7 ways to make LinkedIn work for your business

LinkedIn is more than just a place to post your profile and forget about it. You can be more visible on LinkedIn without devoting an enormous amount of time to it.

Connections are strengthened when you interact and share ideas and information. And a solid network is vital to growing your business.

Here are 7 ways to increase your presence on LinkedIn.

Recommendations

Post a recommendation for someone you’re connected to. A key element of effective networking is to give first. And you never know, someone else may feel compelled to write a recommendation for you. This is not the reason to do it, just a possible outcome.

Groups

Join some groups. On the main navigation click on Groups. From the drop-down box there click on "Groups Directory" tab. You can then search the groups based on: members, categories, or languages. You can also click on the drop-down of "Groups You May Like" to see what LinkedIn recommends for you.

Another way to discover interesting groups is to see what groups your connections are members of.

Once you’re a member of a group, join the discussions and look for people you may know but are not yet connected to and invite them to connect.

Reading list

Post your reading list. This is on the main navigation of "More" under "Applications" and it’s super easy to add books you’ve read or are reading. You can also "watch" the reading lists of people you are connected to.

What a person reads gives you insight into what interests them (and you to them). Sharing similar interests can create a bond and lead to new projects.

Profile viewers

Check out who has been looking at your profile. This is located on the right sidebar of your home page and is under the heading "Who’s Viewed My Profile?" and if you click underneath you can see a list.

You may find that you know people who are looking at your profile and you can invite them to connect.

Connecting

Invite people to connect. I know, this seems ridiculous to mention but often people get into a reactive mode and wait for others to ask them to connect.

If you meet someone and exchange contact details you can search Google using the keywords of their name and LinkedIn to see if they are already on LinkedIn. If they are, you can send them an invitation to connect.

If there is someone you would like to be connected with, but don’t know personally, you can request that someone you are connected with (that is connected to the person you want to meet) make the introduction for you.

Share valuable content

Update your status daily, a few times weekly or as often as possible. You can share quotes, interesting links to articles and websites, and ask questions. This positions you as a resource and keeps your business visible.

You can also comment on the status updates and changes of people you’re connected to. Congratulate someone on a new position or comment on a particular project.

Add presentations

Add presentations to your profile using "Google Presentation" which is found in the main navigation under "More." This is a fast and easy way for people to find out more about what you do or learn about valuable information you have to share.

There are so many more ways to use LinkedIn, this is just a short list to get you started. Hang out at the site and spend some time exploring which applications and features will work best for you.

If you visit LinkedIn every other day or weekly in 10 minutes you can update your status, comment on what others are up to, and invite a few new connections.

These actions will increase your visibility and deepen connections you have with your network. And this will increase your potential to attract more clients and build your business.