Last
year, Social Media was the number one marketing tool used by small
businesses. That trend is continuing in
2012. One of those sites, LinkedIn.com,
is growing at a rate of approximately two new members per second. Yes, that’s right, per second.
LinkedIn
(LinkedIn.com) is the Social Media site for business professionals and executives. With currently over 175 million members, it’s
the largest professional network in the world.
That’s a whole bunch of business people!
LinkedIn
is a great place to connect with people you know or want to meet. Consequently, it’s a good site to meet buyers
of your product or service, whether you sell to businesses or consumers. As a side note, LinkedIn suggests everyone
connect only with people you already know.
What’s the fun in that?
If
you don’t already have a LinkedIn profile, start one today. Then search for people you know through the
search box and ask them to connect. The
more professionals you are connected to, the larger your network, the more
people who will see you, the greater your chance of making that next sale.
Let’s
talk about a few ways you can grow your business using LinkedIn.
1. Ask your connections for introductions. This was originally the purpose of
LinkedIn. Strangely enough, not many
people do this. If you notice, the
statistics on the right side of your profile page will show the size of your
network through your connections and how many new people in your network. Typically, this number is in the millions.
Whether
you are in a big corporation or run your own small business, it’s good to know
decision makers. A personal introduction
is a great way to meet someone you’ve wanted to do business with. Go to the person’s profile you would like to
meet and click on ‘Get introduced through a connection.’ It will list any of your connections who know
this person and can make an introduction for you.