Most people are familiar with the concept and layouts of  Facebook and twitter, LinkedIn however remains a mystery to most people. LinkedIn has a reputation for being a Social Media site for professionals but this reputation is old fashioned, today LinkedIn is  a legitimate business tool use by a wide variety of people and probably best described as  a social network for business opportunities. On LinkedIn, people don’t chat about music or what they did on Saturday night, but instead focus on opportunities and how the network can help you. And that’s a winning formula. Here are just some of the most common and productive uses of LinkedIn.

So, give us your attention please as Social Traffic Espionage  reveals 8 ways to you can use LinkedIn.  

1. Connect With and Find People.
By now you know that Social Media is all about developing relationships. LinkedIn is no different, it’s a great place to look for old friends, old business colleagues, former employers or employees. Simply do a LinkedIn search and you might be surprised who you know. Remember part of the way you develop relationships with people is by helping them. So don’t miss out on this great opportunity. You can use LinkedIn to promote others, link to with others, recommend other LinkedIn members and of course answer their questions.

2. Boost Your Business
What do all business’s want? Customers of course. So if you are a small or large business you want to generate more customers. LinkedIn can put connect you with those people who are interested in your products. It can increase your chances of hitting that big deal that puts your business exactly where you want to be.

3. Research Companies and Business’s
If you are looking for a specific business, wanting to discover business trends, find an expert in your field, or need to contact people for further information then LinkedIn is a great place to start. Using LinkedIn’s advanced search option you can quickly connected with the information you seek. Take the unknown out of a job interview by looking up the person interviewing you. Checking the LinkedIn profile of the person who will be interviewing you will give you some important information about their work experience, interests, education and more.

4. Get Free Publicity
LinkedIn can be used to generate publicity not only for your business but when you launch a new product. At times it can be difficult to contact media or top bloggers. But many of them have a LinkedIn profile, and you can contact them through the profile. You can get FREE targeted Social Media Traffic for your business by sending them a press release or a quick email letting them know about your business or product launch.

5. Find Your Dream Job
OK you have a job, but it’s not really what you want. LinkedIn can help! Join LinkedIn, put yourself out there, search for companies that are looking for people to fill the jobs that you are interested in and contact them. To assist in promoting yourself to potential employers create a LinkedIn profile that serves as a resume, use a vanity url for this and then send people the URL. Your dream job could be just one click away.

6. Check Out Potential Employees References
If you are going through the interview process you want to make sure you have all the information possible at your fingertips. You can find out additional information about an applicant by using LinkedIn to search for others who worked at the same company at the same time. This way you are able to do a thorough background check in seconds.

7. Get Advice.
Questions, questions we all have them. You can find answers to most of your business questions in LinkedIn. Simply ask a question using LinkedIn’s Answers feature and get some great answers. There are some great experts on LinkedIn, willing to answer your queries.

8. Brand Yourself
Your aim in business, should be to develop a brand. It doesn’t matter what your area of expertise is, you need to develop your own personal brand. You want people to know instantly who you are, and what you do when they hear your name? A strong presence on LinkedIn reinforces your brand. Make sure you include a link to your website from your profile.

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Its interesting  that most people with Blogs think of the Blog as being  totally different to Social Media Networks such Twitter, Facebook or MySpace. Don’t be fooled, believe it or not blogs are Social Media vehicles and the most important Social Media tool you have.

Recently we were able to talk to Ross Goldberg about Social Media, he told us that your Blog is the cornerstone of your product or business. In fact he said that  every Social Media activity that you use should be linked back to your Blog.

Why are Blogs so important? Why does Ross Goldberg refer to them as the cornerstone or your product and business. To help demystify the importance of your Blog, we would like to share 7 reasons why  your Blog is the most important piece in your Social Media strategy.

1. Content Is King!
   Your Social Media credibility is tied to the amount of content you provide.  To have a significant Social Media presence you must have a certain amount of  content. Blogs are a fantastic tool for creating lots and lots of relevant content. Each time you add a post you increase your Blogs  content creating a  smorgasboard of relevant content that Google and other  search engines love. Generally the more posts you have the  higher  your Blog will rank and the more Social Media  traffic you will get.
2. Desperately Seeking Answers
   Searching for answers is one of  the top 3 main reasons why people use the Internet. People use the search engines to find the answers to their most pressing questions. This is gives you,  the Blog owner a fantastic opportunity, by making sure that your Blog contains the answers to the most searched questions in your content you will attract traffic.  Blogs that have content designed to answer the most pressing questions that  people have in a particular niche can generate massive amounts of traffic for their business. 
3. Blog Stucture,
   The basic structure of a Blog makes it easy for visitors to find what they are looking for.  A Blog organizes your information  effortlessly for the benefit of your visitors. You divide your post topics into categories and subcategories so that your visitors find exactly what they want with minimal effort. They can move easily through the categories, post archives,  move from page to page or simply scroll down the posts.  Social Media is all about developing relationships with your visitors. The structure of a Blog facilitates an enjoyable experience for the visitor who will be likely to return and tell others about the Blog.  
4. Backlinking, Plugins, Pinging, RSS Feed, Comments
   The interactive nature of  Blogs is hard to beat. Plugins, Pinging, Backlinking, RSS Feed capability and the ability of people to add comments all contribute to its interactive nature.  Blogs have some neat  plugins that make SEO optimisation and interacting with other forms of  Social Media effortless. We at Social Traffic Espionage recommend and use the following plugins All in One SEO Pack, Sociable, Twitme. Also don’t forget to have and RSS feed button on your Blog.   
5. Hello World
   Blogs are universal. It’s a fact  that anybody who uses the internet can  access your blog. Social Media networks such as Twitter,  Facebook, MySpace, and LinkedIn  are accessible only when you join. A Blog allows you to achieve a potentially infinite number of customers for your business.
6. Create Instant and Comprehensive Information
   Posting on a Blog sends instantaneous  and comprehensive information to the web. Social Media networks such as Twitter,  Facebook, LinkedIn send instant information but cannot compete with a Blogs capacity for  comprehensive content.  Blog posts can be as comprehensive as necessary, include links, and  integrate with other Social Media networks.
7. All Roads Should  Lead To Your Blog
   The cornerstone of  your Social Media strategy is your Blog. All of your social media activities should be organised to link back to your blog. Your profiles on Social Media sites  such as  Facebook and Twitter should include a link back to your blog. Articles, YouTube videos, Podcasts should all include a link to your Blog.

By now I am sure you have got the picture, your Blog is the most important part of your Social Media strategy. If you don’t already have a Blog  start one today.  It’s that important. 

If you like the information in this post, feel free to  share it with your friends or leave a comment.

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If you are an Internet marketer you will want to use FREE traffic for your business. This means that you will want to use Social Media. If there is one disadvantage to using Social Media it is that it can take lots and lots of time if you don’t know how to use it properly.

So how do you use Social Media efficiently? The first fact you need to come to grips with is that you can’t market on every Social Media site – there just isn’t enough time or hours in the day. 

If you want to market your product or business  using Social Media you need an efficient  time optimisation strategy.  Therefore it would make a whole lot of sense to include Facebook, twitter and LinkedIn  in your  time optimisation strategy.  Why? Because it’s only logical to make use of the 3 most popular Social Media sites;  Facebook, twitter and LinkedIn. 

How much time should you spend using Social Media? The answer to this depends on your circumstances. Generally there is a relationship between how long marketers have been using Social Media and their weekly time commitment. Usually people just beginning with Social Media, spend about an  average of  two hours per week. However, those who have been using Social Media for a number of months spend about an  average  of 10 hours per week or a bit more than 1 hour a day.

What is the reason for the time difference between Social Media newbies and experts? It’s our opinion that the time spent is related to the people’s experiences. Those who are just starting are unsure of this Social Media buzz – does it really work? They are yet to taste success, but once they have made a sale or start to have success they realise the importance of Social Media and spend more time doing it.

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