Social Media: A Great Way to Get the Word Out
Doing business on the Web offers you the opportunity to place your product or service before an audience of millions, with the added potential of attracting tens of thousands of customers. But, that's only provided you can get the word out to the right people, and that's where social media come in. Social media provide a simple, dependable, and free method for promoting your business or professional expertise and increasing the visibility of your product, service, or skill.
Brad recently covered various social networking sites here at The Whoa Factor, highlighting the ways they can be used to get the word out about your company, thereby maximizing profits. (See Brad's roundup post, Recap - Can Social Media Help Your Business?) The current post focuses on LinkedIn, another social site which, though similar in approach to other social media, offers an added dimension for business and professional people.
The Changing Social Media Landscape
Social media have undergone a few changes since their inception, the main change being that they aren't just for finding friends anymore. The popularity of social media for connecting with colleagues, employers, service providers, vendors, and potential customers is on the rise in our globally focused, Internet-driven economy - primarily because social networking works. Social media marketing is old-fashioned networking upgraded and repackaged for the new millennium. It's traditional marketing with a new twist. Any company that ignores this modern social/business phenomenon, does so at its own peril.
LinkedIn: Its Mission and Focus
The LinkedIn name provides a hint to the purpose of the site, which is specifically to link businesses and professionals together in mutually beneficial relationships. As mentioned above, unlike most social media sites, LinkedIn was originally intended for more than mere social networking; rather, its primary focus has always been professional networking. And, while other social media sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, etc., also offer valuable opportunities for professional networking - in addition to their social connection component - LinkedIn is built around the business networking model.
The LinkedIn website would be the best place to start if you'd like to learn more about the network. When you visit, be sure to check the About page, where you'll find the following rationale for this free networking service, along with a great deal of other information about the site:
Our mission is to connect the world's professionals to accelerate their success. We believe that in a global [sic] connected economy, your success as a professional and your competitiveness as a company depends [sic] upon faster access to insight and resources you can trust.
You'll also find other helpful info on the LinkedIn Blog and elsewhere on the site. Take the time to explore what's available and get a feel for the LinkedIn network.You can also learn more about LinkedIn on other sites, via blog posts and videos posted by various individuals. Some of these resources follow.
LinkedIn Resource Links
CrunchBase offers some background info and stats in its LinkedIn Company Profile, which you may find relevant, as you consider how beneficial the site might be to your own business or professional endeavors.
For a simple explanation/demonstration of how LinkedIn works, check out the following brief YouTube video: What Is LinkedIn?
Another YouTube video that can help clarify the potential of LinkedIn for your company's development is How LinkedIn referrals helped build a company.
To learn more about the practical value that LinkedIn can have for your business or profession, in terms of online visibility and search engine marketing/marketability, visit Guy Kawasaki's definitive post, Ten Ways to Use LinkedIn, at How to Change the World. It should give you some workable ideas for making the most of your LinkedIn networking opportunities. (Guy's post was later republished on the LinkedIn Blog.)
If you still aren't totally convinced of the potential value of LinkedIn to your company's or your own success - or you simply want to know more about the site - watch the following 9+ minute YouTube video presentation, by Matt Dickman, of techno//marketer: Inside//Out: LinkedIn. In this video, Dickman provides a fairly extensive overview/review of LinkedIn that you're sure to find helpful.
If you're looking for a new way to network, why not get linked at LinkedIn!
