Jewelry-Making Articles

Using LinkedIn to Connect with Other Businesses and Clients

When people think of social networking, Facebook and Twitter often come to mind. However, these aren't the only options when it comes to building a presence on the Internet. LinkedIn is quickly becoming a go-to website for individuals interested in operating a small business. As an entrepreneur, you might want to look into creating a LinkedIn profile for your beading business in order to connect with clients and other companies in the industry.

Similar to Facebook and other social networking sites, LinkedIn allows to you provide a slew of personal information to visitors, including information about your profession and company. The website is a hub for businesses looking to hire individuals, meaning posting your past experiences and resume on your LinkedIn profile is perfectly acceptable.

LinkedIn also has a special section for company profiles, which is where you will want to go to create an account for your beading business. Here, you can provide information to the public and news updates on your company as it grows.

When you first start setting up your LinkedIn company profile, you will see a series of input forms for you to fill out. Here is some of what you will see:

  • Company name. This is where you will list your small beading business name. Try to keep it recognizable and easy to search for by clients.

  • Admins. This section is for you to determine who will serve as an administrator to your LinkedIn profile. You can allow specific designated users to access the page and its settings or give permissions to everyone with a company email address.

  • Company description. This is one of the most important parts of your LinkedIn company profile page. The section can provide additional information on your beading business to those who may be unfamiliar with your company. Because your profile can be viewed by the public, it's important to expand your ability to reach out to potential customers by offering as much description about your goods as possible.

  • Specialities. This section is similar to the company description portion, but in an abbreviated form. Here, you can list a few keywords or phrases that pertain to your small beading business. Try to use this section to sum up the goods and services you provide to consumers.

  • Auto-linking to other websites. LinkedIn is aware it's probably not the only social networking website you use. For this reason, you can automatically link your various accounts to your LinkedIn profile. Don't be afraid to stream Tweets or company blog posts to your account--this might even draw more interest from potential clients.

  • Additional connections. LinkedIn allows users to manually link to other websites associated to the business as well. Don't forget to take advantage of this opportunity. It's important to link to your official beading business website, as well as any blogs that may pertain to your company. People who visit your profile are most likely going to be looking for additional information.

  • Small details. Because consumers don't want to hunt down information on your company, make it easier for them by writing the description of your business in detail on your LinkedIn profile. Make sure to list things such as the founding date of your company, the number of employees and any other data you feel may be relevant to your customers.
Once you have filled out a majority of your LinkedIn profile, the next step is to begin using the account to your full advantage. Make sure all of your information is available to the public. This will give people the opportunity to find you through a search engine.

Stay on top of your network as well. It's important to see who you're connected to and how their LinkedIn friends might be related to you as well. This can help you build your online presence and possibly expand your client base.

Try to get recommendations from your connections as well. One of the best aspects of LinkedIn is it allows users to provide other testimonials to boost the reputation of their connections. If you're a beading business owner, this can be a valuable tool. Customers are always looking for reviews to read about products prior to committing to a purchase.

To make sure you're on top of your LinkedIn account, consider downloading a mobile application for your phone. This will allow you to stay updated on what's happening on your profile on a regular basis. If you can't handle the responsibility of maintaining the account, consider hiring an individual to help you with your social networking tools.


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