2. You've heard of social media such as the Facebook
and Twitter and you probably use it to promote your
business. You may even own a LinkedIn.com
account, but chances are you're not using it to its full
potential, to promote yourself as a local business
expert. Think of the other social media networks as
casual Friday, and LinkedIn.com as Monday
meeting, and all business. LinkedIn.com is simple to
use, and a much better channel for promoting your
business.
3. Believe it or not, you can use the same tried and
true SEO methods that you use for articles and
blog posts. Using the same keyword research that
you've already completed to fill out your profile,
create an effective headline, and a winning the
summary will go far in helping you establish
yourself as a local business expert.
4. The most important aspect of your LinkedIn.com
account is probably your profile. Using the tips
above, ensure that your profile has a really good
header, any relevant summary, and as many job
descriptions as possible. It's completely free to
have a profile; in fact, I highly encourage you to
stick with a free account until you learn everything
LinkedIn has to offer.
5. A relatively new feature, at the time of this writing, is the
ability to add, as well as rearrange, sections on your
LinkedIn.com profile. You can add sections such as
overview, certifications, courses, honors and awards,
organizations, projects, test scores, volunteer experience
and more. Additionally you can add different
applications such as blog links, Box.net files, a creative
portfolio display, your E-bookshelf, events,
presentations, polls, and much, much more.
6. A great feature of LinkedIn.com is the ability to
both ask and answer business oriented questions.
If you answer questions in an intelligent manner,
without the addition of spam, people will start
seeing you as an expert in your niche. In fact,
LinkedIn.com will reward you by establishing the
expert designation on your profile, and thus
featuring you on the answers page.
7. It is very important that you join relevant groups in
your local area that have been established on
LinkedIn.com. If you want to join groups of
people doing exactly what you're doing, choose
just one. What you really want to do is join groups
consisting of your target audience. If you sell
widgets hanging out with other widgets sellers,
while useful probably won't help you get new
clients.
8. Also, limit the number of groups you join
to the number that you have time in which
to be active. Just being there isn’t going to
garner more business. You must be an
active participant.
9. Finally, as with any business activity that you do in
your lifetime, act with the utmost integrity. Don't
spam, avoid too much automation, and most
importantly be yourself. There's no point in
hiding behind a fake name, a fake picture, and
posting fake information. Instead, remember that
golden rule of marketing: People buy from those
whom they know, like, and trust. Be that person.