• How-to

While LinkedIn is yet to catch up with Facebook in terms of active interaction and user base, it still has its merits for the entrepreneur. You too can use LinkedIn in the following ways to give your small business a leg up in this age of social media.

Get recommended
I admit I do get chuffed whenever a colleague recommends me on my LinkedIn profile page. In pretty much the same way, recommendations from a client or customer can be the best word-of-mouth marketing your business can get online. The recommendations will be available across the LinkedIn network. More importantly, these will show up in a Google search too.

Find that vendor
Sometimes you will come across a business aspect that you will need to outsource to a freelancer. Here, you are probably looking for someone who either your friends or professional contacts know of or have worked with before. LinkedIn will let you do that without much effort. Better yet, you could find someone who comes recommended by a peer.

Find a funder

It may be far-fetched for some, but LinkedIn is a great place to scope out investors. Most VCs and angels maintain active profile pages on LinkedIn. More importantly, their profile pages will contain information on the businesses and sectors they are interested in. There, you’ll find your target audience and narrow it down to the select few you really need to impress.

Eye your competition
More than a lakh small businesses keep an active company profile on LinkedIn. Chances are that a small percentage of them are in the same line of business as yours. Their profiles will let you keep an eye on their latest achievements and what their next move is going to be. As a bonus, you can also spot the guy you so desperately need for your business.

Ditch the conference
Do your industry research on LinkedIn. Join some relevant industry groups on LinkedIn and become an active participant on the Q&A sections, where you can ask questions and get answers from the best in your industry. Not only would this solve a few of your business puzzles, it would also get you noticed in the industry—and let you notice a potential hire as well.

Brand yourself, LinkedIn style
Enhance your company’s brand profile using some amazing third-party applications:
BlogLink: This displays your latest blog posts on your profile
Box.net: This allows you to create links to files such as media kits
Slideshare: This allows you to embed slideshow presentations and demos
Company Buzz: This will wean away at Twitter updates for mentions of your brand

©Entrepreneur June 2010

Tags:
business, LinkedIn, social media