LinkedIn is an exceptional social site, connecting businesses and business people all over the globe. But how do you use this popular platform to fuel your business growth, to rapidly expand into new markets, with new revenue streams? Today I’m going to share some practical tips with you on how to harness this dormant social giant!

Courtesy of socialmedianewsalerts.blogspot.com

Step 1 is always going to be building your community. You can’t excel on a platform, if you don’t have an interactive community there. This needs to be priority number 1!

#1: Explode Your Online Reputation

Commit to getting as many recommendations as you can, from friends, colleagues, group members – everyone you can. They’re a free source of social proof that you can use on multiple social networks, in marketing collateral and on your website.

#2: Seek Out a Small Network of Influencers

If you run a niche blog, find the top 10 influencers in your niche on LinkedIn, and befriend them. This will lead to many joint ventures, guest posting and – if you play your cards right – inclusions in marketing materials, ebooks and other ‘high impact’ sales tools.

#3: Use Your Group Network For Product Launches

Launching a new product? Use your LinkedIn group network to source real testimonials, for use in other materials. Partner with a few of them and create a solid affiliate network, to access larger online communities.

#4: Use LinkedIn with Mobile Marketing

Use LinkedIn to share a text campaign with your networks, to build a quality subscriber list for your restaurant, pub, fitness center or dance studio. You can include your mobile keyword in your monthly email, or in your weekly group posts.

#5: Always Use ‘Add Sections’ To Enhance Your Profile

On LinkedIn there are several widgets that you can include on your profile to give you more credibility. Add your honors, awards, certifications, organizations, projects, patents, publications and more to your profile. You’ll soon get more connections, and more business!

#6: Become an Authority in Under 1 Month, With Answers

Answer LinkedIn questions, in the answers section. The more questions you answer, the more respect and authority you can gain. This is crucial if potential clients want to know who you are online. A quick search will prove that you’re an instant authority.

LinkedIn is a business focused environment, which means that your network is a great tool for your company. Most small business owners have a LinkedIn profile, but they don’t know what to do with it. First you need connections, and you can get many of them by joining groups. These groups are interactive and give you a chance to meet new people.

Once you have a few groups that you frequent, start asking for help. But make it worthwhile. No one can survive social media by ‘taking’ all the time – you must ‘give’ just as much! Always incentivize your requests, and be there to help others build their businesses as well.

Do you struggle to connect with your LinkedIn community? Tell me what your business needs, and I’ll come up with a plan for you!