The Benefits of LinkedIn Chicago IL

For B2B, It’s All About Linkedin
By Steve Fretzin, CEO of Sales Results

When the ball dropped on 2010, many people made resolutions to make this a year of financial success. Whether this means brokering new business relationships, increasing your current client base, or even reaching a new demographic of clientele, your resolution will no doubt require you to network more efficiently.

However, networking has changed a great deal in the last few years. Meeting up and “doing lunch” is still a beloved practice, but it has taken a back seat to other forms of communication, such as online social networking. Through online social networking, you can reach hundreds, if not thousands, of potential contacts and clients, all with the click of a mouse.

Indeed, thanks to online social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, networking has never been easier or more efficient. However, choosing between these 3 valuable sites can be complicated — but no one wants to waste valuable time and energy trying to navigate all three.

For home business owners, LinkedIn is generally the best bet. Here’s why:

• It brings the separation gap from 6° to 2°. LinkedIn not only allows you to connect with people you know, but it shows you the degree of separation between you and others you are not yet connected to. This allows you to discover who your connections are connected with, and many times they’re just the people you need to know!

• It allows you to reach the white collar crowd. When you’re using social networking to build your home business, LinkedIn is the best tool because it is used by so many white collar workers. This helps you not only reach a large audience, but your target audience.

• You can easily find people you know through school and work. Because the profile includes an extensive area to profile your school and work experience, it’s a great way to re-connect with people you’ve lost touch with along the way and someone you went to college with could now be your ideal business partner!

• You can use it to get quality introductions. LinkedIn has a very unique tool that allows you to ask people you are connected with to connect you with people they know in a professional way. A quality introduction like this is a great way to get your foot in the door and gives you more credibility than a cold call would.

If you are new to LinkedIn and aren’t sure where to start, consider the following pointers:

Make a Game Plan

Understand what you are looking to accomplish before beginning — Many people jump into using social media without a plan. If you are looking for more sales, be sure to create a large but focused network within the LinkedIn site. Going in blind is never a good idea.

Learn the Layout

Take an hour to go through the LinkedIn tutorials or attend a seminar — In less than two hours, you should be able to find a tutorial or explanation of LinkedIn to be sure you save valuable time down the road. You don’t want t...