LinkedIN is a tool to research people and companies, reconnect with past business associates, and generate business opportunities. The statistics for LinkedIN are impressive - 7 million Canadian users (over 1.6 million in Toronto alone) with 25% of users spending at least 5 hours a week on the social media platform.  Your prospects are hanging out on LinkedIN - go find them!

Here's 5 tips to improve your experience as small business owner.

1. Build a LinkedIN company page

Your company page is used to raise brand awareness, connect with your target audience, and servers as a foundation for your company's presence on LinkedIN.  You can showcase what your small business in Canada has to offer, tell members what you do best, and give them compelling reasons to get you know better.

2. Optimize your profile for SEO

If you want to be found on LinkedIN, be strategic with your content and optimize your profile for key search terms related to your small business. Pay special attention to using keywords in titles as these will receive higher rankings. Your prospective clients are searching LinkedIN for your service - make sure you are in position to rank for their searches!

3. Optimize public profile url

By default, LinkedIN will assign you a random (and ugly looking) URL for your page.  Clean up and customize your url to make your profile search engine friendly, easier to share, and more attractive.

4. Post engaging content

Posting high quality content on LinkedIN will do wonders for your business. You will rank better in search, establish yourself as an authority (over time), and stay top of mind. A few things to keep in mind with your content: publish or share frequently (2-3 times per week), pick topics your audience will find interesting, and always respond to comments. 

5. Take advantage of groups

LinkedIN groups is a tremendous way to reach and interact with people.  There are groups for colleges, industries, professional organizations, common interests, and hundreds more. Join groups where you prospects and customers are likely to hang out or create your own group centered around your business and the problems you solve.  Running a group will establish yourself as a thought leader.  Morever, you can conduct market research by polling the group members and asking for product reviews and testimonials.

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