Reanna Shaw, Author at e-Edge Marketing | Local Small Business Internet Marketing |Charleston SC 843-647-0489

5 Tips for Marketing Your Business on LinkedIn

What is LinkedIn and how do you leverage it for your business?

LinkedIn is a social networking site designed specifically to link and network business professionals online. It’s also a powerful way to meet new potential customers.

Simply put, It can be a great way to find new customers in a B2B environment, providers for services you need, and potential partners.

To do this correctly and reap the best benefits from establishing a marketable presence on LinkedIn, here are a few tips to consider:

#1 Use and Ask for Recommendations

LinkedIn offers you the ability to write recommendations for other associates. By all means, write recommendations for those associates and business connections you feel comfortable recommending. At the same time, enhance your own presence on LinkedIn by asking others to write recommendations for you. These recommendations are a wonderful way to market yourself and your business on LinkedIn.

#2 Ask and Answer Questions

LinkedIn offers a question and answer feature on their website. People post questions and members have the opportunity to post answers or responses to their questions. Answering questions is a valuable marketing opportunity because it gives you the unique chance to highlight your experience and knowledge; to show yourself as an expert in your industry. Asking questions on the other hand allows you connect with other members on LinkedIn.

#3 Use Your Photo

Because LinkedIn is a professional community, experts strongly recommend you include a professional photo of yourself. This photo will help brand you and your business. It’ll also help any networking associates connect and identify with you.

#4 Fully Complete Your Profile

It should go without saying but your profile and your summary need to be top notch. No spelling errors, no grammar errors. This is an opportunity to market yourself and your business. Think of it as your brochure, not a resume! Resumes are boring to read and generally people don’t care. They want to know what value you can offer them. Work hard to create the kind of image you want others to have of you. Start it off with an attention grabbing headline for extra impact!

#5 Don’t forget your website!

LinkedIn, of course, offers you the ability to list your website and/or blog. However, when creating your profile consider this expert tip: Select “other” instead of “website” or “blog” on your profile page. This makes it possible for you to give the link a name, which could be your Company name or marketing message. This tactic helps you create brand awareness, memorability, and a little keyword help when someone is looking online for you by your company name.

Finally, don’t be afraid to brag about your accomplishments. However, when you’re talking about what you have done make sure to phrase it as a value or benefit statement to the viewer. Again, your audience wants to know “what’s in it for me?”

Avoid the Most Common Mistakes In Article Writing

In the business world, your credibility is all that you have to fall back on! Avoid the most common mistakes in article writing. Article marketing can be effective and easy, but in order to be successful you need to follow some simple ground rules. Making just one of these mistakes can cost you your credibility.

People are not stupid!

Your readers can recognize sales letters and ads. Do not try to make your otherwise informative article into a sales letter or stock it full of affiliate links. This will immediately turn your readers away and most likely they will not return.

Please your readers.

Your article should be between 300-750 words. Anything less than 300 words isn’t really even considered an article at all and may not be taken seriously. Once you’ve reached about 750 words you may want to market that article as an eBook. People like to know what their getting into before they read something. If you make your article too long, your readers may get impatient.

Dot your i’s and cross your t’s.

Checking your grammar usage and spelling before you submit your article is very important! This can ultimately make or break your reputation in your field. You could have the most informative article on a specific subject but unfortunately nobody will take the time to read it if it’s written poorly. Always check and double check your article before posting it!

Submitting to directories.

If you have the opportunity to fill out an author’s resource box, DO NOT use this space for an advertisement! This box is used for information about the author, not a sales pitch. Once you have filled out the required information, you may add a link for more information on the specific topic, pointing to your website.

Keep it simple.

Do not use facts that you yourself have not researched. A reader that knows the true facts regarding your article will surely call you out on your fabricated facts. This will definitely ruin your credibility. Also try to avoid using too much excitement in your article as well as the headlines and summaries. If your article doesn’t live up to the hype this can hurt you.

Do not plagiarize!

If you didn’t already know, plagiarism is copying work word for word or paraphrasing and taking credit for it as your own. Research what you want to write about, then based on what you have learned write an article in your own words. You may however, use someone else’s words if you use them as quotes and acknowledge your source.

Following these basic guidelines when writing an article will be sure to credit you as an expert in your specific field. Using great articles is a great way to keep your visitors coming back to your site wanting more information. So be sure to add content regularly.

Reanna