communicates your message. Resist the mundane by just putting your logo, and take advantage of the fact that this photo can speak a thousand words and create the first impression that you want.
If you are an individual and don’t have a business page you should then have a professional headshot photo taken of yourself. Be willing to pay the $50-$100 necessary to have the photo done. Being a directory of professionals it is obvious that one should have a professional photo.
Contact Database
Every business contact you meet (online or in life) should be followed up with finding them and adding them to your Linkedin.
However, one might argue: “But I can just use my Facebook for that!”
Well, actually would you really want to? Facebook is for personal contacts and people are bound to have information on their Facebook that may paint an ‘unprofessional’ picture of them. It is best to separate out personal and professional contacts; enter Linkedin.
Search
The core purpose of Linkedin is finding professionals who you can use to forward the purpose of your company. Not just employees but also: contractors, partners, affiliates, allies etc. Using the advance searching features it is indeed startling how specific you can search. Therefore you should decide who and what type of people you want to find on Linkedin, (save for future customers) and then proceed to contact them. You’ll be able to find any type of professionals. Such could include:
- Social media managers
- PR
- Programmers
- Graphic designers
- Flash developers
- App developers
- Copy writers
Conclusion
It could be said that the amount of power a company has is directly proportional to the amount of good contacts it has. In light of this it behooves the business owner to expand out into the world.
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