What exactly is LinkedIn? It is an online network of people all over the world. While technically, it is one of many social networking sites on the web, LinkedIn is probably the best known and most widely used business networking site, but how does a business benefit from using linkedin?

Linked in  Company Pages?

Company Pages are a company’s profile of record on LinkedIn and a powerful way to speak to millions of professionals through word-of-mouth recommendations and trusted testimonials. It’s like a LinkedIn profile for a company.

For LinkedIn members, Company Pages are a great way to research companies you’re interested in, follow them to stay updated, see what kind of people work there, and even review the products and services you use.

For companies, Company Pages present an opportunity to reveal the human side of your company. Provide a peek at the individuals behind your brand and highlight how members use your products. Your Company Page offers tools to bring your brand to life.

Other Benefits

Use it to Find Business Clients, Partners and Service Providers

Being a member of LinkedIn will help you to build a professional network to find possible clients, partners, service providers and experts in your field.

Use it to Find Expert Answers

LinkedIn’s newest product, LinkedIn Answers, aims to enable this online. The product allows you to get answers to your business-related questions from both your network and the greater LinkedIn network. Answers can be found on a whole range of subjects including finance or marketing. Do you provide a service or have expert knowledge in an area where your information could be searched?  If so this can be a powerful way of gaining new clients.

Use it to Increase Your Credibility

You can list your past jobs, current role, qualifications, awards and other achievements something like an online CV or statement of capabilities. But best of all, people can say nice things about your business via testimonials and references.

Use Linkein as a Recruiting Tool

Headhunters are now using LinkedIn as one of their primary tools to source new talent for employers. Business Owners and Employers have also become aware of just how useful LinkedIn is to search for talented professionals to fill positions – cutting out the middle man and major advertising costs.

Use Linked in as Blog Promotion Tool

Bloggers can use LinkedIn to drive traffic to their blogs and get some exposure. It has many features available for bloggers to allow them to share value and build relationships. The best way to start with Linkedin is by adding your blog(s) to your profile.