If you are in the process of planning your small business content marketing strategy, don’t overlook SlideShare. It’s the world’s largest community for sharing presentations. No doubt you’ve received an invitation from a contact – possibly through LinkedIn — to view a recently uploaded presentation on SlideShare. If not, a SlideShare presentation may have come up when you are conducting a search on Google

Use SlideShare to generate leads by promoting your small business and your value proposition. Your presentation also can help you establish your expertise on a topic to boost your industry influence.

Get started with existing material

You already may have a presentation or a number of them you no longer use. If they contain industry or market content, you’ve got a SlideShare presentation in the making.  Just update outdated market information. You also can create a presentation about your business,  highlighting facts and competitive positioning and include customer case studies to reinforce your message.

Another option is to create a SlideShare presentation by repurposing your marketing or social media content, such as your blog posts. Your presentation even can include images to showcase your work – which is great if you are a designer or contractor – or products. Add a YouTube video demonstrating your products or service.

Add audio to your SlideShare presentation and you have a webinar. Select the SlideShare presentation you want to use and create a Slidecast, which enables you to add audio, such as an MP3 file, to your slides. Edit your audio right on SlideShare to match up to the correct slides.

SlideShare best practice tips

  • Design: SlideShare is a visual tool. A well designed presentation might even make it to the SlideShare homepage, which would give you maximum exposure. Use strong images, charts and graphs, bold colors and large text – but don’t overdue CAPS. Keep in mind, your first slide is a thumbnail of your presentation so the first slide needs to stand out.
  • Consistency: Is there a page number on the bottom of each slide, title pages on each page, consistent type faces and sizes? Before you upload your presentation, print it out and proof it carefully. To ensure you protect text formatting, convert your presentation to a PDF before uploading.
  • SEO: Employing search engine optimization (SEO) enables customers and prospects to find you as they search for relevant topics. Employ key search terms in your title, description and tags.
  • Call to action: Consider a call to action on your last slide. You can place clickable links on a PDF;  use them to draw readers to your website or a special landing page.

Share presentations across social media channels

SlideShare is present on both LinkedIn and Facebook. Sync both these accounts with SlideShare and you have a holy triad, according to SlideShare.  Upload to any one — SlideShare, Facebook or LinkedIn and it will show up instantly on all three. Don’t forget to share your presentation on Twitter, Google + and your own blog, too.

Are you part of the SlideShare community? Is there a SlideShare presentation that really stands out in your mind?