For Business.

Transcription

1 For Business

2 What is LinkedIn? LinkedIn is a social network with over 53 million users that enables you to make better use of your professional network and help the people you trust in return. It is a great way to identify influential individuals at specific organizations, as well as find current and potential customers. A search for your target business or title on LinkedIn will identify people you may already be connected with, either directly or through your connections. LinkedIn is a great tool to leverage your existing contacts to connect with people and find potential customers online. Table of Contents: Chapter 1: Profiles Chapter 2: Prospecting and Connecting Chapter 3: Showcase Pages Chapter 4: Extras

3 Chapter 1: Profiles Set up Your Profile on LinkedIn Setting up a LinkedIn Profile is free and quick. You will receive a confirmation to activate your profile and then you are set to expand your network. Complete Your Profile Complete your profile.. Your profile should be 100% complete. Add work experience, schools, organizations you are involved with as well as any other information about yourself. People searching for contacts will make a decision to connect or not to connect based on the information you provide in your profile. A complete profile will increase visibility and help you get found by prospects, current customers as well as potential referral groups. Upload a profile photo.. People are more likely to connect with you if they recognize your face and they feel like they are

4 connecting with a real person. It is highly suggested that you upload a professional photo. Link your Company.. Include a link to your company s website. LinkedIn allows you to list up to three websites so you can also link to your blog and social media accounts. Customize your profile for maximum Search Engine Optimization o To edit your Public Profile,, visit your profile, click on edit next to your picture and you will be able to edit these settings. o Make sure your profile is public and not set so no one can see it

5 Customize your public profile URL with your name. In this same section, edit your URL to create a unique URL that includes your name: with your name in the URL, it is more likely for your profile to rank for searches for your name because search engines look for relevant keywords in the URL. Additionally, this is much easier URL to remember and share with others as you meet them. Add custom anchor text to links.. You can have up to three links on your profile to other websites. By customizing the anchor text on these links, you can rank higher for certain keywords because search engines look at the text of links to understand more about the content of the pages they link to. In your summary section, optimize keywords.. This is a full text section which is indexed by Google. Including your most relevant keywords in your summary helps you rank higher in search engine results for these keyword searches.

6 Chapter 2: Prospecting and Connecting You can use LinkedIn to keep in touch with contacts, but LinkedIn s value does not end there. It can also be used as a way to generate new leads for your business, for existing contacts, or new contacts. You can upload your book of business into LinkedIn to send your clients an invitation to connect. Search for a specific client within LinkedIn.. Once you see the profile, you can scroll through to see their work history, which can be very beneficial knowledge for you before you meet with your client. Search for specific employers within LinkedIn.. If you have a large employer in your state, or work with certain affinity groups, you

7 can search for those employers within LinkedIn. This will show you a list of everyone in LinkedIn who is or has been employed by this company. This will allow you to see if you have connections in common and, if so, ask for an introduction. You can also introduce yourself and send a connection request.

8 Chapter 3: Showcase Pages What are Showcase Pages and why should I set them up now? They are separate pages with unique, vanity URL s designed to highlight different products or services offered by a company. Because they have unique URL s, you ll want to go claim yours sooner rather than later so you will be able to select a URL with keywords that people are more likely to search for, such as Wyoming Auto Insurance or California Motorcycle Insurance. How do I set up a Showcase Page? First, create your Company Page. +a+company+page When you re an admin of a Company Page, here s how you create a Showcase Page: o Click the down arrow next to the blue Edit button on the Company Page o Select Create a Showcase Page. o Enter a page name and assign administrators for the Showcase Page. You must be a 1st degree connection in order to assign someone as a Showcase Page administrator. o Click Create. The page exists and can be edited at this point, but won t appear in search or in the linked pages shown for your Company Page yet.

9 o Either you or the administrators you ve assigned can finalize the page details, and then click Publish to make it public. For more tips on successful Showcase Pages, click on the link below. For Frequently asked Questions please visit: +showcase+page

10 Chapter 4: Extras For more articles on LinkedIn visit: Connecting your Blog to LinkedIn.. You can connect your blog to your LinkedIn profile to continually share your content with your network. Additionally, the application Blog Link automatically pulls in the latest blog posts from around your network. Slide Share: : Promote your content by sharing slides from past webinars or presentations. If you already have a SlideShare.net account, you can import your existing presentations into LinkedIn. This will reinforce your thought leadership and help drive more qualified traffic to the resources you host on your site. Connect with the Social Heroes for additional ways to put your agency into high growth mode companies-cym