All businesses need a means of getting ahead so they can do as well as possible in today’s fast paced world. LinkedIn can provide that edge that can help a business to grow and succeed when it is used properly. It’s not a question of if a business should be using LinkedIn, it’s a question of how can you use it better.
Businesses must get familiar with the tools that LinkedIn has to offer that can enhance your company’s ability to do networking, build up your brand name, get more credibility, find new employees, get leads, and much more.

By using these and other tools within LinkedIn, you can help your company to thrive and succeed both online and offline. These tools include:

LinkedIn Groups
LinkedIn Groups are a great way to start making connections in your niche. For example, if you are selling pet products, then you should do a search for already formed groups that offer similar products and services related to the type of pet products you provide. Or, you can even make your own group as well and look for appropriate followers to join it.
Once you are a group member or are the leader of your own group, you can do things like get involved in discussions about new things in your field or solving problems in your niche, etc. Or, you can use them to introduce your business to others and start getting more known in your industry.
Getting involved in groups helps you to stay active in your line of work and you can post info on your own company or read about what is going on in the other groups. Just make sure what you post is relevant and up-to-date so it is valuable to your followers. This helps build your credibility and can turn you into the “go to” company in your business, thus helping to build your brand name.

Networking opportunities in LinkedIn
LinkedIn also gives businesses a platform in which to network with other businesses, potential employees or interested customers. By doing this, your company can show its expertise in your field and meet with like-minded professionals that can ultimately help you to learn new things, find solutions to problems, find new talent for your job openings, and much more. They can also become your followers and do things like give recommendations and endorsements that will also help your business to succeed and perhaps even become a household word for all to know and use your products and services.

LinkedIn Helps Get Leads
LinkedIn can also provide you lots of data that can be used to get new leads for your company. This can be done by doing things like checking out the profiles of other businesses or individuals to find new contacts, developing mutual relationships with other businesses that can help you to get new customers, sharing information with your followers that can spark interest in your products and services, etc.

Once you get a few new leads, you can use their LinkedIn profiles to get ideas on reaching out to people or businesses they know that could also be interested in buying your products or services or that can help you in other ways like finding new employees or others that can benefit your company.

Employee Recruitment Using LinkedIn
LinkedIn is also a great venue to find highly capable future employees.  You can search for potential new people by using keywords, searching a specific place, and putting in the characteristics you desire. Then, once you have a few potential candidates, you can read their profiles and make contact if you think they are a good fit for your open positions. Some studies have even shown that LinkedIn can decrease the time it takes to find new employees by more than 50 percent.

LinkedIn Endorsements and Recommendations
LinkedIn recommendations and endorsements on your products and services can also go a long way to making your business a future success. Followers or members of the groups you are in can give you recommendations or endorsements if they approve of your company. These are somewhat similar to Facebook likes or a Google+1 choice and make a great testimonial about how your business has helped them in some fashion. They can make others more interested in your company and what it could do for them.

The main point is that if your business doesn’t have a LinkedIn account, then you are missing out on one of the best ways to get your company known and help it to become more successful and more profitable in the future.