Mostly business professionals are using social networks to build relationships and market themselves. LinkedIn is developed for business that can be used in the following ways for your business.
• Create your complete profile to earn trust
• Use widgets to integrate other tools like importing your Twitter stream or blog entries into your profile
• You can do market research and gain knowledge with Polls
• Share poll and survey results with your contacts
• Publish your LinkedIn URL on your all marketing collateral include email signature, business cards, web sites and email newsletters and brochures, so prospects will learn more about you
• Ask questions to get a hint for what customers want or think
• You just grow your network by joining industry and alumni groups related to your business
• Update your profile with your latest work
• Combine your social media approach when someone asks a question in Twitter, respond on LinkedIn in detail and link to it from Twitter
• Link your status updates with other social media accounts of yours
• Manage a group or fan page for your brand, product, or business
• Write valuable and honest recommendations for your contacts
• You need to share useful articles and resources that will be of interest to prospects and customers
• Link to content and articles posted with a summary of why it is valuable to add to your credibility
• Look for those connections which are related to your work
• Just buy a LinkedIn direct ad which only your target market will see
• Find contractors and vendors through connections
So, I hope you will get a lot of benefits from LinkedIn in your online business.