Beginners Guide To Use LinkedIn For Business

Introduction

• LinkedIn operates the world’s largest professional network on the Internet with more than 90 million members in over 200 countries and territories.
• More than half of LinkedIn members are located outside of the United States.
• There were nearly two billion people searches on LinkedIn in 2010.
• Headquartered in Mountain View, California, LinkedIn also operates in Dublin, Ireland; London, England; Toronto, Canada; Mumbai, India; Amsterdam, The Netherlands; and Sydney, Australia.
• The company’s management team is comprised of seasoned executives from companies like Yahoo!, Google, Microsoft, TiVo, PayPal and Electronic Arts. The CEO of LinkedIn is Jeff Weiner.
• LinkedIn is currently available in six languages: English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish.
• LinkedIn started off 2011 with about 1,000 full-time employees located all around the globe, up from around 500 at the beginning of 2010.

Tips For Using LinkedIn For Business

1. The ultimate guide to LinkedIn by Lauren Fisher at Simplyzesty

Many people set up a profile on LinkedIn but don’t use it regularly, only returning when prompted by an email telling you someone is looking to connect. There are many great features in LinkedIn that you should be using, whether you’re job-hunting, looking for business or simply want to network online. It’s worth investing your time in LinkedIn – as with any social network you need to build up a community and following in order to maximise the benefits to you. Having used LinkedIn regularly, it can seem particularly daunting and the features that make it such a great business tool can be hard to find. We’ve put together top tips for using LinkedIn that will help you get the most out of the site.

2. Guide to Using LinkedIn to Sell More, Faster by  Scott Allen

One of the most common questions I get asked is, “How can LinkedIn help me sell more?” LinkedIn isn’t just for job seekers and recruiters. And while trying to use LinkedIn as a cold-calling tool may not be very effective, there are several ways that you can use LinkedIn to support the entire sales lifecycle: lead generation, sales acceleration, solution delivery and customer relationship.

3. Amateur’s Guide to Using LinkedIn.com by Pamela DeLoatch

The phrase “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know” is clearly the premise of Linkedin.com. Take friends, family and associates, and expand it to the people they know, and so on, to eventually form a huge group of contacts.

4. Ten Ways to Use LinkedIn by Guy Kawasaki

Most people use LinkedIn to “get to someone” in order to make a sale, form a partnership, or get a job. It works well for this because it is an online network of more than 8.5 million experienced professionals from around the world representing 130 industries. However, it is a tool that is under-utilized, so I’ve compiled a top-ten list of ways to increase the value of LinkedIn.

5. The “Don’t Do It” Guide To Using LinkedIn at Applicant

The other day we got an email asking – “I update my linkedin status regularly and add many people each day. This approach works wonders for me on Facebook and Twitter but it’s not working on LinkedIn. What am I doing wrong?” Although the question might surprise some of us, we need to realize there are many people who still use LinkedIn the way they use Facebook, MySpace, Twitter or other social networking tools. LinkedIn is a networking tool for professionals and for anyone who wants to showcase their skills and find opportunities via this wonderful platform.

—  If you know any tips that can help others or if you have any guides, feel free to post with comments.