With LinkedIn recently hitting 100 million users and going public, there are  buzzes surrounding the expansion and what to expect.

LinkedIn’s continued growth is hardly surprising even if it’s in the shadow of Facebook and Twitter.

Seems appropriate (and about time) I write another post on how LinkedIn has helped grow Marketing Direct Sales blog. And why you should consider using LinkedIn to boost traffic to your direct sales online business.

There are many reasons why I prefer LinkedIn over Twitter and Facebook. The most obvious is that traffic from LinkedIn outranks Twitter and Facebook based on Google Analytics. This makes it one of my favorite sites. 

The applications such as a Wordpress RSS plug-in, Twitterfeed, and adding a video to your profile, are some of the best features of LinkedIn.

Here are 5 ways to use LinkedIn to boost traffic:

#1 Your Profile. I love the profile on LinkedIn. You can gather enough info about someone and decide whether to connect or not based on this snapshot.

If you want to connect with other professionals- make sure you have a real picture of you and not your company logo, dog, cat, kids … LinkedIn is a professional network.

#2 New Contacts. Once I’m connected with a new contact I can see her/his contacts which gives me an additional view of my new contact’s contacts. 

#3 LinkedIn Groups. Use this feature to find people that share similar interests as you and become a member.

#4 Weekly LinkedIn Updates is a summary of what my contacts have been up to i.e. new groups they’ve joined and new contacts they’ve made. I’ve joined new groups and made new connections based on these updates.

#5 Skills & Expertise, a new feature I recently discovered. This allows you choose the area of expertise that you want more info on - let’s say attraction marketing – and the profiles of members that best fit this category  are displayed.

It’s a great resource to connect with people in your niche market. Or reach out to experts.

Also listed are the groups associated with skills and expertise. This feature zeros in on your specific area of interest so you’re connecting with people in your niche business.

Once you’re a member of the group, you can interact on the group’s discussions, check out the member’s profile, reply privately to a comment they’ve made, or ask to be connected.

Other ways I use LinkedIn …

You can share your latest blog posts on the News tab. Become an expert by answering questions from other members. Or start a dialogue based on the books your contacts are reading.

Unlike Twitter which can be “spammy” with strange auto tweets and robots following you. Or Facebook’s “social” gathering which seems like a big cocktail party at times, and too many updates to keep up with- LinkedIn has always been business-oriented which keeps me focused on business-related activities.

Of course, this doesn’t mean you can’t or shouldn’t be focused on other social networks but when you’ve got a combination of friends, family, and casual friends mixed in with business contacts … it’s easy to get distracted on other social networks.

How are you using LinkedIn for your business? Share your tips.

’til next time,

Janette Stoll

P.S. Check out Lewis Howes, one of the best trainers on LinkedIn. His blog offers great tips!