Using LinkedIn to Boost Your Business

You don’t have to be told how important a social presence is to your business. You've probably set up a Facebook fan page, created a Twitter account and perhaps even a Google+ to boost your search rankings. These things are crucial and a very good start. However, there is another up-and-coming social element that you may be missing in your social mix. If you’re a business professional, you’ve undoubtedly come across the networking site LinkedIn. This social platform has been around for nearly a decade but has been fairly slow at growing its user base. The site was founded in 2003 and reached 175 million users just this past summer. Of course, we all know LinkedIn as a great way to network with fellow business professionals and to screen potential hires or seek job opportunities for oneself. However, LinkenIn also holds a substantial amount of untapped potential for a business in generating valuable sales leads. For instance, 59% of all LinkedIn users earn more than $50k a year and 36% earn over $100k annually. Certainly, there are fewer users than other major players in social (one billion users on Facebook and 500 million on Twitter). However, the average user on LinkedIn is more affluent and educated in comparison to average users of Facebook and Twitter. Your business’s presence on the professional networking site LinkedIn can allow you to net a profit from this incredibly targeted audience.