LinkedIn is often overlooked as a way to get publicity, leads, or research for your press releases or PR campaigns. I like that it reaches a more business-oriented professional audience. There are many ways you can use this social network for business and I talk about them in my book and DVD. Here’s a brief summary of

5 Ways to Promote your News on LinkedIn

1. Post news to your LinkedIn Group.
   If you have a LinkedIn Group, you can automatically feed press releases (if you have an RSS feed) to your group. That’s a reason to start a group.
2. Post news to other LinkedIn Groups.
   If you do not have a LinkedIn Group (or even if you do) you can search groups and find relevant people to connect and share news with.

   For example, if you have a conference for Muslims and search the term “Muslim” you can let people in the group know about your event and reach thousands of targeted prospects. Just be sure to get a feel for the group dynamics first to see if they are open to announcements. If not, introduce yourself and refer to your news in your signature.

3. Use the status update.
   When you log in you’ll see a box called “Network Update” where you can type in a short message and link (much like Twitter). Preface your message with a short, catchy title and link to the announcement itself or a blog post about it.
4. LinkedIn Answers is the answer.
   This is perhaps my favorite part of LinkedIn. You can search by topic and find expert answers to questions. You can pose questions to get success stories, content or sources for news articles. The best part of LinkedIn Answers is that people are rewarded for giving quality answer to questions. Be sure to invite people in your network with expertise on the topic to answer. They will get an email inviting them to contribute.

   I once posed a question about my online PR training DVD asking if people thought it seemed to be priced right. I linked to a page about it, thereby exposing people to the product and getting valuable feedback. If you have a question about business this is the place to go. If you need examples for a book, article or press release, this is also the place to ask.

5. Use LinkedIn Apps. You can feed your blog posts or post slides from your most recent publication (or put your news release on Slideshare) and put it on your profile. You can post events. Be sure to visit the app section and add and use this functionality on your LinkedIn profile.

Do you have any examples of how you use LinkedIn to promote your business? Please share in the comments.

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2 Responses to “5 Ways to Promote Your News on LinkedIn”

1. Jenna Gierisch Says:
   February 2nd, 2010 at 5:43 pm

   Janet,
   I enjoyed reading this article “Five Ways to Promote your News on LinkedIn” I use answers, it’s my favorite part of LinkedIn too.

   Jenna

   Like or Dislike: 0  0

2. Paul Engelbrecht Says:
   February 9th, 2010 at 11:17 am

   Webinar – Learn how to Set Up and Promote your Business using LinkedIn

   I am involved with a company, Forward Progress, which specializes in social media training and consulting. We are currently accepting registrations for our 2010 LinkedIn Webinar, scheduled for Feb. 16th, 2010. I thought you would be interested. See below:

   Webinar – Learn how to Set Up and Promote your Business using LinkedIn 20 Minutes per Day – 2010 Edition

   http://www.forwardprogressedu.net/linkedin_webinar.php

   Like or Dislike: 0  0

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