Using LinkedIn as a Business Tool

This free online course introduces you to LinkedIn, the world's fastest-growing professional networking site and an important business tool. We discuss who should use LinkedIn and establish the potential benefits of doing so properly. The platform represents over 54 million companies and has over 740 million members. It’s also very active as 25% of its members log in at least every two weeks (twice the activity from 2019) from various industries across the globe. A well-built LinkedIn profile connected to an established network with regular engagement and sharing of relevant content can amplify your personal professional brand and add value to your business or career. We guide you through the basics of building a useful profile and demonstrate the importance of focusing your content on your target audience and choosing relevant keywords. We examine the top twelve profile areas you should use to present yourself in the best possible way to further your career.

We then take you through the best practices of LinkedIn networking, starting with the platform’s ‘search’ filters. We demonstrate the benefits of asking for introductions and ‘bumping’ into your target audience through quick and easy engagement tactics. We share processes for managing your ‘invites’ and, most importantly, what to do with your newly established network. The course then lays out the benefits of using LinkedIn to enhance your professional reputation and explains what content to share. We also consider the tactics of engaging with other people’s relevant and useful content, one of the platform’s most important functions, to make clear why you should tailor your engagement to your target audience.

The course takes you through some common pitfalls to avoid while creating a profile and network. We provide recognized methods and practices of posting, engaging and sharing that should yield positive results, including some that most members don’t know. We can help you define your target audience and find the right keywords and phrases to use in your profile and which content and comments you should share. LinkedIn is a crucial social network that every professional should use to sell themselves and find opportunities across the globe.