Linkedin.com is one of the largest and most active online business networks.

Linkedin should be an essential part of your online marketing and branding strategy, here are some ways to leverage the network’s features:

Profile:

• first step is to join and complete your profile.
• Use your headline wisely
• Upload your photo
• Add your keywords to your specialties.
• Add links to your website, blog and twitter. Please use relevant keywords or your company name instead of “My Company” as anchor text.
• Ask your staff to join and complete their profile.
• Ask your clients to post  recommendations if they are satisfied with your work and get their permission to use these recommendations/testimonials in other media.

Groups:

• Join active groups in your region and industry.
• Join the conversations, start and reply to topics and try to add value.
• Create your own group(s) for your niche.
• Send Weekly or Bi-Monthly newsletter to your group

Contacts:

• Connect with people with similar interests, from same region and in your industry.
• Invite your email contacts, friends, business associates to join and connect with them.

Answers:

• Try to answer questions related to your niche at least once per month.
• Don’t be afraid to ask! but don’t spam or abuse that.

Applications:

This screenshot shows the featured applications, with their description.

The WordPress application will import your wordpress blog, and the slideshare will import your presentations. You can click on Applications on the left sidebar in your Linkedin to see them all.

Companies:

Another relatively new feature from Linkedin is the Companies profile, which is still in Beta.

• Add your company with complete profile.
• Search for service providers in specific industry or location.

What are your thoughts about linkedin?