I’m an Evangelist when it comes to using LinkedIn as a networking tool in the B-to-B arena, and I try to get all my clients to see the benefit. I think LinkedIn is one of the most under-utilized tools in a B-to-B marketers tool bag, but like anything else, you need to work at it.
One way I use LinkedIn is to promote my blog posts on a weekly basis. I normally do at least 3 posts a week, and on Tuesday, I put it up as a news item on all the groups that I belong to. It’s a great referral resource.
There are many other ways you can use LinkedIn. Here are just a few:
- Reach those prospective contractors and Professional Tradesmen by being active in groups
- Introduce and sell products
- Generate leads for possible demos of your product
- Become a thought leader in your market
- Get press coverage
I recently read a post by Darren Rowse on one of my favorite sites, Problogger, where he was interviewing Lewis Howe , titled Top 10 ways to drive traffic to your blog using LinkedIn. Here is a summary of some of the top ways to use LinkedIn to drive traffic to your blog:
- Complete your profile 100% – and add a nice photo.
- Increase your connections – the more the connections, the more people have access to your profile.
- Customize your web link – instead of the links saying my blog, make it relevant to what you do, i.e., blogging for plumbers.
- Join niche groups – it’s your best source for new business leads.
- Post comments on Niche groups – a great way to build your credibility and thought leadership.
- Answer questions – the more questions you answer, the better the chance that person will click over to your blog.
- Update status – it’s the first thing that pops up on the home profile of all your connections.
These are some points we all should consider to get the most out of our efforts.
What are you doing to best utilize LinkedIn? I’d love to hear from you.
