Linkedin

Are you using Linkedin’s relatively new feature called “Companies”?

You should create a Linkedin company page, even if you don’t have an incorporated business.

One of the advantages of having a company page on Linkedin is that you can create a services/products page, such as this one.

Once you’ve created a product page, you should invite your clients and contact on Linkedin to recommend your product or service.

This kind of recommendation is somewhat easier to get since all it takes is two clicks of a mouse, and writing a comment is optional, so your clients and contacts don’t have to spend time writing an endorsement.

Having a Linkedin company page also works well if you’re trying to separate your business from your own personal profile, and for building a brand.

To learn more about effective use of Linkedin for business, check out my Linkedin to the Max seminar. On this page you’ll also see how I use Linkedin’s feature to show how many recommendations my service page has received.

Linkedin, the free online business networking site used by more than 100 million users world wide, is becoming the place to be if you’re looking to grow your business with social media. Chances are you already have an account, but you may not know how to use Linkedin to generate leads and grow your business.

I’ve been using Linkedin for over 3 years now, and have figured out an easy and effective way to use it to generate about 20% of new business by investing just 10 minutes a day.

Since September 2010 I’ve been hosting a series of hands-on seminars on how to use Linkedin for business, which I call taking Linkedin to the Max! The next session is scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 6, 10am-12:30pm. Start the “new business year” the right way and invest in the marketing of your business.

In 2-1/2 hours I will share with you the tips and tricks on how you, too, can use this free online resource to grow your business. Many business owners, just like you, have attended one of the 10 previous sessions of this workshop and recommend it to their connections on Linkedin. Check out their recommendations here.

Many more testimonials can be found on my blog.

It’s a small investment on your part and it’s going to work for you or you get your tuition back, no fuss. (I have yet to receive a refund request…)

Register on line or if you prefer to pay by cheque call 905-844-4247 or toll-free 1-877-ibiz-269 to reserve your seat (reg. bus. hours please)

I hope you can make it,

Boris Mahovac R.G.D.
e-Marketing Coach, Web Developer and Speaker

P.S.
Free bonus educational audio CD is included with your ticket.

Linkedin is one of the most important online networking sites for professionals, with 80* million members worldwide. If you’re not a member yet, please check out my Linkedin profile and join today.

I’ve been actively using this networking site for just over two years now. Today I can safely say that my business would be significantly different without it, as I use Linkedin to generate about 20% of my business income. About half of that is comes from existing clients, and the other half represents new business coming from new clients.

Although Linkedin can be used for job search, or simply to join alumni networks and groups, I will share some of my tips and strategies on how to use Linkedin to boost your business, especially if you’re a self-employed service professional.

Part of my business here at the iBizAcademy is teaching and coaching and as many who have attended my live workshops and seminars testify, I teach social networking in plain English, so that even technophobes can apply the new skills immediately.

How To Use Linkedin Polls to Help You Make Better Business Decisions

There are many ways to use Linkedin to grow your client base, but today I will focus on one, lesser-known “application” called Linkedin Polls.

As I always do in my workshops, I will use a real-life example of how I used Linkedin Polls to leverage the collective wisdom and experience business professionals to help me make my own business decisions.

When I started hosting my live training seminars, I thought that weekdays would probably work best, and I picked the 10am-1pm time slot. I figured by 10am people can finish their morning chores, such as driving kids to school, and be ready for business. However, when I started promoting my seminars, occasionally I’d get a reply from someone who is interested in attending but the time didn’t work for them, so they asked if I did any evening classes.

Well, this got me thinking that perhaps my own preferences may not be the same as other peoples’. So how can you figure out what other people think? Ask them! I used the Linkedin Poll application and asked them one simple question: If you have 3 hours to invest in a training seminar to help you boost your business, WHEN would you be most likely to attend? I then sent the link to this poll to my connections and received 58 responses (20% of my connections responded). I was relieved to learn that 48% of respondents did in fact prefer the weekday 10am-1pm time!

So next time you need to make a business decision tap into the collective wisdom of Linkedin members.

To learn more about how to use Linkedin to get more clients subscribe to my blog, or join me at the next Linkedin to the Max! workshop.

*As of Oct. 2010

If you just built a new web site, or if you follow my advice — a business blog — you should announce it to everyone you know to attract them to visit. Although you can and should use opt-in email marketing systems to send an announcement to your contacts, I’d like to propose an “off-line” marketing strategy as well: postcards or greeting cards!

If your budget allows it, I recommend sending postcards to your existing clients asking them to promote your new blog to their contacts. To create personalized postcards, or greeting cards, I use my SendOutCards system which costs me $0.62 + postage for a postcard with a custom design ($0.31 for a stock card).

The design can be an advert for your new blog, and then on the flip side (or inside of a greeting card) you can ask the recipient to give a unique URL to their contacts, e.g. NewBlog.com/Joe, etc. where Joe is the real name of your client.

Using a unique URL will allow you to track new visitors/signups, and then award the one client who sends the most traffic to your new blog. You need to give your clients an incentive to promote your new blog, say a chance to win an iPod or something, or something more expensive, depending on your business model.

Follow this link if you’re interested in the SendOutCards business opportunity. This can become a lucrative second income or a full-blown career, all depends on you.