By Caitlin Muir

What’s the best social platform for connecting with serious customers?  Facebook? Google+? Or maybe even Twitter?

Those are all great sites but if those are where you spend your days, you are missing out on a great resource. Maybe one of the most obvious resources – it’s LinkedIn. Remember it from your job-hunting days? The network of professionals has recently made some changes that have solidified it as a main contender for your time.

Maximizing LinkedIn for Sale and Social Media Marketing by Neal Schaffer is a must-read for any professional. It was published just after LinkedIn made sweeping changes to the networking abilities, making it the go-to resource.

As a member of the Millenial generation, LinkedIn is the network that I spend the least amount of time on. I’m naturally drawn to Facebook to connect with customers. But after reading this book, I’m going to be allotting more time to developing groups on LinkedIn.

The chapter that resonated with me the most was Chapter Five: Creating Your Business Outpost on LinkedIn Companies. It explained that the chances are there’s already a page about your company on LinkedIn. That’s a sobering thought. If you aren’t taking control of your brand, you are letting someone else do it.

Here are the five points that stuck out to me in this chapter –

1.      

Take control!    People are searching for information on your brand. You wouldn’t ignore them if they were standing in front of you so don’t ignore them online.

2.      

Establish your visual branding. Choose something that stands out from every other company while retaining your brand look and feel.

3.      

Write a keyword-optimized company description and specialties section.  SEO is important to set your company apart. It’s not just for search engines.

4.      

Make your company’s page social. This is where things can get personal. Make those connections with other professionals.

5.      

Location, location, location: take advantage of it. Let people know where they can find you, not just how they can connect with you.

The rest of the book goes into detail on how you can further optimize LinkedIn for your brand. Schaffer knows his stuff and presents it well. I’m planning on spending quite a bit more time on LinkedIn over the next months and taking a hard look at how I can incorporate it into my daily schedule.

I'm giving away a free copy of Maximizing LinkedIn for Sales and Marketing. Contact me for more information! 

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Caitlin Muir is the PR Manager for CollegePlus! in San Antonio, Texas.

**Social Media Club members (Open/Pro/SMB/Corporate) are welcome to participate in a free webinar hosted by Social Media Club featuring Neal Schaffer, Author of Maximizing LinkedIn for Sales and Social Media Marketing on Thursday, October 27th at 2pm EDT. Register here!**