Why LinkedIn?

As businesspeople, there is a lot of potential in the ability to network with other businesspeople, in a bid to build relationships so that we can benefit from each other's services. This communication is known as networking.The biggest networking site is LinkedIn. It has around 400 million users around the world. All of these people are looking for people who can help them in their businesses and make their lives a lot easier to manage. But, why LinkedIn? Why don't we just talk in a chat facility or on the phone? What is so great about LinkedIn?Well, there are several things about LinkedIn that can help you in your business. These include
Your LinkedIn profile. These tell other people about what your abilities, background, achievements and skills are. They are also highly popular on Google. To ensure that your profile is at the top of LinkedIn, you need to include the right keywords and phrases. Having more connections on LinkedIn helps too, as these are backlinks and, as most people know, Google loves backlinks.
You have the ability to network with anyone around the world. You can do this by searching for a name ie, "Richard Branson" or "Bill Gates" and searching for their profiles on LinkedIn. If you do search for these guys, you should be warned - there will be a lot of competition.
When you send a request to connect with people and they reciprocate, you will need to follow up with them. This starts the relationship ball rolling. You should be professional and friendly. This will help to build your reputation as a trusted expert in your industry. Therefore, if people need advice or an opinion on something, they will come to you first. This gives you the opportunity to help and persuade them to make a sensible buying decision - maybe even of what you and your company have to sell. It's always nice when people can put a name and a face to a company, especially if they can also class you as a friend.
You need to include all your contact information in your profile. This should include telephone numbers (landline and cell/mobile), email address and most importantly the address of your business website. This is where people can find out more about you and your company.



There are other networking sites, but as LinkedIn is the biggest and most well known, it has to be the best - particularly when you take into consideration the fact that there are 400 million users to do business with. I have found a lot of work for my business through LinkedIn and therefore, so can you.