LinkedIn Series Part 2: Attracting a Base Organically

So you are all set up with a personal profile and company page, and now you want to attract your target audience. There are a couple of different ways to go about creating content, but the most important thing to remember is to give before asking. Whether it’s contributing to your own groups, your friends’ groups, or your company page, very little of your content should be conversion based. Nobody wants to follow someone who only takes and never gives.

The first step in attracting your base is to prove your intellectual value. The easiest platform to do so on is your company page. Post and repost articles that directly relate to your target audience and track what gets the highest engagement rate. Speaking of rates, while you post a variety of different content, you want to monitor and track your company page’s analytics. These analytics let you know the relative growth of your page, compare your followers with those of your competitors, and give you vital demographics on your visitors. At MyCorporation, we pay special attention to the visitors’ “function” demographic. This shows the top 5 interests of your visitors. In general, we strive to increase the entrepreneurship percentage, as that is our target audience.

Going beyond your company page, the next best place to contribute content is groups. Although you cannot post as the company, joining groups that host potential customers and posting links back to your site can be a great way to gain traction. Some companies even create their own group. MyCorporation recently launched our own group, Entrepreneur Resources and Advice. One of the benefits of creating your own LinkedIn group is you can link your website directly into the group’s description. This means you do not need to constantly link your website in your posts. In general, links are great, but if you use them too often, you may come across as a spammer. The key is to share great content, not direct promotion.

Without a doubt, the number one way to attract a base organically is to co-brand yourself with your company. Share updates with your followers, create LinkedIn pulse articles, and remember everything you do on LinkedIn is a part of the “CEO effect”. Your public image can have a strong effect on the success of your own company, and having a leader with the LinkedIn Pulse “influencer” status can launch your company’s growth.

Attracting a base is all about content. Those who constantly ask for their followers to “click” or comment will be considered spam and will not see favorable engagement rates. You need to prove yourself as a valuable resource in your sector and create a fan base within the platform before asking anyone for anything. If you don’t feel like you are ready to start creating content and think you need a little more help establishing your personal and company profiles, check out LinkedIn Series Part 1: Setting Up Your Small Business Presence!

Give us a call at 1 (877) 692-6772 or visit us at mycorporation.com, and let us help you start and run your business!

Deborah Sweeney

Deborah Sweeney is an advocate for protecting personal and business assets for business owners and entrepreneurs. With extensive experience in the field of corporate and intellectual property law, Deborah provides insightful commentary on the benefits of incorporation and trademark registration. Education: Deborah received her Juris Doctor and Master of Business Administration degrees from Pepperdine University, and has served as an adjunct professor at the University of West Los Angeles and San Fernando School of Law in corporate and intellectual property law. Experience: After becoming a partner at LA-based law firm, Michel & Robinson, she became an in-house attorney for MyCorporation, formerly a division in Intuit. She took the company private in 2009 and after 10 years of entrepreneurship sold the company to Deluxe Corporation. Deborah is also well-recognized for her written work online as a contributing writer with some of the top business and entrepreneurial blogging sites including Forbes, Business Insider, SCORE, and Fox Business, among others. Fun facts/Other pursuits: Originally from Southern California, Deborah enjoys spending time with her husband and two sons, Benjamin and Christopher, and practicing Pilates. Deborah believes in the importance of family and credits the entrepreneurial business model for giving her the flexibility to enjoy both a career and motherhood. Deborah, and MyCorporation, have previously been honored by the San Fernando Valley Business Journal’s List of the Valley’s Largest Women-Owned Businesses in 2012. MyCorporation received the Stevie Award for Best Women-Owned Business in 2011.