- You get to showcase your business. You can create a business page, as well as showcase page ( this feature blew my mind!) It’s kind of like a subdomain for your business, where you can showcase a particular aspect of your business. So for a business like mine, I would showcase Headshots and corporate event using this feature. It’s like a free listing on the world’s most popular business social network.
- The Ability to establish yourself as a thought leader. While there are more than 500 million users on LinkedIn, there are only about 100,000 articles published on the platform every week. While that may still seem like a lot, it’s a lot less than on other platforms — which increases your chances of being seen and read. So start writing and make these articles good too.
- Increased visibility. LinkedIn is an authority website, it shows up higher and in more search results — and so can you when you have your business or articles published on their pages. Just having a profile on LinkedIn can help you be found on search engines.
- Reach your ideal followers. Unlike Facebook and Instagram, LinkedIn doesn’t filter which updates go to which users: all of your followers will see all your updates if they are logged in. If you sell a high price product or service, it pays to do your research before having a sales conversation, and LinkedIn is a great place to learn a lot about your potential customer. It’s also a great place to start putting together your Dream 100 list.
- Easy access to decision makers. If you need to know who the decision maker is in a company, you can not only find them but usually contact them directly through LinkedIn. No matter what your business, it’s easy for other people to connect with you via LinkedIn and chat with you or you with them. Great way to warm up potential leads.
- Great research tool. Ever think about targeting people who have recently changed jobs or those who live in a specific town? How about those with a particular job title or at a particular company? Whether you’re researching potential customers, gathering data on existing customers or looking at your competition, there’s a lot you can do with LinkedIn’s free search tools, and even more that’s available with their paid account options.
- Connect with others in your industry. Like Facebook, there are groups in EVERY industry on LinkedIn and it’s a great way to network and connect with other people in your niche.
- YOU CAN ASK FOR REFERRALS. Many small businesses live and die with their referrals, and LinkedIn is a great place to remind your network to send those referrals your way (without being pushy).
- Cross advertise where people do business. People log into LinkedIn with a different mindset than Facebook or other social networks: They’re here to do business! That can be a real advantage if you want to advertise to people who are ready and willing to do business — as opposed to scrolling their phone at 9 pm on a Thursday.
- Keep up with industry news and trends. Following a few key players or groups in your industry can help you keep up with the important news happening around you — which could be vital to your business.
- You look more professional. Let’s face it: if someone wants to do business with you but they can’t find you, or maybe worse, they find a half-finished profile, what is their first impression going to be? Keeping your info polished and up to date on LinkedIn is a good way to make a good first impression.
