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How to Handle Recent LinkedIn Company Page Changes

April 17, 2014 by Rosemary Leave a Comment

On April 14, 2014, LinkedIn removed the separate Products & Services page associated with all Company Pages.

If you had been trying to build a credible presence on LinkedIn, this change may have removed some valuable information from your Company Page. YouÂll need to remain calm, and take some action in order to rebuild your corporate profile.

According to HubSpot, LinkedIn is the best social network for lead generation, so you should definitely have an active Company Page.

Recover Your Product Recommendations

This LinkedIn update had the effect of ÂdisappearingÂ all accumulated product and service recommendations across the board. But donÂt freak out yet. Until May 30, 2014, you can still request the contents of any recommendations that were on the site as of March 4, 2014.

If you plan to repurpose any of those old recommendations (in other web pages or in print), be sure to get permission from the person who wrote it.

Rebuild Your Product Information

The good news is that LinkedIn now has Showcase pages, where you can highlight individual products or services within your company page.

To add a Showcase page:

Go to your company page and click the down arrow next to the blue Edit button.
Select Create a Showcase Page.
Enter a page name and assign administrators for the Showcase Page.
Click Create.

Showcase pages contain a single large image across the top, and can include specific status update content. LinkedIn users can follow Showcase pages specifically, if they choose. LinkedIn also provides separate analytics data for Showcase pages, which makes it easier for you to find out which campaigns or products are stirring up interest.

What to Do Now

Now that the LinkedIn Company Page is more tightly focused, all of the attention is on status updates. Make sure that your LinkedIn company updates include a variety of content, including text and links to a website, image, SlideShare presentation, or YouTube/Vimeo video. Make sure your content is valuable to your existing customers and prospects.

Consider sharing or commenting on your customers’ status updates as your Company Page. Remember to reciprocate when they follow your page as well.

ItÂs also a good idea to commit to a routine of updates, so that your company shows up in the news feed on a regular basis.

The upshot is that you can no longer get away with a “set it and forget it” mentality on LinkedIn (or any other social network). You need to maintain and update your corporate profiles, and stay on top of platform changes.

Have you responded to the LinkedIn changes already? Have you done anything creative with your Company Page on LinkedIn?

Author’s Bio: Rosemary OÂNeill is an insightful spirit who works for social strata — a top ten company to work for on the Internet . Check out the Social Strata blog. You can find Rosemary on Google+ and on Twitter as @rhogroupee

Photo Credit: melolou via Compfight cc

Writing a Company Profile in LinkedIn – Make It Short and Effective

June 20, 2013 by Rosemary 2 Comments

By Leslie Anglesey

LinkedIn is the leading social networking site for professionals. With over 200 million members (and growing), it is an excellent place for you to promote your products and services, find talent and share news and updates. If you’re in business, you should be taking advantage of this business-to-business resource.

If you want to motivate viewers to follow your business, you need to create a compelling profile. Here are some tips that will make your profile stand out from the pack.

1. List your most important product or service first.

Don’t make viewers hunt through the listing to determine what your company is all about. Make it clear from the outset exactly what your company sells, makes, offers, distributes, or does.

2. Avoid writing with jargon.

Write a draft of your company description. Go back and read it from the point of view of someone who has just clicked on the profile and who knows nothing about your company. Is the description clear and easy to understand? If you are left scratching your head wondering what it really means, then you need to go back and do some editing. For writing use short, simple language that talks directly to the person reading the profile, not above the person’s head.

3. Add an image to grab visitors’ attention.

The cover photo appears at the top of the home page of your LinkedIn company page. Make sure that you choose one that is visually appealing and appropriate to what your company does. The idea is to entice viewers to learn more about your business. Be sure to include a message in the image that describes what your company does in a few words; your summary doesn’t appear until the bottom of the home page.

4. Give your description from a unique angle.

The “About Us” portion of the LinkedIn profile will be at the bottom of your home page, but that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t take care to present your company in an interesting manner. What sets your business apart from your competition? Share something about how it was founded or a noteworthy accomplishment. Let your visitors see the human side of the business. People like to buy from people, not corporations, and if you can let them get to know your company, they are more likely to become customers instead of browsers after reading your profile.

You want your company profile page to be found through relevant searches, so be sure to use appropriate keywords in your About Us section.

5. Fill in your products and services tab.

This is the section of the profile where you can include product images and descriptions, as well as links where customers can buy from you online. Fill in this part of your profile to highlight what your company has to offer. By writing your advantages you can show potential customers the benefits of your products and services directly from your LinkedIn profile.

6. Add a career information page

LinkedIn is a great resource for finding talent for your business. If you are currently looking to expand your workforce, add a Careers page to your LinkedIn profile. Job seekers are using this resource to find opportunities and you could be missing out on some great candidates if you don’t have a way to connect with them.

7. Include company updates.

Give people a reason to check out your company profile by writing some interesting information. You will want to create some content that your followers will find noteworthy. Has your company reached a sales goal, won an award, or introduced a new product? Write it on the LinkedIn profile page! These are the kinds of events that you will want to share with your followers.

You can also write testimonials from customers or product or service reviews on the profile. Feature them on the profile page so that new visitors can see your company in a positive light from the beginning. You’ll want to make a positive impression, and it’s a way to fill in space without having to keep creating content yourself.

Writing your LinkedIn profile should be an ever-evolving process. Don’t let it grow stale. Feature different pages so that your visitors can see some fresh content when they visit, you’ll be able to use this resource to help your business grow.

Have you buffed up your company LinkedIn profile lately?

Author’s Bio: Leslie Anglesey, PhD, is an affiliate professor who loves to dedicate all her free time to writing. She is an editor at http://www.essaytigers.com and is always helping others to bring passion to their writing.

Image: Ideagirlmedia via Flickr CC.

Quick LinkedIn Checkup

February 27, 2013 by Rosemary Leave a Comment

By Charles Mburugu

LinkedIn is the world’s leading professional social network. With a membership of almost 80 million, it has become a popular marketing tool for many businesses and individuals. Here are some tips which will help you make the most out of LinkedIn.

Your LinkedIn Profile

Your LinkedIn profile is basically an online resume. Therefore, it needs to be updated and complete. Some of the details which need to be completed include:

Your profile summary
Your current position
Two past positions
Your education
Your specialties
At least three recommendations

Be sure to add a clear, professional-looking photo of yourself to the profile. A good photo will not only reveal your identity, but will also be a vital aspect of your personal brand.

Choose Your Keywords

Many professionals and businesses are using LinkedIn to identify top talent. Therefore, you need to think about what keywords do you want to be known for. Carry out some research to find out which keywords would be most suitable for your skill set, and make sure these words appear prominently on your profile. This will result in a high page rank, thus ensuring better visibility for your profile.

Customize Your URL

Make sure your name appears in your LinkedIn URL. This will make you more visible in the LinkedIn search bar, as well as in search engines. To make changes, go to “edit profile”. Scroll down to the “public profile” section, click on the edit link and add your name to the URL. If you have a common name, you could consider adding a period or hyphen between the first and last name.

Add Your Full Experience History

Don’t leave out any details of your work history. A full history gives a clearer indication of your abilities. Remember to include targeted keywords to enhance your ranking. You can find many free templates online which will help you create your digital resume. Once complete, the resume can then be imported to your profile.

Make Use of LinkedIn Applications

You can enhance your LinkedIn experience by using one of the many applications available. Events and TripIt would be useful for people who travel a lot and want to share their experiences. People with Twitter accounts or blogs can use WordPress or Blog Link to add posts to their LinkedIn profiles. SlideShare is ideal for people who would want to share presentations with others.

Recommendations

To leave a good impression on other professionals, make sure you have positive recommendations on your profile. Get in touch with people you have worked with before and ask them to put in a good word for you. The more recommendations you have, the more credible your profile will be. Don’t forget to also offer positive recommendations to other people. They will be grateful and might even return the favor.

Have you brushed up your LinkedIn profile lately?

Author’s Bio: Charles Mburugu is a HubSpot-certified content writer/marketer for B2B, B2C and SaaS companies. He has worked with brands such as GetResponse, Neil Patel, Shopify, 99 Designs, Oberlo, Salesforce and Condor. Check out his portfolio and connect on LinkedIn.

Thanks to Week 381 SOBs

February 2, 2013 by Liz Leave a Comment

Successful and Outstanding Bloggers

Let me introduce the bloggers
who have earned this official badge of achievement,

and the right to call themselves
Successful Blog SOBs.
I invite them to take a badge home to display on their blogs.

They take the conversation to their readers,
contribute great ideas, challenge us, make us better, and make our businesses stronger.

I thank all of our SOBs for thinking what we say is worth passing on.
Good conversation shared can only improve the blogging community.

Should anyone question this SOB button’s validity, send him or her to me. The award carries a “Liz said so” guarantee, is endorsed by Kings of the Hemispheres, Martin and Michael, and is backed by my brothers, Angelo and Pasquale.

Want to become an SOB?

If you’re an SO-Wanna-B, you can see the whole list of SOBs and learn how to be one by visiting the SOB Hall of Fame– A-Z Directory . Click the link or visit the What IS an SOB?! page in the sidebar.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Thanks to Week 380 SOBs

January 26, 2013 by Liz Leave a Comment

Successful and Outstanding Bloggers

Let me introduce the bloggers
who have earned this official badge of achievement,

and the right to call themselves
Successful Blog SOBs.

I invite them to take a badge home to display on their blogs.

They take the conversation to their readers,
contribute great ideas, challenge us, make us better, and make our businesses stronger.

I thank all of our SOBs for thinking what we say is worth passing on.
Good conversation shared can only improve the blogging community.

Should anyone question this SOB button’s validity, send him or her to me. Thie award carries a “Liz said so” guarantee, is endorsed by Kings of the Hemispheres, Martin and Michael, and is backed by my brothers, Angelo and Pasquale.

Want to become an SOB?

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Thanks to Week 379 SOBs

January 19, 2013 by Liz Leave a Comment

Successful and Outstanding Bloggers

Let me introduce the bloggers
who have earned this official badge of achievement,

and the right to call themselves
Successful Blog SOBs.

I invite them to take a badge home to display on their blogs.

They take the conversation to their readers,
contribute great ideas, challenge us, make us better, and make our businesses stronger.

I thank all of our SOBs for thinking what we say is worth passing on.
Good conversation shared can only improve the blogging community.

Want to become an SOB?

–ME “Liz” Strauss