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First, we are appalled at how poorly the valuable resource LinkedIn is being used in the manufacturing and service related industries.

For those of you who have been off world for the past couple of years, LinkedIn is a business-related social networking site originally designed for professional networking – in effect, a business Facebook. The difference is it works for the business to business environment at a much higher level with significantly less clutter and trash that turns people off. As of November 2011, LinkedIn reports more than 135 million registered users in more than 200 countries and territories. Talk about a network! And, even greater opportunities!

We’ll let LinkedIn sell their own products – a good video is available here.

Here is the takeaway – LinkedIn is not only a good tool to link and communicate with your entire customer and potential client base, but more importantly it is a great tool to establish and promote your company to the world. And, take it to the bank – Google and the search engines are all over LinkedIn. That’s why you should be also.

This reminds us of the early days of the internet gold rush. Everyone needed a home somewhere – so, some basic placeholder was put up just to have a presence. Terrible websites – even detrimental to the business, but a placeholder none the less. This is happening again – on LinkedIn. Thousands and thousands of professionals are networking, some with extended and detailed listings – including owners, and managers of companies everywhere. Great for you – less for the company.

To be honest, it’s currently very difficult to find companies using LinkedIn Company Pages to their full potential. You can find 100 people LinkedIn and working at the same company. Rich in details on experience, background and interests – yet, the minimum of a Company listing that does little to promote the Company, products and services.

This is one of those proverbial missed opportunities. A business that takes advantage of the full complement of LinkedIn tools for businesses can leverage it to stand out from its competitors – which is at the top of all marketing to do lists.

Want to improve things?

Put Some Clothes On It – A blank listing is going nowhere. Dress it up, fill it out – get the information on your Company up in force.

Build-up Followers – Just like any other social media, if you ain’t got followers, you ain’t got juice. Get with your vendors and other professionals and have them follow your company. Reciprocate the juice by following them. Most of you will have difficulty with this, but blog about your presence. Promote it on as many other social sites as you can muster. Get the buzz out! Then, keep your Company profile active with posts and updates.

Share Content – Once you have your listing up, enable and use company updates to share with your followers and the world. Just like your website, keeping it updated and engaging is the best way to attract new followers and keep current followers interested.

Put Up Your Products and Services – For goodness sakes – isn’t this the reason you’re in business? Put in the details – what you offer and why you are better. This is where the rubber meets the road. Promote special offers and details that at least promote your efforts. This is your sales page. Make it sell!

Get Some Recommendations – Testimonials are always good. Testimonials on LinkedIn are even better. Use the “Request Recommendations” button to ask clients, fans and friends to put in the good word.

Be Creative – Add banners, videos – whatever you have in the sales bag. If you don’t have them, maybe you should create them – for LinkedIn and your website.

Link In to Your Blog – Have a Blog? Maximize it. LinkedIn allows you to RSS feed your blog to your company page. Makes it automatic.

Spread The News – Are you newsworthy? Then activate “Share news about my company” on the New Module. News that shows up on the web will be posted to your listing.

Promote Your Employment Opportunities – If you have job opportunities at your Company, why not post them on a large network of great potential employees? A cheap option to add to your arsenal.

Check Your Results With Analytics – LinkedIn offers built-in tools to measure and improve the performance of your Company page. Oh, if you’re one of those companies that don’t use analytics on your website – fix that as well.

Is your LinkedIn Page ready for prime time? Need help? Please contact us for details on how we can get you really LinkedIn.