Home » Books » LinkedIn Marketing Workbook, 2016
Click to PREVIEW!
The LinkedIn Marketing Workbook is your go-to guide on how to use LinkedIn for business purposes. Whereas most LinkedIn guides focus on job seekers, this guide focuses on businesses that want to market via LinkedIn. In particular, any business-to-business company as well as any business (or person) in professional services such as web design, accounting services, computer programming or security, attorneys, commercial real estate or any other business that sells to other businesses, should know how to master the art and science of using LinkedIn for marketing purposes.
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE BOOK –
LinkedIn Marketing Workbook: Learn More about the Book
If Facebook is all about friends, family, and fun – a kind of 24/7 fun company picnic to which the general public is invited, LinkedIn is akin to your real-world company networking event. If you’ve ever been to a big trade show such as the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, or the annual Direct Marketing Association (DMA) show in Boston, you’ve likely attended corporate meet-and-greets, wine and cheese sessions, or breakout learning sessions on important industry topics. They feature free food and entertainment, a speech or two by the CEO, and lots of schmoozing between vendors and potential customers. In some cases, actual learning occurs; in others it’s all about making professional contacts. Dressed in business casual, people listen attentively, are in “learning” mode, and are also ready to introduce themselves and their products to you and others.
Schmoozing, in short, is the No. 1 activity in LinkedIn marketing.
“Hi, my name is Jason McDonald, what’s yours?” It’s totally appropriate in this setting to walk up to total strangers and introduce your (business) self; even better is to get one business contact to introduce you to another. “Hey, Sue, this is Jason McDonald, my social media expert friend. You and he have a lot in common because you’re crazy for Twitter, so I’d thought I’d introduce you.” A quick Google search of define:schmooze (at http://jmlinks.com/3f), defines it as to talk, chat up, converse, mingle, hobnob, network, and work the room. That’s the key purpose of LinkedIn in a nutshell: to schmooze.
Secondarily, learning is an increasingly important purpose on LinkedIn.
LinkedIn recently acquired online learning company, Lynda.com, and LinkedIn Pulse is a sort of communal blogging platform on business-to-business trends. Both speak to LinkedIn’s focus on continuing education. Attending a trade show is not just about schmoozing, after all; it’s also about keeping up with industry trends, and about learning about important industry topics. Learning, therefore, is the No. 2 activity of import on LinkedIn.
This chapter will explore LinkedIn for business, with one important exception: job search. While LinkedIn is THE social platform for job search, we will confine our explanation to the use of LinkedIn by an established company, or employed individual, seeking to reach out to existing and new customers through social media. Our focus is on you as an individual, or you as a company (or you and your employees acting as a team) using LinkedIn to advance your marketing goals: building brand identity, staying in contact with prospects and customers, encouraging social spread, and putting your best foot forward so that you are perceived as a trustworthy business partner.
Enter the LinkedIn Marketing Workbook.
~ Jason McDonald, Author
~ Keywords: LinkedIn Marketing, LinkedIn Book, How to Use LinkedIn for Business
~ Publication Date: August, 2015
