LinkedIn is important! 75% of all professionals in the US have a LinkedIn profile, which means if you want to do business you must have one too. LinkedIn is powerful tool that you can use to promote yourself if you are an individual consultant or a company with 2 or more employees. Here are my four tips that all entrepreneurs should do on LinkedIn.

Make sure your profile is 100%: If you do not have a headshot, please add a profession one. Typically, business owners who are not 100% lack recommendations. Look at your connections and ask at least three people to write why they love doing business with you. To make it easy, write the recommendation for them. This might be rough, but go ahead and do it.     Actually, you should get in habit of asking anyone you interact with to give to a recommendation. I have over 47 recommendations and counting, you can never have too many.

Know Your Keywords: Your keywords should be spread across your profile.  First your description of who you are should include keywords that your target customer would use to find you on the internet. Your summary and skills should also be peppered with keywords. This will also help you appear higher in Linkedin searches for experts.

Join LinkedIn Groups: You can join up to 50 groups on LinkedIn. You should join at least 10 groups that have your target customer in the group. You should have a strategy for how you will engage and attract members of the group to connect with you. Many groups allow fellow members to connect even though you do not know each other.
Answer Questions:  One of best ways to standout in LinkedIn is to answer questions.  It should become a part of your social media routine. Try to answer two to three questions a week and see how many new connections you will make for your business.

LinkedIn is a powerful tool and a great way to connect with decision makers.  Make sure you are in the best position to promote yourself and your business online. Do you have any other LinkedIn secrets to promote a small business? For more tips on how start or grow your small business subscribe to Melinda Emerson’s blog http://www.succeedasyourownboss.com.

Melinda F. Emerson, known to many as SmallBizLady is one of America’s leading small business experts. As a seasoned entrepreneur, professional speaker, and small business coach, she develops audio, video and written content to fulfill her mission to end small business failure.  As CEO of MFE Consulting LLC, Melinda educates entrepreneurs and Fortune 500 companies on subjects including small business start-up, business development and social media marketing. Forbes Magazine recently named her one of the Top 20 women for entrepreneurs to follow on Twitter. She hosts #SmallBizChat Wednesdays on Twitter 8-9pm ET for emerging entrepreneurs. She also publishes a resource blog www.succeedasyourownboss.com  Melinda is also the author of the national bestseller Become Your Own Boss in 12 months; A Month-by-Month Guide to a Business That Works. (Adams Media 2010)