It’s no secret that LinkedIn is a business to business gold mind. Why? Because it’s where the high level executives and decision makers at companies spend their “social time.” Additionally, many of these professionals are also actively looking for things that will help them and their business when they’re on LinkedIn. That means if your company has something to offer, you’ll be hitting right when the timing is right. So, how do you make sure you stand out on LinkedIn as a small business owner?
Take into consideration these 3 areas of improvement:
- Make sure your personal profile is up to date. An intrinsic part of the LinkedIn company page is that it will reflect who is working there. It doesn’t make your company look professional if your personal profile doesn’t! Get started by taking an audit of:
- Your photo (professional photos increase your chances of being found up to 14x)
- Cover image
- Cover headline
- Summary
- Skills (profiles with skills get 13x more views)
- Experience
- Organizations
- Groups
- Endorsements & recommendations
If you don’t have any of these sections filled out – this is your sign to do so! Some of the common areas professionals struggle with are joining groups and endorsements. For groups, join the alumni group of your college (if there’s not one, start one!) or an interest group for your area (Ex: Small Business Owners of Cleveland, Ohio). Ask for a recommendation from a coworker or previous employer or colleague. Nine times out of ten when you ask for a recommendation you will get one!
- Stay Active With Engagement
- Even if your activity is only once or twice a month! People who are looking to work with the “right” person are much more likely to think that person is you if you’ve posted recently.
- Aim for status updates that “help” rather than “sell.” No one wants a sales pitch in their inbox. But, people will respect you and your expertise if you’re willing to share it in the right way. An easy way to help your target client is to share an insight you’ve gained from a current client relationship or an example of a good outcome.
- Vary your content (include quotes, articles, links, updates, infographics, etc.)
- Give more, to get more! If you’re only ever posting your own content and never liking, commenting, and sharing that of your connections, you’ll limit your reach and miss out on potential audience building.
- Set Your Company Page Up for Success!
- First, make sure your page is complete. You can follow the steps above for the personal profile audit fairly similarly for your company page. Just add in inviting your connections to like your page! You can invite up to 100 at a time.
- Market your business by telling your company’s story and ideally lead back to how what you offer solves your target client’s problems.
- Again, you want to post consistently and vary your content. The company page is uniquely a great place to also share any news in your niche or press mentions.
- Publish! One of the biggest ways to increase your company’s reach on LinkedIn is to publish articles and start a monthly newsletter! If you already have a blog this is a great area to repurpose content.
Focusing on these three areas will help you make leaps and bounds in your LinkedIn game! Ultimately, shining on LinkedIn takes time, strategy, and consistency. If you’re not feeling up to the challenge of adding one more thing to your to-do list as a business owner, reach out to our team at hello@oliverandco.social! We’ll be more than happy to help consult with you on your page and talk about what organic social media management services might look like for both your personal profile and your business’s LinkedIn page.
Oliver and Co. Social 