Social Media Tips | Using LinkedIn

Bonnie Harris writes for the Wax Marketing blog on marketing and PR. The following is one of her posts.

“Since we all just had a good time talking about what NOT to do on LinkedIn I thought I’d post some things you SHOULD do. LinkedIn, according to Mashable just surpassed 50 million users. Although it’s clearly not the sexiest of social networks (the media loves them some Facebook and Twitter) LinkedIn is incredibly valuable, especially for the B2B set.  You can definitely market your business but remember – you’re building relationships one to one. That means there are no shortcuts.

These are things that are working for me but I would love to hear any cool ways you’re using LinkedIn successfully. Remember,  there are no experts in social media just the intellectual capital of the collective. (Seriously I just made that up )

1. Run the ‘add connections’ search for past colleagues and classmates often – people are joining all the time

2. If you have a blog, deploy the application so your blog updates automatically post to your LinkedIn account (look in the Applications section)

3. include your LinkedIn address with the signature on your email (use an icon though, those long addresses are annoying)

4. Put your LinkedIn address next to your bio and on your contact me section of your site (and make sure you have your public profile)

5. Join discussion groups. Don’t just join those in your particular niche, join others that might be able to use your expertise.

6. Answer questions on discussion groups but DON’T be salesy. And ask real questions, not “Do you know how much MY company can save you on your SEO bill?”

7. Be helpful – forward connections when asked (if appropriate) and try to help those looking for work. When the economy turns around you’ll be glad you did.

8. Use the add to any widget for sharing and post your blog to the ‘news’ section of your discussion groups. You should get lots of action

9. Budget a half hour or so a week to update your LinkedIn, answer messages, send out new invites and jump into discussions. The nice thing about THIS social media tool is that it doesn’t seem to be as time-urgent. A weekly update will do.

You should start to see some added traffic to your blog or site soon if you’re consistent with LinkedIn. I haven’t upgraded to the pay version of LinkedIn yet – I sure would like to know if others have and if they find it useful. There’s also some good detail on the EMC blog from earlier this year – check it out.”

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