By Debbie Gregory.

The mission of LinkedIn is to connect the world’s professionals to make them more productive and successful.  Over the last few years LinkedIn has grown to be one of the most widely used social platforms for business. It is currently the third most popular social site, right behind Facebook and Twitter. If you are not yet on LinkedIn, you are missing out on a huge audience for your recruiting efforts, business networking, and potential new customers.Below is some information on ways to use LinkedIn to expand your Small Veteran Owned Business:

1.) Craft your Profile and Pages with SEO in Mind:

LinkedIn is a valuable source for business to business (B2B) marketing and other business-related connections. As with your website or blog, your LinkedIn profile and pages should be optimized for SEO purposes.

Areas of Focus:

• Include a title along with your last name in the name field. For example, instead of listing just Jill Brown, make changes to it reads: Jill Brown, Sales Professional. In this manner, Jill Brown’s profile will pop up when someone performs a search for a salesperson.
• Add keywords to your headline too and not simply your title. For example, instead of Sales Professional list something such as “No. 1 sales professional in the city of Portland for the last 3 years.”
• Make sure to include other keywords in your summary in a more natural fashion. Yes, LinkedIn has a specific place in your profile to list up to 50 skills (make sure to ask for recommendations on your skills too) but you should also try to pepper them into your summary text.

2.) Make Sure to Create and Optimize a Page Dedicated to Your Company:

A business page on LinkedIn is a powerful marketing tool. Make sure that your business is easy to find on LinkedIn and that all visuals on your page match the look and feel of your other online presences (website or other social channels).  Additionally, keep it up to date with regular posts!

Basics for your page:

• A concise, yet engaging, company description and overview.
• Your company logo.
• An attractive banner image.
• A call to action.

3.) Put Together Showcase Pages for Products or Services:

Once you have your business page ready to go, you should consider adding showcase pages for specific products, services, or separate arms of your core business to help users better find you and engage with the parts of your business that most interest them.

4.) Promote Your Page:

Your page will not help your business grow if no one is looking at it! Once your page, and showcase pages are setup to be robust, and compelling, your next step is to promote it and gain followers. Of course, you can simply run paid ads on the platform to boost your visibility, however, there are other ways to promote your page that will not cost you anything.

Free Ways to Promote Your Page:

• Add the page to your own LinkedIn profile.
• Add a “follow” button to your main website to drive traffic from there to your LinkedIn page.
• Promote the new page(s) in your company newsletter, blog posts, and other social media pages.
• Add a link to your LinkedIn page in your company email signature.
• Ask current employees to promote the page on their own LinkedIn profiles.

5.) Join LinkedIn Groups or Create Your Own Group:

LinkedIn groups are intended to connect like-minded individuals and similar businesses with one another to foster camaraderie and to expand knowledge. You can join existing groups and actively engage in conversations.  You may also create your own group to help establish yourself as an expert in your industry. We strongly recommend that you consider both options to make sure that you are active in the group and provide valuable tips and add robust posts.

As you can see from the information in this blog post, LinkedIn offers a variety of ways for businesses to network, market themselves, and connect with new customers. These are just a few of the ways to join in and start reaping the benefits of LinkedIn for your business.   One last kernel of information, a regular account on LinkedIn is free.  They also offer premium accounts at a reasonable cost.   Start your engines and join LinkedIn today or enhance the profile you have already set up to promote your Veteran Owned Small Business.

VAMBOA, the Veterans and Military Business Owners Association invites you to join as a member.  There are not any fees or dues.   You may also proudly display the VAMBOA seal on your website and collateral.   We provide several articles on our blog weekly with all types of valuable information.

JOIN TODAY here:   https://vamboa.org/member-registration/

By Debbie Gregory.

Our last blog article discussed asking for testimonials, making it easy for people to get in touch with you, and how important it is to provide excellent customer service. Moving forward, we will discuss the importance of engaging people on social media, monitoring your online reputation, maintaining a positive image both in person and online, and how making donations that will improve your business reputation.

Engage People on Social Media:

Social media is important. The challenge is to get people talking about your business. Social Media is an excellent method to use for customers to talk positively your business. Ask people for their opinions, reviews, and thoughts. Remember that social media is an active conversion and respond in a timely manner.

Actively Monitor Your Online Reputation:

As you spend time actively engaging customers or potential customers online, it is important to monitor what is said about your business and what platforms that you are being talked about.  You can do the searches yourself to see who is talking about you and what they are saying or you can utilize online reputation monitoring tools to help. Some tools you can use are:

• Social Mention
• Trackur
• StepRep

Maintain a Positive Image:

As a small business you are never off the clock. You need to work hard to maintain a professional, helpful, and friendly appearance at all times; especially if you drive a vehicle with your company logo or are wearing company branded clothing. Your behavior in public, when not directly in front of customers, can affect how people view your business.

Clean and Pleasant – In Person or Online:

This one goes hand in hand with the past point – your office, vehicles, attire, and online presence all must match the atmosphere and brand of your business. You want people to have their best experiences working with you. You want them to view you and your business as experts in your field that are professionals who are approachable, helpful, friendly, and clean. Would you want to eat in a dirty or see the chef with a crusty, dirty apron and dirty hands? You would only NOT eat there; you would tell everyone what you experienced. It works the same with positives.

Obtain Positive Publicity & Contribute Visibly to Your Community:

As a small business, it makes sense to invest in your local community. It helps both your community and helps your business grow.  Contributing brings your business front and center in the minds people’s minds of those who may need for your products or services. These contributions not only enable you to do good and be part of your community, but they provide your business high visibility and very positive word of mouth    from supporters. It improves the reputation of your company and is very good for business. Consider donating your time or money to things such as:

• Contributing financially to a local charity
• Participating in holiday charity events
• Sponsoring local tournaments, school sports, or other competitions
• Sponsoring community or charitable events
• Joining a public board of directors
• Working with community organizations
• Donating time to city council committees

Provide Free Public Lessons or Seminars:

This can take more time to plan and execute properly but giving away your time at very public events provides an opportunity to showcase your expertise and gain positive publicity.  It also sets you up as an expert in your field.

Word of mouth happens whether you pay attention to it or not. It is such a powerful marketing tool that you would be remiss to ignore it and allow it to flourish without your guiding hand. Take the time to tune into to what people are saying about your business and help them spread positive words about you, you won’t regret it.

By Debbie Gregory.

The base-model holsters for the Army’s new Modular Handgun System (MHS) will be supplied by Atlantic Diving Supply (ADS). The firm-fixed-price contract for the Modular Handgun Holster came it at $49 million

The holsters will be used with the Modular Handgun System M17 and M18 pistols.

The Sig Sauer M17 handgun is the U.S. Army’s replacement for the aging M9 Beretta, which has been in use since the 1980s. The M18 is a more compact version with a shorter barrel for use by military police investigators and other positions that require a smaller frame.

What began as a local dive shop, ADS grew into a large military equipment supplier by striving to outfit the military and first responders with the most advanced gear and equipment available. According to Bloomberg Government’s annual Federal Industry Leaders report ADS had $1.6 billion worth of federal contracts in 2017, making it the 42nd largest contractor.

The Virginia Beach, VA based company beat out five other companies to secure the contract.

ADS will supply the tan-colored Safariland Group holster that features a dual locking system. The locks can be released with the shooter’s firing hand thumb.

The Army also plans to field a light-compatible holster in the future that will allow soldiers in infantry and other direct-action units to carry the MHS with a weapon light mounted on the pistol’s accessory rail.

The service intends to have soldiers from operational units evaluate both light models. If all goes well, it would then assign each light model with a national stock number so unit commanders could purchase them with unit funds, according to Army officials.

The Army intends to field about 238,000 MHS pistols.

In September 2017, ADS was sued by the US Government for False Claims Act violations, including illegal bid-rigging. The case was settled out of court with ADS paying $16 million.

According to the award announcement, ADS beat out five other companies for the winning bid. Issued through the U.S. Army Contracting Command at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, the contract is expected to run through 2023.