Adding a LinkedIn button, oftentimes referred to as an icon, to a webpage is an easy way to encourage your visitors to share your page with their friends and family. The button essentially allows them to add you to their favorites on whatever service applies. The popular social networking service LinkedIn, which is primarily aimed at professional users, has a button feature that you can use to network your company or personal website and your profile on this networking service.

Using It

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Using a social networking button is actually quite easy. The way you find it on the LinkedIn system is by going to your profile. Under your profile, you will find an option to edit your public profile settings on the upper right-hand side of the screen. After you click on this, you will see a button that reads, “promote your profile with customized buttons”. Clicking on this button allows you to choose from a selection of social networking icons that you can include on your webpage. You can also include them in your e-mails, if you wish. After you select an appropriate design, you simply copy the code and paste it into whatever webpage or other service you wish to use it on.

Social networking has become one of the most important ways that businesses connect with potential clients. By harnessing the power of social networking and putting it to use on your blog, website or other Internet presence, you can make sure that all of your various web presences are networked together, which helps you to drive traffic to each of the sites that apply. It’s important to have all the social networking icons on all your webpages!

Considerations

Because LinkedIn is used by professionals more than it is used by individuals that want to share personal information, it is more sensible to open up your profile so that everybody can see it. When you use one of the social networking icons, you have to make certain that you have your profile set to public so that people can actually see your profile when they click on the icon. Clicking on the icon brings them to your profile, at which point they can choose to follow you or take whatever other action they wish. Hopefully, they will use this feature to share your profile with their friends.

Depending upon what service you are using, there may be different procedures for including the code for a LinkedIn Icon. If you’re using a WordPress blog, for instance, you may have this functionality built into your template already and not need to use the LinkedIn feature itself. The same applies if you’re using the Blogger service, where you have to enter the code as a new gadget.

This can be a powerful social networking tool, but be certain that you use it in the appropriate places. Most of the time, people will prefer to use their Facebook icons for personal sites and to use their LinkedIn profile as a way to network with other professionals, which makes it more appropriate to put these buttons on sites that are designed for business more than anything else.

Do you have LinkedIn on your webpages?

The LinkedIn social networking service is best known as a place where professionals meet. Many of those professionals, no doubt, have videos that they would like to share with individuals that may already be their colleagues or with individuals that may need their services and just not know it yet. The LinkedIn social networking service has recently added the ability to include videos on your profile and this should be of use to many different types of users on the site.

Ease of Use

The video upload feature is very easy to use, really having no differences compared to uploading other forms of media onto the social networking site. In fact, uploading video to LinkedIn is easy enough that anybody who has already uploaded the pictures or their slideshows will be able to figure it out simply by looking at the interface. The video upload feature is most powerful because of the potential it holds for users whose profession involves public speaking, giving seminars or for users that have a particular product to offer for which they have already created a marketing video.

By uploading a video, users can make it accessible to their entire network and make sure that they get the maximum value out of the video marketing materials that they paid for. This feature should find itself being heavily used by people who want to advertise the services of the corporation for which they work and by users who are trying to get out there and market themselves as consultants.

Compared to Other Services

While there are already plenty of other video sharing services available on the web, having this capability on LinkedIn have some advantages that those services do not offer. For instance, because LinkedIn is a professional site and because the people who use it are largely doing so because they want to expose themselves to the world in a way that emphasizes what they can do, you’ll be dealing with a more professional audience. Compare this to YouTube where your video may end up with inappropriate comments that reflect badly upon your business or upon your offerings. Of course, on LinkedIn you can control who actually sees the video by restricting it to your network, so you can be sure that you’re not going to end up with random people, or competitors, deliberately sabotaging your video in the comments section as they potentially could on regular video sharing sites.

There’s quite a bit of potential with this new offering from LinkedIn and it will no doubt be put to use for posting commercials and other advertising materials very quickly. Those businesses that want to show off their more personal side, however, can also put the service to use as a way to connect with their network in a less formal way. Given the thrust of the social network and the potential of video to make a very lasting impression, this could be a very powerful tool for many different types of businesses and the various entrepreneurs on LinkedIn.

Have you uploaded a video to LinkedIn?

Adding a button, oftentimes referred to as an icon, to a webpage is an easy way to encourage your visitors to share your page with their friends and family. The button essentially allows them to add you to their favorites on whatever service applies. The popular social networking service LinkedIn, which is primarily aimed at professional users, has a button feature that you can use to network your company or personal website and your profile on this networking service.

Using It

Using a social networking button is actually quite easy. The way you find it on the LinkedIn system is by going to your profile. Under your profile, you will find an option to edit your public profile settings on the upper right-hand side of the screen. After you click on this, you will see a button that reads, “promote your profile with customized buttons”. Clicking on this button allows you to choose from a selection of social networking icons that you can include on your webpage. You can also include them in your e-mails, if you wish. After you select an appropriate design, you simply copy the code and paste it into whatever webpage or other service you wish to use it on.

Social networking has become one of the most important ways that businesses connect with potential clients. By harnessing the power of social networking and putting it to use on your blog, website or other Internet presence, you can make sure that all of your various web presences are networked together, which helps you to drive traffic to each of the sites that apply.

Considerations

Because LinkedIn is used by professionals more than it is used by individuals that want to share personal information, it is more sensible to open up your profile so that everybody can see it. When you use one of the social networking icons, you have to make certain that you have your profile set to public so that people can actually see your profile when they click on the icon. Clicking on the icon brings them to your profile, at which point they can choose to follow you or take whatever other action they wish. Hopefully, they will use this feature to share your profile with their friends.

Depending upon what service you are using, there may be different procedures for including the code for a LinkedIn button. If you’re using a WordPress blog, for instance, you may have this functionality built into your template already and not need to use the LinkedIn feature itself. The same applies if you’re using the Blogger service, where you have to enter the code as a new gadget.

This can be a powerful social networking tool, but be certain that you use it in the appropriate places. Most of the time, people will prefer to use their Facebook icons for personal sites and to use their LinkedIn profile as a way to network with other professionals, which makes it more appropriate to put these buttons on sites that are designed for business more than anything else.

Photo by Coletivo Mambembe

If you are new to the idea of social media marketing then it’s important to start with a refresher course on the most important websites making names for themselves and how you, as a business owner or perhaps even a social media manager, can use these online tools to your advantage.

Firstly, do not copy and paste your profile information and status updates to every major website. You must create a strategy in which you use each social media website for a unique and relevant purpose. It’s better to not use a website at all than it is to create duplicate social media pages. Why is this? Because (a) search engines typically penalize web pages that feature duplicate content and (b) you’re communicating with the same audience saying the same thing.

Successful social media managers suggest that you strategize and decide upon a special purpose for each website that you decide to incorporate into your campaign. Let’s consider the four most important websites and effective ways to use them for business.

Face Book/Fan Page: Face Book allows business owners to create either a personal or business page. If the owner chooses to incorporate a personal page into business, he or she will be allowed more options than using a strictly business profile. At this point, the owner can create a fan page or business page and serve as an administrator of the page. He or she will then have the ability to add friends and perform standard Face Book features that are not available with a business page. Face Book can be used for business in the way of advertising new products, services or discounts, as well as sharing multimedia images. Face Book is also ideal for networking, as users can view friends of friends.

LinkedIn: LinkedIn is a professional website helping people to expand their network of friends and acquaintances. Unlike Face Book and MySpace, LinkedIn promotes a business first attitude. Features here include people finders, job listings and questions and answers. LinkedIn can be used to increase your visibility, connect with more companies and users, enhance your search rankings (since LinkedIn is web searchable) and perform company reference checks. Some people love LinkedIn because it allows them to “stalk” interviewers and potential employers, or potential employees on the management side. LinkedIn also uses keywords to its advantage, making networking much easier even for newcomers.

Twitter: Twitter limits all of your links and statements to 140 words. Twitter is ideal for sharing status updates, connecting with important people, answering questions, providing insight into the daily experience, and searching for relevant keywords to your business. There are also many valuable web tools like Who Should I Follow and Summize, which give you further advantages in searching.

MySpace: MySpace operates similarly to Face Book but with many more options in the way of formatting the page, creating a unique theme and lending you more web space. MySpace is popular among younger users and is the preferred social media site for web-savvy merchants and entertainers who want to focus more on visual spectacle.

Blogging: WordPress, Blogger, Tumblr and SquareSpace are among the most popular blog sites online. Practically every popular social media site has limitations on how long posts can be, thereby giving the advantage to blog sites when it comes to full features and long commentaries. However, full-length blogs are among the most effective tools you can use for establishing professional credibility and targeting new leads with keywords.

All of these popular websites are being used to promote businesses and encourage interaction with the large online community. Have you signed up and filled out your profiles? More importantly, have you devised a short-term and long-term strategy as to your goals and objectives in each particular social media site? This attention to detail could spell the difference between success and an embarrassing waste of time ala PeopleofWalMart.com. Keep your social media page positive, welcoming and above all else, interesting!

“You have heard about social media, but you may not be familiar with how the idea works and what websites are the most valuable to pursue. Learn about the top social media sites and how you can use them for business.”

Photo by pro1pr

Of all the social media platforms out there, LinkedIn stands as one of the best ones to promote businesses online. Although compared to Facebook and Twitter, LinkedIn’s popularity is low, that does not make it an inferior platform. In fact, the sole purpose of LinkedIn is to provide businesses a better social media platform to market or run their businesses on. Most of the features on LinkedIn are therefore made and integrated for small businesses. So, there is no doubt about the fact that LinkedIn can be of great help in boosting your online business.

Here are some tips if you really want to use LinkedIn in order to promote your small business or online business:

Stay Fresh and Stay Current:
The first and the foremost tip for using any social media platform is to keep your profile updated. Posting one post a day can really help you be noticed by your connections. In other words, you need to keep your visitors engaged and updated with the current news of your business. The best part about LinkedIn is that you can also share the updates on Twitter and Facebook. So this means that once you update your LinkedIn page you can then update your Twitter and Facebook page as well directing your connections towards LinkedIn. That for sure is a cool feature!

You can search for new talents:
Trust me, if you want to expand your team then LinkedIn is the best platform for doing so. If you don’t know it yet, LinkedIn has become one of the fastest and most reliable platforms for finding new talent. If you really want to expand your team then you can post opportunities on LinkedIn because not only it will help you out in finding the right candidate but will also make people visit your profile more often. Think of it –thousands of candidates will visit your LinkedIn profile and of course some of them can become potential customers.

Ask others – get noticed!
A very important feature on LinkedIn is that you can start groups and Q&A sessions. For instance, you are struck with a problem regarding your business or you want to conduct a survey, you can do that by starting a Q&A session. This is particularly important if you want to really be noticed by others. People will try and help you out and of course they will visit your profile page to learn more about you and your business. In other words, you will gain exposure and will receive feedback which may make your business more alluring for customers online.

Start promoting your events:
Whether you are going for a business meeting or a special seminar related to your industry, you can share updates with your connections. On other hand, you can also promote your own events on LinkedIn and invite people to attend. This works similar to how it works on Facebook. And, believe it or not, this is one great way of getting the attention you have always wanted from your connections!

Have you used LinkedIn to promote your events?

photo credit: nan palmero

LinkedIn is a social networking site that is meant for businesses.  This professional networking giant
was founded in December 2002 and was officially launched for public use in May 2003.  LinkedIn is open for worldwide use and as of August 2010 LinkedIn reported over seventy five million users. This site is multilingual which enhances its international appeal.  The site caters to English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, German and French speaking users.

LinkedIn is comparable to the other social marketing networks in that you make connections to other people.  These connections may be classmates, coworkers, colleagues or other friends in business.  This is a great place for not only larger corporations but also smaller businesses as well as self employed individuals and freelance workers.

Let’s face it, the employment market has become pretty brutal in the recent years and many job-seekers have lamented that they wished that they knew somebody that knew that certain somebody that could help them get a job.  LinkedIn makes that possible.  It is a great resource for both the job seeker and the employer.

For the job seeker, there are several companies that advertise openings right on the network.  You are able to follow companies that you are interested in working for.  This allows you can do some research on the company, read reviews and feedback about the company, and follow that company’s growth, including employment opportunities.  So as a job seeker, make sure that your profile is accurate and free of any errors.  This may be your first introduction to your perspective employer.

For employers LinkedIn provides a place to find new employees.  You can view the previous employment of prospects and you can also see some feedback and recommendations of people who are interested in your company.  Social media tells a lot about a person and you can learn how technically savvy they are and what level of netiquette they practice.  Employing those that are tech savvy is very important to today’s businesses.

LinkedIn also allows you to connect with former classmates and colleagues and see where they are in business.  You never know when you might have a friend in a business that you need.  You may need a lawyer and of course a lawyer needs clients.  This is an incredible networking tool.  It’s definitely better than rummaging through thousands of business cards or having your business card end up at the bottom of someone’s pile.

photo credit: mkorcuska

With the ever-growing popularity of social media sites, more and more business organizations are engaging themselves in this trend. Many companies and organizations are looking for ways to better promote themselves or small businesses through the use of social media accounts. However, with so many social media sites to join and to remain active, the company owners are looking to hire social media managers to assist with manage their social media accounts.

This is why recently there are many social media managers emerging on the Net. Some of these managers may have taken reputable courses or certifications that taught them how to deal with social media accounts and other means of promotion. Other social media managers just considered themselves as social media geeks that know a lot about the ins and outs in the social media trend.

Many social media managers share their products or services with the world through social media accounts such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Digg, Delicious, and many more. But most of the time they manage Twitter and Facebook accounts because these are the giant social media sites.

These social media managers act as if they own your Twitter and Facebook accounts. In Twitter for instance, social media managers use techniques to gain more followers for each account. Either the manager does it themselves or they advice you on how to gather more relevant followers to your account. More followers mean more potential customers to for your business. In Facebook they use the same strategy as Twitter.

Another role social media managers do is they see to it that every account you have in each social media site works everyday. This means that each account is active twenty-four hours a day, which increases visibility for your products and organization.

Other practices that social media managers do is that they resolve issues like browser capabilities, effective passwords, clear out spam, and some other related issues concerning online marketing.

In addition, they make sure that your business increases in popularity on the Net through blog posts and engagements on forums and other social media platforms. They simply transform the traditional word-of-mouth into writing opinions, comments, and reviews on other websites and blogs.

What is more amazing about being a social media manager they can correct or resolve problems quickly, most work virtually from the comfort of their own home.  They can take a client call that wants something changed on his/her Twitter account.  After hanging up with the client the task can be completed in just a matter of 10-15 minutes while doing other tasks.  Which is great for both the client and the social media manager.

Being a social media manager requires some unique qualities to perform the job. First they need to be passionate, very knowledgeable, have good communication, be honest and authentic with their message these eminent a great social media consultant.

Since the innovation of Twitter and Facebook, what better way to promote your business than hiring an excellent social media manager?

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About Karriann

Karriann Graf is a Social Media Manager/Strategist for small businesses and real estate professionals. Her focus is to help you learn about the best Social Media methods to connect with your clients and customers and increase your revenue.

You started a small business and want to expand it, but don’t have much money to spend on your advertising needs. This really isn’t a problem because there are many ways to advertise your business using free options.

The Internet provides us with one of the best ways to use word of mouth advertising campaigns to different people throughout the world. Here are some of the ways you can use the ‘net for free advertising for your small business:

1. Use press releases to advertise your products and services. Press releases can be used to promote an event or to launch a new product. They’re an easy way to promote your company and you can submit them to several different directories online. Some allow you to post them free, while others have upgrade releases that cost a fraction of what traditional advertisements would cost.

2. Join message board forums. This seems like a small way to advertise, but it’s really not. Some boards allow you to provide a link to your website in your profile signatures. People who visit the forum are curious and will check out the link to see what it is that you’re offering.

They’ll pass on that information to other people they know who may be looking for what you have to offer. If you join message boards that nicely complement your company’s products, then you may be able to post on the forum letting everyone know what you have that they need and where they can get it. You’ll have to check the forum’s Terms of Service to see what’s allowed.

3. Start a blog – or even a podcast! If you market your blog or podcast well, people will return time and time again to see what’s new with your business. If you decide to create a blog keep it fresh by posting a new blog post a few times a week. They’ll send other people from their own blogs and pass on the links to their friends.

4. Use social networking sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube and MySpace. Some of these social sites like Facebook and MySpace allow you to join groups with likeminded people with whom you can connect. You can easily position yourself as the “go-to” person in your niche, and post links to your site promoting your products and services. There are broad social networks, like Squidoo, that showcase topics on every inch of the spectrum, and niche-specific social sites like the one for eco-friendly enthusiasts or baby boomers.

5. Use article marketing. Providing articles on other sites that have links to your website can drive more traffic to your domain. Using keywords in the articles can help the search engines find them and funnel more customers through to your offer.

It’s not hard to find numerous free ways to promote your small business – even if it’s an offline venture that you own. Every business needs a home on the ‘net, and the Internet can help you develop a loyal following in any demographic.

What other ways have you advertised on a shoestring budget? Leave your comments below.

Exclusive Report – 500 Million User’s Can’t Be Wrong! Unlock the Unlimited Earnings Potential with the Latest Craze…..FACEBOOK! Fact: If you’re not tapping into a worldwide 500 million person “List” … You’re Losing Money!




About Karriann

Karriann Graf is a Social Media Manager/Strategist for small businesses and real estate professionals. Her focus is to help you learn about the best Social Media methods to connect with your clients and customers and increase your revenue.

The most important person, when it comes to social media, is a Social Media Manager. A Social Media Manger is the person who is in charge of ensuring that your social media marketing campaign succeeds and grows. If you employ a Social Media Manager then you will find that the experience and increased revenue will skyrocket fast in addition to freeing up some of your own time. Your Social Media Manager can compile and advise you on the best strategies that should run hand in hand with the current social trends.

Social media is currently the best way to network and market ideas so that your consumer base can grow and develop. By using networking sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube etc, you are able to network like you have never been able to before. The days are gone when you had complicated equations and campaigns to highlight your product! Social media takes away all of that and has replaced it with a simpler one to one system that allows the prospective client to feel like their interests are being taken to heart and that the potential product or service you are offering is tailored to them.

To get your business thriving you need to incorporate social media into your everyday workings and the best way to do this is to hire a Social Media Manager. Your Social Media Manager will open, design and handle all of your online social media profiles. With your business name constantly being displayed on your potential customers networking sites they will choose your brand name over other peoples as displays in their sight then creates displays in their mind which in turn leads them to your product or service. Having someone to reply to their questions, messages and posts on the networking site allow them to feel that you really care and you’re not just a name.  This kind of human contact makes them trust you and allows them to be more open and they become a little more willing to listen. All of these efforts help to break down the barriers that your prospects may have at first.

Social Media Managers maintain the pages to keep reminding old and current customers, fans and clients of your presence as well as attracting new customers, fans and clients with giveaways, research interest polls, post interesting facts and special promotions, and service the accounts at all times. With so many different social networking sites out there, hiring a Social Media Manager is a great option since they are right on the pulse of every change, every trend and everything to do with your business, service and/or industry. This allows them to keep your company one step ahead of the competition at all times. Regardless of the size of your company, niche or service, a Social Media Manager can help you to make your business part of the growing world of social media and provide your growing consumer base with a point of contact that fits into their everyday life.

Exclusive Report – 500 Million User’s Can’t Be Wrong! Unlock the Unlimited Earnings Potential with the Latest Craze…..FACEBOOK! Fact: If you’re not tapping into a worldwide 500 million person “List” … You’re Losing Money!




About Karriann

Karriann Graf is a Social Media Manager/Strategist for small businesses and real estate professionals. Her focus is to help you learn about the best Social Media methods to connect with your clients and customers and increase your revenue.