4 Ways Business Owners Can Get More Out of LinkedIn

This week’s question comes from clinic-owner, chiropractor, and blogger extraordinaire Dr. James Fung of Ask Dr. James fame: “How do I get more out of LinkedIn? I get many invitations to connect, and I often accept, but now what do I do?”

LinkedIn was created primarily to serve as an online resume service, for people who are looking for jobs. This has a lot of business owners like Dr. James wondering if LinkedIn is even worth their time, since they’re out looking for business as opposed to jobs.

If you own a business and are wondering how LinkedIn can be put to use for you, here are a couple of things you can think about doing:

Consider Your SEO – LinkedIn is awesome for Search Engine Optimization… but only if you put some thought into your profile: write your description carefully, have a killer headshot (people respond more to a face shot as opposed to a corporate logo), and fill in as much of your profile as you can.

Write and Receive Recommendations (as opposed to Endorsements) – Get your favourite clients to post Recommendations for you. These testimonials are gold and could be deciding factors if a potential client is trying to decide between you and someone who has no testimonials on their profile page. Don’t confuse Recommendations with Endorsements. I’m personally a little apathetic towards LinkedIn’s Endorsements, simply because it’s too easy to hand them out willy nilly; plus they don’t really say anything. A thoughtfully written Recommendation which specifically identifies what you  accomplished for a past client will go a much longer way.

Network – Going to an event, meet up  or trade-show? Know who’s going to be there? Get on LinkedIn and do a little spying on the people you want to meet. Find common connections, familiar ground, ice-breakers, or discover you don’t want to meet these weirdos anymore!

Join Groups (but bail if it’s all about SPAM) – Personally, I’ve found joining groups on LinkedIn to be incredibly tedious, only because very few people seem to understand that a Group can be a great way to exchange ideas and share resources; most people just SPAM. I only mention Groups because in theory it’s a great idea and there has to be some great LinkedIn Groups out there somewhere. Or maybe it’s time for you to start one?

Update your Status – Freshen up your status with relevant content. Be professional (this isn’t Facebook), double check your prose and grammar (this isn’t Twitter), and above all update often (this isn’t 2004)!

Got a question about social media? Post it in the comments section or email me at [email protected] and I might answer and mention you on my blog!