Linkedin Marketing Etiquette

Think of LinkedIn as a nuclear Rolodex with over 35 million users.  It's easy to use and has a ton word-of-mouth marketing power.  LinkedIn is useful for brand building, collaboration, group organization and business development.  As with any new medium, the best way to learn and get comfortable is to just get in there and start using the network.  Here are few basics to get your business started.

Cultivate Your Network

LinkedIn is a contact network consisting of your direct connections, the connections of each of their connections (termed second degree connections) and also the connections of second degree connections (termed third degree connections).  First and foremost, get in the habit of connecting with all your business contacts.  When you get a business card at an event,  find the contact on LinkedIn and invite them to join your network.

Expand your network by browsing or searching for second or third degree connections you wish to meet.  LinkedIn let's you search by a variety of powerful terms. In addition to Name, search by Company, Title, Location, Industry and group affiliations.  Then, use the Get Introduced feature to obtain an introduction through a mutual and trusted contact.

Attend to Your Profile

This is critical.  Put your best foot forward and make yourself more "search-able" by presenting yourself honestly and completely.   Reconstruct your scholastic and business history.  Sell yourself and your business.  The more you put in the more you get.  Humanize your profile by attending to details, expressing your interests and including a picture.  Make sure your most important attributes are highlighted in your Public Profile by clicking on the View Public Profile link.  Make edits or rearrange if necessary.

Get Recommendations

Some people go overboard with recommendations. Ideal business recommendations are specific and brief.  If you've done good work, don't be shy.  Request a recommendation from your clients.  One subtle approach is to provide an unsolicited recommendation to a client or partner.  Hopefully they will reciprocate by endorsing your solid work and relationship.

Status Updates, Blog Feeds and Answers

Unlike other social mediums, it is NOT OK to incessantly update your LinkedIn status (called "What are you working now?)  I recommend once a day.  Be sure to keep the subject matter business oriented.   If you have a blog, take your marketing to the next level by plugging a blog feed into your profile.  LinkedIn also let's you ask and answer questions among your network.  The best questions and answers deal with real substantive problems, not transparently self-promoting "plants" - so don't be cheesy.  Updates, feeds and answers are critical marketing features because your network will periodically receive insightful updates about your activity and keep you top-of-mind.

Join Groups

Groups are very popular on LinkedIn for many industries and are a great way to jump start a stalling network.  They are also useful for organizing, communicating and finding events.  Many traditional or established groups use LinkedIn to recruit and collaborate.   Again, you get what you put in.  If you add authentic value and participate actively you and your business will be noticed.

Submitted by Mark Bradford. Mark is a friend of C.H.I.P.s and co-founder of ChirpUp.com, a Chicago-based company helping business owners navigate their way through social media.  Mark can be followed on twitter here.  Mark will be speaking at a C.H.I.P.s meeting in May 2009 about using Linkedin to promote your business, more information will soon be posted on our calendar.