Schmooze Control: LinkedIn Marketing Secrets for Newbies

Last month, The Wall Street Journal asked a group of small business owners and social media experts which social media sites they used most often and which had the most potential to be useful in the future. The answer? In a landslide, they chose the professional schmoozing site LinkedIn. The numbers are fascinating: 30 percent said LinkedIn was the most useful while 40 percent said it had the most potential to be useful in the future. This tends to suggest that even people who aren’t using LinkedIn that much realize that it’s a powerful tool they should be using more of.

However, while LinkedIn love seems universal, LinkedIn procrastination is equally common. This inspired us to come up with three simple LinkedIn marketing tips to get started that even the laziest among us can do.

Use the network you already have: LinkedIn, more than any other social network, brilliantly finds your followers from email, Facebook, Twitter and beyond. This is LinkedIn’s leg up on the other kids and it should be used right away. Within seconds, LinkedIn can conquer your massive email list and huge friends lists. Later you can build and find new folks in your industry, but to get started, talk to the people you know and currently market to.

Get your group on: Another thing LinkedIn does amazingly well is groups. No matter what your speciality, what your background or interests are, chances are excellent that LinkedIn has a group devoted to it. Think of these groups as unique opportunities to talk directly to the people who do exactly what you do. Join and participate in as many of these groups that apply. Groups on LinkedIn are active and creative epicenters and your brand shouldn’t miss out.

Share and share some more: LinkedIn lovers are big on sharing. Company blogs, press releases, industry related articles, infographics — you name it, they share it. Sharing on LinkedIn is a more professional and more promotional affair than, say, the shenanigans that go on over at Facebook. The more you share and participate on LinkedIn, the more you’ll get back.