Looking for a new way to market your online business? LinkedIn Groups may provide the competitive edge you’ve been looking for. Learn to use this powerful tool and integrate it into your marketing strategy.

What is LinkedIn Groups?

LinkedIn, as you may know, is a social networking site for professionals. You can use it to establish your credibility and authority as an industry leader. You can use LinkedIn to connect with other professionals, and many people use it to successfully find clients and customers.

LinkedIn Groups is a section within LinkedIn that is available to members. You can create a niche specific group and/or join niche specific groups. For example, a WordPress designer might create a group for professional designers.

Using LinkedIn Groups

There are many ways to use LinkedIn Groups. The method you choose should fit your goal. Yes, because LinkedIn Groups is a marketing tactic, spend time creating a goal for your activities. For example, if your goal is to drive traffic to your blog then you’ll write a blog post that is relevant and valuable to a handful of groups.

Back to the WordPress Designer example. They might write a blog post about optimizing a specific plug-in. They’ll publish the post on their blog and then pin it to the walls of a handful of relevant industry blogs. Blog readership and traffic may skyrocket. They might also see an increase in their subscriptions and a growth in their email list. And all they had to do was publish a blog post and link to it from a few LinkedIn Group walls.

Creating a group is another opportunity. You can become the center of attention for people interested in your group’s topic. You can share links. Answer questions. And occasionally promote your own business offerings.

Getting Started is Easy

You need two things to get started with LinkedIn Groups. The first is a blog or website. The second is a LinkedIn membership. Joining LinkedIn is free. If you’re already a part of the LinkedIn Community, peruse the available groups. Join a few that fit your niche and start interacting.

Ask questions, answer questions, post links and create a strategy to use LinkedIn Groups to grow your business. One of the biggest building benefits is to generate traffic to your blog or website and to increase awareness for your brand and your business. Using LinkedIn Groups is easy. Get started today.