Small Business Owners Guide to LinkedIn! From profile optimization to advertising to networking, learn how to put the most popular professional social network to use for your professional life.

1. The Small Business
Guide to LinkedIn

2. The Small Business Guide to LinkedIn
DigitalSherpa.com
1
bout 30 percent of small business owners use
LinkedIn regularly, according to a recent survey
conducted by the Wall Street Journal and Vistage
International, which found that LinkedIn was frequented
more often than Facebook by this demographic. What sur-
prised us most about this survey was the statistic that 70
percent of business owners are not using LinkedIn regu-
larly. Perhaps that’s because they fail to realize the potential
that it has to expand their networks and grow their compa-
nies. When small businesses use it properly, LinkedIn can
play a significant role in generating new business leads and
providing opportunities for collaboration with other busi-
ness owners.
Relevant LinkedIn Statistics for Small Businesses
▶▶ More than 150,000 companies have LinkedIn
profiles.
▶▶ More than 12 million small business profession-
als have LinkedIn accounts. This figure accounts
for approximately 20 percent of the total Linked-
In user base. More than three million of these
individuals are start-up professionals.
▶▶ The LinkedIn Answers section has more than
200 different categories with at least one solely
devoted to small business. It also has more than 2,000
groups that pertain to various small business topics.
▶▶ The Wall Street Journal and Vistage International sur-
vey, conducted in January 2013, found that 41 percent
of the owners surveyed rated it as their most valuable
agent for business growth. Facebook follows as the sec-
ond-most frequented channel, at 22 percent, and Twit-
ter as the third channel, at 14 percent. Owners deter-
mine the value of a social media channel through page
reviews or generated returns. LinkedIn is deemed the
best social media channel for targeting a professionals
demographic.
Optimize Your LinkedIn Business Profile
▶▶ Create a customized URL. LinkedIn gives every user a
default URL with a numeric code that does not have
any significance. Go into your LinkedIn settings and
click on “Public Profile.” This section gives you the op-
tion to change your URL. Keep this URL simple and
use your company name if it’s available.
▶▶ Add relevant keywords. Include a number of
relevant keywords in the description of your
company to increase your chances of ranking high in
relevant LinkedIn searches.
▶▶ Request employee recommendations. One of the
best methods for generating relevant profile
traffic and generally setting your business apart from
the pack is to garner recommendations from both
current and past employees. Individuals who are in-
terested in your company and thinking about do-
ing business with you in the future may think more
highly of you when they see this positive feedback.
▶▶ Update your company status on a regular basis.
Nothing will turn potential customers off fast-
er than an outdated profile. People want to see
at least one new update from the past month, if
not the past week. Provide information about
A
When small businesses use it properly,
LinkedIn can play a significant role
in generating new business leads and
providing opportunities for collabo-
ration with other business owners.
41% 22% 14%
Social Media Value
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3. The Small Business Guide to LinkedIn
DigitalSherpa.com
2
happenings at your company or within your indus-
try. Seek out interesting, relevant articles to share
with your target audience that are likely to draw
new followers and generate discussion within the
comment sections.
Best Small Business Practices on LinkedIn
▶▶ Start a group. One of the best methods for
networking with other professionals on Linked-
In is to start a group based around a relevant topic
for your business or your target customer base. Is
your small business exclusive to a specific city or re-
gion? You may want to consider creating a group
for the industry within that particular area (i.e.
Oak Park Small Businesses). Providing an oppor-
tunity to network with other local businesses may
generate more business for everyone. Relevant
industry groups also allow small business owners to
become thought leaders in their particular areas of ex-
pertise.
▶▶ Cultivate genuine relationships. Keep your
followers engaged and build relationships with
them by providing relevant industry information,
including tips and news stories. Avoid overt sales
pitches and don’t send constant promotional mes-
sages. When you build meaningful relationships,
the sales will come in time. Request feedback
from your followers to find out what they want
from your company and build online marketing
campaigns and goals accordingly.
▶▶ Maximize opportunities for word-of-mouth and online
recommendations. Just about every small business re-
lies on happy customers to bring in new customers.
Consider asking satisfied clients to write recommenda-
tions that you can post on your LinkedIn profile. Don’t
forget to use LinkedIn forums to share knowledge and
skill sets that you possess for your particular industry,
as well. You never know when this practice will lead to
potential customers or networking opportunities.
▶▶ Follow companies of interest. Stay in the loop for
possible business ventures by following compa-
nies that catch your interest. These businesses may
be able to provide valuable insights, such as the
beginning of a new aspect of an industry (i.e. a
technology that will revolutionize a common
industry practice) or the hiring pace for a close com-
petitor in your area.
▶▶ Nurture your networks. One of the best ways
to succeed in any aspect of life is to pay it for-
ward. Take the time to respond to questions from
like-minded professionals and provide help in
areasofexpertise.Peoplearemorelikelytohelpyouwhen
they have seen the help that you give to others. These
practices also strengthen a network as a whole, mak-
ing it a more valuable resource for everyone involved.
More LinkedIn Opportunities
▶▶ Outsource services. Consider how many times
you have consulted with co-workers to find
great companies or individuals for any range of
outsourcing needs, from photography to graphic
design. LinkedIn makes it simple for small busi-
nesses to locate and contact vendors through
peer networks. Additionally, many people opt to
trade for services through LinkedIn. For exam-
ple, someone may be willing to do a graphic design
job in exchange for the contact information for a
couple crucial industry connections.
▶▶ Conduct research. Small business owners are
30% of Small Business Owners
Regularly Use LinkedIn
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4. The Small Business Guide to LinkedIn
DigitalSherpa.com
3
confronted with difficult questions on any num-
ber of different topics every day. LinkedIn’s Groups
and Answers sections allow users to tap into
the expertise of a particular network to get the
answers that they need.
▶▶ Raise funding. LinkedIn is a great resource for
locating potential investors or mentors for start
up companies. There are numerous opportuni-
ties to reach out to people who have been there and
done that before in the world of small business and
are more than willing to share their insight with
others. After you have made the proper connections,
you may be able to generate interest in a small busi-
ness investment for your start up or other initiative.
LinkedIn Practices to Avoid
▶▶ Giving only with the expectation of receiving.
Networking with people through LinkedIn and
writing recommendations for their profiles is
expected and welcomed, unless you are only doing this
only to get recommendations in return. This practice is
viewed as tacky. Offer genuine recommendations be-
cause you believe it is in your best interest as a consum-
er, not because you have any expectation about the re-
turn gesture. Many people who know you and respect
your business are likely to write the recommendations
anyway. If they don’t, there is no reason to worry. You
have still provided credit where credit is due.
▶▶ Not giving at all. The principle of strong networking
is based on giving as opposed to receiving. One of the
easiest ways to give on LinkedIn is with endorsements.
Not only are you able to showcase a company’s skills
and give them a little pat on the back, you may also in-
crease their search rank. Demonstrate that you respect
the skills of other individuals in your industry. While
this is still a networking technique, you can feel good
about making others feel good.
▶▶ Waiting for a need. When you put off cultivat-
ing strong connections until you need a job lead
or new customers, you have waited too long.
Consider where you want to be with your company a
year from now or even five years from now and start
building your connections and network.
▶▶ Forgetting where you are. Most LinkedIn users see it as
a professional social media channel. Steer clear of using
LinkedIn for personal commentary and networking. It
may seem like harmless activity, but you never know
when a potential vendor, customer, employer, or em-
ployee will come across this content. When it comes to
professionalism, playing it safe is the best practice. Pic-
tures of your children or your recent vacation belong on
Facebook.
▶▶ Ignoring the signs. LinkedIn is building itself up to be
more than a place for professionals to make connec-
tions. Even though “influencers” can only be followed
currently,atsomepointinthefutureit’slikelythatallus-
ers can directly post original content and cultivate their
own followings. Smart people not only maximize the
potential of a tool but also start anticipating and plan-
ning for what a tool may become. For small business
owners, this means that it is important to start paying
attention, planning ahead, and positioning yourself
accordingly now so that you’re ready when the time for
this big change comes.
▶▶ Not sharing. One of the simplest methods for
updating your profile on a regular basis is shar-
ing. Including blog posts, relevant industry
articles, and videos in your Activity stream allows
potential and existing customers to get a peek at
what your small business is doing and where your in-
terests lie. The more a target audience base can learn
about a company before they make a direct contact, the
better.
▶▶ Not caring. Are you curious about what your
network, connections, and target audience deems
important? Do you want to get a better read on how
the content that you share is received? The only way
to start making these things happen is keeping an eye
on your Activity feed. Take note of the content that
people like, read and respond to in their comments,
Consider where you want to be with
your company a year from now or even
five years from now and start building
your connections and network.

5. The Small Business Guide to LinkedIn
DigitalSherpa.com
4
and make changes to future content shares accordingly.
No matter how important you think a particular topic
is, if customers are not engaged, it will not be effective.
Apply your efforts wisely.
▶▶ Ignoring a team network. The most effective
method for opening doors within an industry
is building relationships, referrals, and general
rapport. Any given industry is going to have a certain
number of people who have built up their own power-
ful networks. You can take advantage of their connec-
tions to further your own small business.
▶▶ Being generic. Most LinkedIn users have re-
ceived an auto-generated “I’d like to add you to my
professional network on LinkedIn” message from
a personal or professional contact at some point.
All small business owners are busy, but writ-
ing customized messages is a good use of pre-
cious business-building time. Consider the con-
tact at hand and tailor the message appropriately.
Not all potential LinkedIn contacts should receive
exactly the same messages for all inquiries.
Consider how you know a person and what
you may have in common. Don’t discount the
notion of offering up a compliment. There should
be a legitimate reason for initiating a new contact
beyond simply padding numbers. Don’t be afraid to
state this reason.
2013 LinkedIn Updates
During the past six months, LinkedIn has
implemented a number of major design changes.
Personal profiles are now more streamlined, with
fewer user-favorite features. As a small business
owner, you can take advantage of the following changes to
maximize the potential of your company.
▶▶ Multimedia gallery in your personal profile. Users are
able to add photos, videos, mp3 files, PowerPoint pres-
entations, and PDF files right to their profiles, quickly
and easily. The gallery has taken the place of the old
awkward, cumbersome Apps feature, which required
importing. Users can add an unlimited number of
multimedia items. Small business owners may want to
consider offering photos and video overviews of their
products and services as well as free ebooks and other
incentive items for potential and existing customers.
▶▶ Reorder profile sections. Users can drag and drop per-
sonal profile sections into the order of their choosing.
This simple but powerful option allows businesses to
highlight their best features with ease.
▶▶ One-click endorsements. LinkedIn has created
its own easy button for endorsements, giving an
individual the option to give someone a quick
special skill endorsement with the simple click of a but-
ton. No additional information is required. A photo of
the user is shown alongside the endorsement skill. It
is important to approach LinkedIn endorsements with
a grain of salt. Recommendations are still the optimal
method for providing and receiving genuine testimo-
nials.
▶▶ News connections and larger images on the home
page. A LinkedIn home page features Linked-
In Today with news stories from top leaders.
Typically these topics have a focus on media and
digital, which may or may not be relevant to your
specific small business. The new larger image
format makes photos stand out within a news feed.
Small businesses can maximize this feature by
including at least one image in all of their LinkedIn up-
dates.
As a small business, your network is everything. Linkedin
helps you build that network, efficiently and effectively.
Take advantage of the great tips in this white paper to expe-
rience the powerful effects they can have on your business
today!