In my humble opinion LinkedIn should be ranked among the top three of social media sites to be on, right alongside Facebook and Twitter. Why? LinkedIn is more important for your small business than the other two because this social-media site focuses specifically on business. Put simply, you won’t have people on LinkedIn posting about how awesome their raisin bran tasted this morning.
How smart Tulsa businesses are using LinkedIn
You operate a business. Your time is in short supply. Exactly why should you bother with LinkedIn? Here are several ways your peers (there are 1.3 million small-business owners on the network) are employing it to their advantage:
- Sharing wins: Promoting your successes is just plain ‘ol good marketing. It will make you look good to prospective customers. And with 2 million C-level executives using LinkedIn regularly, you might find yourself with a few influential new friends.
- Getting Referrals: LinkedIn removes so much of the friction and awkwardness of giving and getting endorsements for the work you do. Best part? When someone gives you props on LinkedIn, everyone in your network will notice in their activity feed.
- Finding New Talent: Is your business growing? LinkedIn is a great place—scratch that, it’s the BEST place—to find new A players to add to your team. It’s the largest directory of working professionals on the internet.
- Promoting Events: LinkedIn’s event feature is a game changer! It’s never been easier to spread your message and boost attendance for upcoming events. You can even use their service directory to find a caterer for your gathering. Simple.
- Boosting Website Visitors: Here’s a little-known secret about LinkedIn: it’s very influential with Google, so if you have a presence on LinkedIn, you’re likely to see a bump in search engine visibility, too. More eyeballs, more prospects.
- Getting Answers: LinkedIn is a goldmine for information on building a successful business. You can uncover great advice from a number of the savviest business minds in the world in LinkedIn Answers and Groups. There are over 2000 groups devoted to small-business-related topics.
- Finding Investors, Vendors and Partners: It’s a networker’s paradise. Regardless of whether you require some capital, a new accounting firm, or even a business partner, you’re not going to find a better resource than LinkedIn. Anywhere.
This is only the tip of the iceberg, folks. Visit LinkedIn and set up a page for your small business. Trust me; IT’S WORTH YOUR TIME.
