As an SMB owner, the face of your business is the same one you see in the mirror every morning.  Sure, you might be able to file a document and convince the IRS to tax you twice, but that doesn’t mean that your potential customers will accept a distinction between your private and public life.  Your personal reputation is a huge factor in your business’ health; if you’re known as a flaky party animal, you’ll have to overcome that every time you try to close a sale.  For every Martha Stewart, whose business is still thriving despite her own personal financial transgressions, there are a hundred small business owners who have lost their businesses after huge downswings due to bad publicity.

LinkedIn is a social networking site design with business professionals in mind.  Here are a few ways in which some of LinkedIn’s many features can help you grow your business:

1] Answers: This is a forum where you can post questions about your business and get fast, accurate responses from users in your network as well as worldwide experts.  You can also showcase your knowledge by answering other’s questions.

2] Groups:  With LinkedIn Groups you can stay up-to-date on what is going on in your industry.  It also allows you to follow the activity of successful, influential members whom you can emulate to help grow your own business.