There is a misconception that LinkedIn is the opposite of  Facebook, that one is good for connecting with customers and the other with  business people. Actually, LinkedIn is good for both.

The secret with using LinkedIn to your advantage is by  creating a group that caters to your target audience. It’s as simple as  clicking on Create A Group. This creates a community where you can send weekly  messages and updates with articles and helpful resources. This is a way to  promote your personal and company brand to many instead of just to one-to-one. Join  other groups and contribute to them to build goodwill that will serve you well  when you encourage them to join your own group.

Don’t be tempted to bombard these potential customers with  self-serving material. Instead, offer help, make yourself available for  questions, and work to make people better understand your business. You will  pick up more customers by acting as a resource than by showering them with ads.

But don’t write off ads. LinkedIn Direct Ads (www.linkedin.com/ads) will let you  target professionals by location, industry and other factors. This is perfect  for those in service professions.

It’s also worthwhile to cater to individual consumers when  you consider a study that finds 28% of LinkedIn users are senior executives  making more than $104,000 per year, and 30% are heavy users of the site making nearly  $93,000 per year.

Stay up to date by visiting these sites: the LinkedIn  Learning Center at learn.linkedin.com and www.lewishowes.com.  Lewis Howes, an expert on using LinkedIn to  help your business, regularly updates his blog with tips.

And don’t forget, we are always available to help you with  the wonderful world of social media. Just give us a call.