Why Should Business Owners Use LinkedIn?

Since LinkedIn is often associated with getting a job, people sometimes ask me why should business owners use LinkedIn. In the 10 years that I’ve been providing LinkedIn tutoring and training, I’ve reflected on this question many times.

Most business owners can see the point of having a profile on LinkedIn that represents them well. However, some of them are puzzled about what you would do on LinkedIn beyond having the profile.

Benefits to Business Owners of Using LinkedIn  

  • Showcase your brand. Key parts of your profile for showcasing your brand include the profile headline, about section, and the position titles and descriptions in the experience section. What you share in a post and your writing style are also parts of your brand.
  • Share your expertise. As a business owner, you are a subject matter expert in your field. Along with using the sections of your profile, you can share your expertise through the posts and articles you write. In addition to creating your own material, you can share the posts of others in your field.
  • Increase your ranking on Google and other search engines. When you are active on LinkedIn, your chance of being found through search enginges is higher. When I’ve done a Google search of business owners, I’ve often seen their LinkedIn profile come up higher than their website.
  • Enhance your relationships with others in the business community. Internal messaging through LinkedIn is an easy way to stay in touch with business colleagues. LinkedIn is also a wonderful place to publicly honor others and celebrate their achievements.

Addressing Some Typical Frustrations People Have With LinkedIn

  • Dealing with the people who only want to sell you something. Some of these solicitations come in the form of an InMail message. Others come when people ask you to connect. Or sometimes they happen after you connect. This advice may sound extreme, but it works for me – block these people! If you only ignore a connection invite or InMail solicitation, you may hear from these folks again. By blocking them, they can’t send another invite or message.
  • Your newsfeed is filled with posts that you aren’t interested in. You don’t need to spend much time reading your newsfeed. Instead, make a list of your top 5-10 clients and referral partners. Set up a schedule where you look up a few of these folks every time you go into LinkedIn. Scroll down their profile until you find their Activity section. Skim through their recent posts and comments to see what they are up to. If you see anything that interests you, make a comment or share the post.
  • You find you are spending too much time on LinkedIn and want to be efficient with your time. Since a little bit of time on LinkedIn goes a long way, scheduling 10-15 minutes once or twice a week is plenty. During these scheduled times, plan to do the following: 1) Review your pending invites and decide whether to accept them or not. 2) Scroll through your messages and respond to ones that are timely and relevant. 3) Skim through your notifications to find special occasions to comment on, such as your connections’ work anniversaries or new jobs. 4) Check the recent activity of a few key business colleagues.

About Joyce

Joyce Feustel helps people, especially those age 55 and up, to become more effective using social media, especially LinkedIn and Facebook. She works with business owners, business development professionals, business consultants, job seekers, and more – ranging from entrepreneurs to people in large corporations. Find her at www.boomerssocialmediatutor.com.