A LinkedIn account can open doors to new business partnerships, potentials clients, and a wealth of information to aid in building a business. Although it is not exactly rocket science, establishing strong relationships in LinkedIn is quickly replacing lunch meetings and cold calls. The reason why is simple. You can easily meet and introduce yourself to a host of interesting and interested business contacts all with a few minutes. More importantly, you gain exposure to many other business owners and clients from across the street as well as across the world!
There is a failure for business owners when using LinkedIn! About 80% of LinkedIn profiles are filled with resume information instead of business information. If you are asking yourself why this matters, the answer is quite clear to any marketer within a hundred paces. You have to present yourself in such a way that it shows visitors why they would want to meet you and what you have to offer as a connection. Be realistic, when you look at your LinkedIn profile, do you see a business that is credible? Your LinkedIn profile should be the online equivalent of your elevator speech because you only get 9 seconds to impress the person who reads it. The definition of bad is if the person comes away from your profile unimpressed. Worse would be if someone elects not to read it at all.
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About Doug Simpler — Doug manages the creative department at The Simpler Group, he strives to help customers turn vision into reality by creating unique and custom web designs. He also does print design and video/photo production. He loves the rock music, locally grown organic food, swimming, and reading.
