There are many Online Social Networks out there that can put you in touch with hundreds, thousands and even millions of people for free. For example, MySpace has almost 250 million users while Facebook has 124 million. Many companies have created pages on MySpace and Facebook to interact with clients and prospects. These sites can be helpful if your company is B2C (Business to Consumer). What do you do if you’re looking for professionals and your company is B2B (Business to Business)?

One site that is all about business networking is LinkedIn, which has over 30 million users. So if you’re not on there, you should be! This is a free site that let’s you network with and promote your company to other professionals.

Enhancing your profile on Linkedin

Make sure you spend some time on your profile. Think of this as your online resume or a billboard for your company. Tell people about yourself and your business and be specific about how you can help them. Use the “Specialties” section to list all or most of your services. Write about yourself in the third person - it’s better for search engines to find you and list you.

Promoting your business on LinkedIn

Find groups that are relevant to your business. Think about your customers or ideal customers and look for groups they would be interested in joining. If you’re a local business, look for groups on LinkedIn that are in your area.

Once you have been accepted to these groups you will get an email. It may take a day or two for the group owner to check their new members.

Use LinkedIn to promote your business by going to the Group page (located on the left panel when you sign into LinkedIn). Click on the group and go to the Discussions page. Here you will find people posting questions, job announcements, etc. Feel free to introduce yourself to other group members and try to open up a dialogue on how you can help them and their business.

It may take you some time but it’s a great way to network and get your name out there without having to make a financial investment in your networking.