Opportunities for businesses in Linkedin | Key4Communications |

L inkedin has over 135 million users worldwide. Less than Facebook (800 million) and Twitter (200 million), but with an advantage for businesses: in Linkedin there are no games, holiday photos, or other personal content. This network is all about work, and this simplifies the task of filtering contents and users.
 
Of course, it’s not enough to be present in a social network: one must participate actively to take full advantage of all offered opportunities.

Meet other professionals
Users can start create their own network, looking for other professionals, associations and groups. For example, a search for "licensing" returns more than 600 groups involving professionals, sharing information and advice, and exposing and resolving doubts.

It’s not only important to create this link with other people, but also to keep in touch with these professionals and interact regularly, either inviting them to groups or using the Linkedin profile updates to report on company developments. These updates have the advantage of being less frequent than in other social networks, so their presence on the front page is longer and also less annoying.

Add customers and employees
Once created, this network of contacts can be leveraged to reach new customers, employees and suppliers, taking advantage of the recommendations that are published in profiles, as well as of active participation in groups and networks.

Also, Linkedin is global, but offers filters by location and by company: for example it’s possible to search for someone from Barcelona who doesn’t work for certain competing companies.

Competitors control
Linkedin also allows to be informed about the industry and follow the competition. One can read news and profile status published by other business professionals, either directly or through groups, and companies also have their own profiles, usually used to report on their activity.

Following the previous example, the term "licensing" shows almost 250,000 professionals and 6,000 companies, also offering filters such as "music" or "entertainment", as well as geographical ones.

With Linkedin one can also create events and surveys aimed at contacts. Free applications are available in order to manage projects, upload presentations and even publish a multimedia portfolio, for example.

In conclusion, this network provides resources that do not replace personal relationships, interviews, visits, calls or even emails, but that offer useful means to establish initial contacts, stay informed about the sector in which someone works and, also very important, manage the image of the company.