We are frequently asked about LinkedIn. And, the most common question we get is...."so I signed up on LinkedIn, but I don't know what I'm supposed to do with it. Does it have any value?"

Let's consider the numbers. LinkedIn has more than 20 million users. 148,000 executives sign in everyday. The average age of a LinkedIn user is 41-years old, with $110k in income. Every Fortune 500 company is listed/represented on LinkedIn. 500,000 SMBs are LinkedIn users. Over 150 industries are included. And the list goes on.

The answer to "does it have value" is YES. Though as with most things in sales and marketing that have value, it requires more than just "signing up." You have to put some up front effort into it and then you have to keep working it. But when you do, you can use it in the following valuable ways:

• Prospecting. You can locate and introduce yourself to contacts in the accounts you are targeting. Communicating through LinkedIn makes you 30 times more likely to get a response than through a direct email or phone call. Also, you can learn a lot about your prospect by reading their profile (what they're currently working on, their employment history, who they recommend and who recommends them, where they went to school, their personal interests, etc.)
  
  
• Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Having a COMPLETE profile on LinkedIn will drastically improve your SEO results. You can include up to three URLs in your profile that are indexed by Google and other search engines, as well as create your own LinkedIn URL that is searchable. There's more about how to best optimize your profile in our LinkedIn Checklist (see end of article).
  
  
• Job Search/Recruiting and Reference Checks. If you are searching for a job or hiring a sales and marketing position, LinkedIn can help. Not only can you search for positions and candidates on LinkedIn, you can verify job experience and contact other contacts within LinkedIn who were at the company during the same time for references. As the one searching for the job, you can also pre-screen potential bosses and co-workers!
  
  
• Thought Leadership.LinkedIn has a Q&A section where members can ask questions about several pertinent topics. This is a great place to get some of your most pressing questions answered. AND, if you are trying to establish yourself or your company as thought leaders, this is the place for you to post answers to others who have posted questions. When doing so, you are allowed to include URLs and links to support your answer, helping you to both promote your site and improve your SEO.

LinkedIn can be a very powerful business networking tool--one that no sales or marketing person should be without. LinkedIn does have several membership levels, ranging from free to $500/yr, so evaluate the one that makes the most sense for you and go for it.

Download our free LinkedIn Checklist and become a power user today!

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The Sales and Marketing Toolkits BUNDLED contains:

• Over 60 sales and marketing templates (DOC, XLS, PPT, and PDFs)
  
  
• Loads of "how-to" articles and examples
  
  
• 8 Training sessions (MP3 audio files) for your computer or iPod