By : praval

Social Networking is a buzzword today! Most of the entrepreneurs would opine with me over the fact that the online business is going to explode in the coming years. For an entrepreneur, it is extremely important to have his online connections strong. This is where LinkedIn, a precious business source helping its members to withdraw oodles of wisdom, knowledge, experience and inspiration from their professional networks comes into play. This social networking site is dedicated to the business community and is a much needed boon for the entire online business fraternity.

Omaro Ailoch, an entrepreneur and the founder of OCIT Services further writes in Young Entrepreneur forum “When you consider that LinkedIn has nearly 10 million users hailing from over 150 industries around the world, it is surprising that B2B websites aren’t paying more attention. There are, though, several methods your website could be employing in order to improve your exposure within the business oriented social network, while also potentially improving your search engine visibility”.

Following are a few tips which if implemented successfully can help entrepreneurs use LinkedIn effectively –

1. Know your Target Market – It is advisable to join groups which are relevant to your business. The most common groups on LinkedIn are Open Coffee Club and Startup Specialists. An entrepreneur himself, Himanshu Sheth says “While reading the email of a person on the list, if I get a feeling that it would be useful [as well as relevant] to connect with that person, I send the invitation”. LinkedIn is basically a very business friendly community and does not raise eyebrows when someone promotes himself, until and unless you do not break the unwritten rules of online social networking.
2. Become a Premium Member – Premium membership shall allow you to access special services such as ability to send InMail (a private message that is able to generate a response 70% of the time), ability to happen to be an Open Link Member, ability to see anonymous profile for prospecting etc.
3. Proper Market Research – Research is the fundamental step which should be taken before any activity. A small research about potential competitors, similar products in the market, the needs and wants of your intended customers etc. does a lot of good in making strategic decisions. All this and more is possible on LinkedIn.
4. Message Specifics – Invite, invite and Invite. Never ever forget to invite members whom you think will be able to add value to your personal network. Invite members on LinkedIn whom you think have business relevance with yours and can contribute for you in any way. Include all the basics of ‘how to converse with a stranger’ and always have a personal pitch when you send a mail or a message.
5. Contacts Specifics – Always be willing to share your number and email id on the first of the requests from others. Also, it is a better idea to group your members into different groups of your choice, so that you can locate them quickly when needed.
6. Be Open to Publicity – Getting in touch with top bloggers to advertise or mention about your profile in their posts in not the only way to evangelize yourselves. Instead, let them know about your interest for a professional relationship through your emails in LinkedIn. It is just a part of your viral marketing strategy.
7. Search Engine Results – LinkedIn offers high quality search tools within your network. For example, you can pretty easily find out that who among your network is coming up with a product similar to yours. Also, never forget to put the LinkedIn badge on your blog. This helps your blog readers to get connected to your LinkedIn profile.
8. Answer Queries – The LinkedIn members have an opportunity to answer and ask questions to relevant people in the ‘Q&A Section of LinkedIn’. This is an extremely beneficial feature and can be used for your knowledge enhancement. It also might act as a key business opening if you are able to satisfy some one with a good answer which belongs to your field of expertise, and thus gaining a new business contact!

These were a few To-Do’s when it comes to social networking using LinkedIn. They really work!