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It is amazing how many people I have been talking to over the last couple of months about Linkedin that have a Linkedin account, but are not using it.
WHY?
Almost everyone are telling me it is too confusing to figure out Linkedin or they believe it is just for job seekers, recruiters or big corporations.
NOT TRUE!
So here is a quick and easy tip you can do today.
Join 3 groups on Linkedin. That’s right! Go where others discuss and talk about your industry, product or service. Answer questions with your expertise or knowledge – Start a discussion and get your audience engaged and talking.
Check out all the different ways you can search for groups that are within your market niche or interest. If demographics is important, you can search for your area. 
Linkedin Groups alone can be the most effective marketing tool for your online business success. It is amazing just how many people you can reach.
For Example: I currently belong to 14 groups within my market niche. There are a total of 201,500 members! But if you factor in friends of friends that I could reach through my connections, I have the potential of connecting with over 8 million users!
Now that is something to get excited about, right?
So if you do nothing else with Linkedin, get into some groups. Will you do that today?
As always, wishing you and your business much Success!
Lynn,
In fact, I just joined 3 groups myself today – without knowing about this post or your recommendation
I agree – I can see the potential in groups and participating to the discussions in them. Also, Answers section seems to be interesting as well, since you can gain more authority by answering the questions.
Timo
That is good to hear Timo that you joined the groups on Linkedin. I’m glad you see the potential and your positive comments will certainly help others to know the power of groups.
Yes, Answers is another great way to build your credibility and to also be seen throughout the platform. So bravo to you, and I am so glad you stopped by and shared your thoughts and advice. I hope you will come back again soon.
Great tips Lynn! I like your idea of starting with 3. It makes it not seem so overwhelming! I have found linkedin to be a great tool, I just need to take the time to use it more. I built most of my facebook fan page from Linkedin connections.
I must have hit something to quick because my pic is not there!
It could be a hiccup with Disqus too…..
Thanks Jennifer and it really does take time to build a social community, Linkedin is no different. But that is a great key secret in building your other social networks, as you say, ‘you built most of your Facebook fan page from Linkedin connections’… an awesome way to bring more visability to you, your business and services.
Really appreciate you sharing your thoughts and advice. I’m just glad to hear you are using Linkedin!
Hi Lynn!
Thanks for inviting me to your Blog…via Comment Luv.
WOW, I’ve seen LinkedIn strategies floating around for
awhile & now your article here has opened my eyes for
me to sit up a little straighter at the table.
KUDOs on your fine work here!!
Have a highly inspired day…your tribal friend Steven Suchar
Well that is a reaction I will certainly take as a compliment Steve! Thank
you so much and I am glad that I might have inspired you to learn more about
Linkedin. I am sure enjoying sharing as many tips and techniques as I can.
Soon I will be sharing a webinar with details about setting up the proper
profile for Linkedin. So I hope you might stay tuned for that.
Thanks so much for taking time to visit, look forward to having you drop by
again soon!
Well that is a reaction I will certainly take as a compliment Steve! Thank
you so much and I am glad that I might have inspired you to learn more about
Linkedin. I am sure enjoying sharing as many tips and techniques as I can.
Soon I will be sharing a webinar with details about setting up the proper
profile for Linkedin. So I hope you might stay tuned for that.
Thanks so much for taking time to visit, look forward to having you drop by
again soon!
I have found LinkedIn to be very powerful. Honestly, not all groups are created equal and I am planning to leave several that do not fit my need. Right now I get more traffic from LinkedIn than from anything else (except Google).
There are 2 kinds of groups that are most useful to me. 1 is a group of collegues in my industry that I can ask for advice or recommendations speciafically in the events industry. The others are where my (potential) clients hang out. The more specific the group the better.
I am a member of more general groups and that doesn’t seem to work as well.
These are all great tips and advice Daphne on how you choose your groups. I
am finding Linkedin to be a huge resource and source of a lot of my current
traffic to my site. I just recd an article that another associate shared
with me that Linkedin is now #2 social site and has moved ahead of MySpace.
As it continues to grow, others will see how ‘powerful’ Linkedin can be for
them and their business.
Thank you so much for sharing your insight. It will be a tremendous help
for others.
I have honestly found LinkedIn to be less engaging and more spammy which is why I haven’t frequented it as much as other social networks. My favorite used to be Twitter but now I am leaning more towards Facebook.
Sorry to hear that Alyssa. What type of spam are you getting? I can
honestly say that over the past year I have been learning all the features
of Linkedin and growing my Linkedin connections and have never experienced
any spam.
I believe at the beginning of this year Linkedin has changed how you can add
connections. You have to know the person, get a recommendation or know the
persons email address. Sure hope you might consider Linkedin again for
building your business – it really is an awesome platform.
Thanks so much for sharing your comments. Wonder if anyone else out there
is experiencing spam on Linkedin too?
I’m finding that I’m moving away from Facebook more these days, Lynn, and spending my valuable time on LinkedIn. I still like Facebook and I’m a big fan of the fan pages. But LinkedIn has a much more professional feel and it seems to be a more reliable place to do some serious business.
No question about it, LinkedIn groups are fabulous. And something that’s happening for me there that’s not happening much on Twitter or Facebook is that I’m coming into direct contact with lots of the well-established experts I’ve been following for years. They’re much more open and responsive on LinkedIn.
LinkedIn groups and other features there are the way to fly!!
Looking forward to your next LinkedIn blog installment,
Melanie
It is good to hear that I’m not the only one feeling that about Facebook. I
have done the same thing Melanie. Finding Linkedin to be a very effective
platform to help my business, make those connections, contacts and even JV
offers.
Really appreciate you sharing your thoughts and advice about Linkedin. It
will certainly help others to understand the importance of Linkedin and then
maybe look into it further. I am enjoying sharing the tips andt techniques
about Linkedin. And if you have a favorite feature of Linkedin, let me
know. Maybe you would want to do a guest post?
Thanks, Lynn — more than happy to rustle up a guest post for you.
I need to clarify something. It’s not that I’m flushing Twitter, Facebook, Quora, or any of the other social media sites down the toilet. They all have their upsides.
But …
LinkedIn ranks highest on my own personal scorecard of biz-building platforms!
The potential is very exciting Lynn! I have joined groups in my niche, but cant seem to get the whole linkedin thing happening. I would be interested in more posts about how much time you spend on there, what is your purpose and are your customers there or colleages only for jvs etc etc
Thanks Maureen I appreciate you asking this question, because it is a
question I get a lot. What I am finding on Linkedin is if your profile is
properly optimized, and it isn’t that difficult to do, then you will be
‘searched’ and found easier. This means a higher potential of contacts,
clients, customers, businesses,etc to connect with you.
Whether your marketing plan is to do JV’s (Joint Ventures) or to position
yourself as an expert, that is the first decision and the first step in
understanding how Linkedin can work for you.
I will be having a webinar real soon, just finishing my
PowerPointPresentation. I will also plan on adding lots more Linkedin tips
(videos) too. So maybe in the next few weeks you can gain a better
understanding on how Linkedin can work for you. I believe that any of the
social sites have to have that same goal in mind. So possibly what you are
doing on other social sites, you can plan the same for Linkedin. Hope that
makes sense.
Really appreciate you stopping in and sharing your questions and thoughts!
Love LinkedIn groups – they keep me connected with wonderful people but some idiots too and the help – so wonderful. I would definitely miss something if I were unable to access LinkedIn regularly. Questions are a great way of learning too. Interesting people busy on LinkedIn.
I agree with you Roberta, wouldn’t know what to do if I couldn’t access and
enjoy the connections I make with Linkedin. So good to hear your positive
experience and appreciate you sharing your comments.
I can concur with you Lynn. LinkedIn groups provide a welath of informtaion and a great way to connect with other like-minded individuals. Thanks for sharing.
Appreciate you stopping by Jeannette and sharing your thoughts. Groups are a great way to connect with contacts and potential customers. And I know you started a group that has been really helpful to me and my ebiz.