By using LinkedIn effectively, it is possible to open doors that otherwise would not be available and to build relationships that can lead to bigger profits. Read on to find little known tips and techniques.

By using LinkedIn effectively, an online marketer can generate many leads for the products that they sell. In this article we look at how you can use LinkedIn to build relationships and bring traffic to your website.

There are various levels of membership sign ups on LinkedIn. Each offer a number of credit for directly emailing to people that you don’t know or are not connected to. Another point of difference is that you can also elect to receive a higher level of search results.

By starting with the free membership, it is possible to build a powerful profile with a keyworded link back to your site and to network and create groups. Once you have spent time working with LinkedIn, then it might be worth your while to upgrade to benefit from the extra credits.

Profile

Complete your profile with as much information as you can. There are sections for education, previous roles as well as what you are hoping to gain from being on LinkedIn. By providing as much information as you can, you will allow people to know your history and your skill set. This will help them feel more comfortable with you as they will know your full background. Upload a professional looking photo of yourself in a head and shoulders style, as people prefer to do business with people that they have seen, even if it is only online. Use a photo that says ‘approachable and friendly’ for the best results.

Connect

The more people that you can connect with on LinkedIn – the better. If you are in position to, spend time giving recommendations and asking for recommendations from your contacts. These personal testimonials will support your credibility and sales efforts. Adding more connections, means that more people will see you.

Optimise Your Profile

By optimising your profile for the search engines, you can get onto the front page of Google for a name search. Add your profile name like this: http://uk.LinkedIn.com/in/yourname, where ‘yourname’ is in this URL should be your own name once you’ve set it up. It is changeable – so you can add your business niche instead of your name if you prefer at a later date.

Then within your profile, under the Website section – select other and add a keyword for your website. Then add the http:// url address to your website, so that it will work as another link for SEO purpose to your site. The result is a nice PR8+ backlink to your site from LinkedIn affirming the keyword for your site. You might want to add your social networking pages to the other sections.

Groups and Answers

Using the Answers and the groups sections are a great way to build your reputation on LinkedIn. You can share your knowledge, your blog posts for more traffic and generally help people out so that you can connect with more people and be seen as a valuable contributor of LinkedIn. Don’t spam and interact in a professional and positive manner for the best results. You can ask your own questions too, make these short and to the point and don’t waste time by asking for information that you can easily find with a Google search.

By using these tips and techniques, you will soon be using LinkedIn effectively to build your connection, your reputation and your profits.

Copyright (c) 2010 Andrew Holtom

As I mentioned in one of my previous articles, Social Media has became extremely popular in the last few years.

Social Media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and YouTube are growing faster than any other type of social communication.

Social Media is an enormous untapped source of leads, prospects and business partners for YOUR business and best of all it is FREE.

Therefore, in order to benefit from the social media madness, you will have to know how exactly to monetize this ultimate untapped source of potential business partners.

This is exactly what I am going to be covering today. I want to show you exactly what you need to do in order to generate results with social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and MySpace.

However, Before I get into the specific details of how you should be using each one of the mentioned above sites, I would like to point out one thing. The ultimate purpose of every single social media website is Relationship Building. This is the sole purpose you should be driven by when you join a group on Facebook or sending out a Tweet.

Relationship Building is an essential ingredient to a Successful Internet Marketing Business and the sooner you grasp this concept the better.

Let’s get started!

MySpace

Only a year ago, MySpace was the biggest and fastest growing community on the Internet with more than 240 Million registered users. Today MySpace has lost it’s popularity with the users but it hasn’t lost it with the search engines.

To this day, MySpace is one of the first sources Google turns to when in need of information. What this means is that you can use it for your benefit by creating different MySpace profiles to generate more Search Engine Traffic for your particular business/opportunity.

Don’t get me wrong here, it doesn’t mean that you must use it only for that. You still have the opportunity to socialize on MySpace quite effectively, but right now, the main benefit of MySpace in my eyes is the SEO juice that you can squeeze out of it.

Twitter

Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that enables its users to send and read updates known as tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length, which are displayed on the user’s profile page and delivered to other users who have subscribed to them also known as followers.

Twitter is an amazing social network, which really qualifies for the expression “Social Media Madness”. If you don’t know what I mean, just get yourself over four thousand followers, as I did, and you will see exactly what I mean. My Twitter home page is pure madness and socializing on Twitter without a client is not an option anymore.

Nevertheless, what makes Twitter unique besides the 140 character limit is the ability to Drive Massive Viral Traffic to Your Website.

Twitter is the easiest tool to drive traffic with especially if you are running a blog or a newsletter, it has an insane Viral Power Potential to it.

If you ever heard an expression “Word of Mouth Marketing” and did not know what it mean, than Twitter explains it very well. Just imagine if your Tweet with a link back to your site goes viral. Imagine the tweet being ReTweeted about 300 times. Imagine if each of those ReTweets only generated 3-4 clicks at a time, how much traffic would you get?

That’s right-A LOT!

YouTube

YouTube is a video sharing website where users can upload, view and share video clips. Three former PayPal employees created YouTube in February 2005. In November 2006, YouTube was bought by Google for US$1.65 billion, and is now operated as a subsidiary of Google.

YouTube, being the biggest video sharing network online, is a great place to do some video marketing. But Why is Video Marketing so damn important? Why is it so Crucial that you do it? Yes, that’s right! Relationship Building.

Can you think of a better way of establishing a relationship with a complete stranger? What can be more powerful when it comes down to building trust with another person on the internet than video? What can make more impact on that person than watching You move, listen to You talk and hearing Your thoughts coming out of Your mouth instead of reading them on his 15” laptop screen?

If you can think of a better way of doing it(besides live conversation with a web cam, of course) than please, be my guest and reveal it to me, because to this day, I haven’t found something better then Video Marketing.

Facebook

A Harvard University student originally founded Facebook with couple of his roommates in order to create a virtual community exclusive to the Harvard University attendees. Website membership was initially limited but later expended to other colleagues until later on Facebook became available to anyone aged 13 and over.

Right now Facebook is one of the biggest social communities with over 200 million active users. However, what makes it different from MySpace, Twitter and YouTube than? Why is it so essential for your Social Media Domination plan?

Well, personally, I can’t answer that question with a specific benefit. Facebook is just a great place to Build STRONG, BULLETPROOF, ROCK SOLID Relationships. I haven’t yet found a community where people are more open and ready to socialize with complete strangers all over the planet.

To me, Facebook is like another huge family. I truly admire and respect every single one of my Facebook friends. It is so easy to get to know people and connect with them on Facebook. It is so easy to get lost in endless chats and conversations there.

I have many of my friends, simply leading another Life there! Facebook is very easy to fall in love with and it definitely leaves other Social Networks in the dust when it comes down to building a strong long lasting relationship with a complete stranger.

Having shared these insight with you, I only wish to point out one more time that your main goal on any single social media site and in every single social community should be first to Build Relationships while driving traffic and generating leads second.

While mainstream use of Social Networks is only a few years old, it is well known how consumers use them. Besides, a few years is a generation in Internet parlance anyway.

Here are 7 truths of Social Networks that you can / must rely upon to help guide your thinking regardless of what you do with Social Media.

1. Social Networks is the preferred way for people in younger demographics to communicate with each other. Nothing else comes close!

2. It is based on the concept of friends, but that term today is very loosely applied. Similarly, profiles are loosely defined & can be used in a variety of ways by people, companies, brands, & so on.

3. The more active a consumer is on the internet, the more likely they will participate in multiple Social Networks. Often times, these people are influencers within a circle of friends & have a tremendous impact on the opinions of others.

4. Once information is shared on a Social Network, it is out there & can’t easily be contained. Everything is out in the open & largely visible for other people to see.

5. Social Media is best applied in addition to existing internet marketing programs & alongside other web assets. When building a strategy, you must think comprehensively.

6. The rules are still being made. Social network “etiquette” is still relatively immature. Tread carefully.

7. The seventh & final truth involves the factors that contribute to usage. Everyone is motivated by a combination of one or more of the following human needs:

Love: Finding love, keeping up with loved ones, & so forth.

Self expression / Emotion: Sharing life’s’ details with friends.

Sharing opinion / Influencing friends: Using these Networks as a platform for influencing opinions, usually about politics, religion, or other things we don’t typically debate in person.

Showing off: Sharing life’s success & / or achievements with others.

Fun / Escapism / Humor: Using social media to get a good laugh.

Memories & Nostalgia: Catching up with old friends & sharing old friends.

Making Money: Using social media primarily to support professional pursuits.

From the above, one can infer that the motivation for using Facebook varies significantly depending on your customer. No Social Media can match Facebook’s current momentum or broad international customer adoption. It hosts a range of Social applications and has been the market leader in Social Media since April 2008.

Facebook Marketing is integral to online social marketing – in that, a very key component of Internet Marketing!