How to build your business on LinkedIn
Posted: Thu 25th Sep 2014
Meet LinkedIn executive and professional, Tara Tracey at next week's Go and Grow Online Summit
Ahead of time, we ask Tara for her top tips on how to successfully build a business profile on LinkedIn and make the most of new tools to publish content and become an expert.
What are your top tips for creating a strong LinkedIn profile?
Your profile is very important to your experience on LinkedIn. It's your calling card when reaching out to your network of potential new clients, business partners or suppliers. Here's how to get it right:
Make a great first impression; Your picture is your virtual handshake, ensure you have a suitable profile headshot that represents you and your company brand in the right way.
Tell a story; Customise your headline to something that demonstrates your expertise and your business. Use your Summary to create a personal note about the vision you have for your company.
Bring your profile to life; There are now lots of ways to add rich media to your profile; this could be a video about your business, a presentation on your company or even a link to an article you wrote or interview you participated in.
We love LinkedIn Groups! Do you have any advice for small businesses wanting to create a LinkedIn Group around their topic of expertise?
Groups are a great way to build a community on LinkedIn. They do take time and effort though so make sure you are willing to participate and feel you have enough material and discussion ideas to get it up and running. Once you attract the right audience, they will start adding relevant content and topical discussions themselves - this is the point you want to reach - where content is being generated by group members.
Groups are great for topics of expertise but if you want to build a community of brand ambassadors for your business, a company page is a better place to start. This allows people to follow your brand, keep up to date with what is going on and it keeps the conversation going until their next interaction with you or your business.
Are there any other ways you suggest small businesses consider using LinkedIn to grow their business?
Since launching in February, traffic to our publisher and Influencer posts is up more than 100 percent. The LinkedIn publishing platform gives you the opportunity to expand your reach in a major way by sharing content you create. Since all LinkedIn members have access to the platform, it's critical to create high-quality content that differentiates you and appeals to the audience you want to attract. Like other social networks, people want to consume information quickly. Make it easy for them by creating easy to read, attractive content. A few points of best practice are:
Use a compelling headline
Place an interesting image at the top of your posts
Break up longer paragraphs
Hear more gems from Tara and other online experts at Go and Grow Online on Wednesday 1st October at BIS Conference Centre, 1 Victoria Street, London.
Click to view the full agenda, or book below:
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