The Female Entrepreneur Magazine January 2016 January 2016

1/29/2016 10 Steps To Use LinkedIn For Small Business 10 Ways To Use LinkedIn For Small Business 1. Create A LinkedIn Company Page. With over 3 million company pages, as of late 2013, you need to play to win on LinkedIn, or get left behind. In addition to maintaining an Allstar personal page, you need a LinkedIn company page to amplify your brand to distributors, association members, customers and others. A LinkedIn company page also lets you highlight your services, thought leadership and your employees to build your external credibility and community. Best of all, a LinkedIn company page is free is you have a healthy personal profile. 2. Run Your Personal And Small Business Company Page As A PPC or SEO Campaign. If your small business marketing strategy does not include a search engine optimization component, then it should – ensuring you are there when your customers are Googling you. There are over 1 billion annual searches on LinkedIn and 87% of purchases start with a search engine. So, by running your personal and LinkedIn company page and personal profile as a payperclick (PPC) campaign, you can increase your company’s and content ‘findability.’ Include keywords in your headline, summary, anchored text, job descriptions and endorsements to be found on Google and LinkedIn searches. More small businesses are using inbound marketing techniques, including LinkedIn, to drive lead generation 3. Find And Participate In A LinkedIn Group With Local Ties. LinkedIn reports the average user joins 7 LinkedIn Groups, so your customers, influencers and competitors are using this LinkedIn community. Over 70% of customers use groups to research, network and vet buying decisions. So, join all 50 of your potential LinkedIn groups to be as accessible as possible by other group members. And, regularly participate, in a nonpromotional way, in 35 groups to network with other business owners, distributors and press. 4. Begin To Blog On LinkedIn. Technorati reports that 31% of customers are influenced by blog posts. So, it makes sense for every small business to post articles on their blog, their website and on LinkedIn https://marketingthink.com/10-steps-to-use-linkedin-for-small-business/ 2/5

The Female Entrepreneur Magazine January 2016 January 2016 | Page 18