20 Important LinkedIn Groups for Business


linkedin groups for business

If you want to connect with small business professionals like yourself, then one way to do it is by visiting LinkedIn Groups. They provide both resources and connections, but there is just one problem – there are so many of them. Just type “small business” into the LinkedIn search engine, and you will see how popular the subject is.

So how do you choose the ones most valuable to you?

Let us dive into LinkedIn on your behalf. Below is a list of 20 important LinkedIn groups for business. The number of members is accurate at the time of this writing.

LinkedIn Groups for Business

Small Biz Nation

With nearly 19,500 members, this group is a community of small business leaders who collaborate and share ideas, gaining insight from industry experts and technology leaders, and sharing tips and tricks.

Social Media Marketing

linkedin groups for business

It claims to be “the largest and most active social media marketing group on LinkedIn.com with over 825,000 members as of April 2014” (it’s now 860,000). Moderated by 28 people to keep the spam and trolls away, the group has 20 sub-groups for specialist topics related to social media, such as Social Media Marketing and Non-Profits, and Social Media and Politics. If you are heavily into social media, this may be the group to go to.

eMarketing Association Network

With 573,000 members, the eMarketing Association Network is managed by the eMarketing Association, the largest Internet marketing organization of its kind in the world.

The group is open to everyone interested in Internet marketing. The focus is on social, email, search, mobile and Web marketing.

Entrepreneurs Network

If you are an entrepreneur, or you aspire to be, this group of 12,967 members may be a good fit for you. You can talk with like-minded people, ask questions and get answers. At the very least, the other members will inspire you.

GoBig Network Startup Community

The Go Big Network of almost 4,500 members is a community of entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and others. They are interested in helping companies to expand as quickly as possible. To do this, they provide services such as business plan help, credit building services and fraud prevention tips.

On Startups – The Community For Entrepreneurs

On Startups calls itself “the largest entrepreneurial startup group on LinkedIn.” With 408,000 members, if it isn’t at the top, then it is probably very close to it.

The focus of this group is marketing, sales, financing, operations, and hiring. But of course if you want to talk about startups or small business topics, then they won’t turn you away.

Innovative Marketing, PR, Sales & Social Media Innovators

linkedin groups for business

This group is for networking with marketing, social media, public relations, promotions, sales & selling professionals. The group has nearly 267,000 members, and you can learn & share best practices, ideas, advice & solutions.

You can also apparently receive exclusive invitations to webinars, workshops, conferences & events featuring “world-renowned innovation experts & gurus.”

Consultants Network

The Consultants Network is comprised of 300,000+ members in areas such as global strategy, management, marketing, finance, business, IT consulting and freelancing. No matter what kind of consultant you are, it’s probably worth checking this one out.

Executive Suite

The Executive Suite is full of business leaders, coaches, recruiters and corporate hiring decision makers. It is operated by ExecuNet, a private network for senior-level executives.

E-Commerce Network

A lot of businesses these days fall under the topic of eCommerce, as shops and other businesses move from bricks and mortar to the Internet. If this describes you, then the E-Commerce Network may be one to check out. Full of like-minded professionals, you can discuss eCommerce and eMarketing topics here.

Let’s Get Funded

Getting the funds you need to get started is always a challenge in this tough economic climate. This group focuses on what it takes for entrepreneurs to get their companies funded. It also attempts to connect these entrepreneurs with mentors, private equity groups, venture capital firms, lenders, advisors, and more.

Startup Mastermind

Startup Mastermind is dedicated to providing networking opportunities and collaboration among startup founders, founding team members, and startup advisors.

Small Business Marketing Network

linkedin groups for business

As the name suggests, this group is for anyone who is involved in marketing for their small business. So it poses some questions about how to increase the leads from your website, how to enhance customer service and how to avoid the biggest marketing mistakes.

A Startup Specialists Group – Online Network for Entrepreneurs and Startups

This group provides you with startup support, as well as assistance with planning your new venture. Members also get support for crowdsourcing startups. Then there’s access to better networking, crowdfunding, mentors, other startups, incubators, accelerators, fellow entrepreneurs, founders, consultants, inventors, and much more.

Small Biz Forum

Small Biz Forum is a place for the small business community to share resources and work together collaborativelty to improve each others’ businesses.

Small Business & Independent Consultant Network

The goal of this group is to create a network of professionals who work to raise the profile of small businesses and to connect those businesses with the appropriate talent or resources. This can include members seeking business services such as branding, accounting, or legal advice. It can also include members who are simply seeking to improve their knowledge in a specific topic.

Small Business Evolution | Entrepreneurs & SMEs

linkedin groups for business

This is a group that focuses on business-related discussions, including on topics like the differences between men and women in the workplace, the importance of staying creative and the trend towards mobile offices, among many more.

Linked Small Business Innovators

This is a group for entrepreneurs, small business professionals, and executives. Members share news, trends, expertise and resources. You can use this group to build relationships with other connections within the small business community to further your career, or expand your knowledge.

Small Business Online Community

The community goal is to empower people to build a successful business. Here you will find a place to learn and share information with others who are in different stages of business growth. No matter what your business level, there is something you can learn from others at different stages in their companies.

Small Businesses and Self Employed Group – Getting Clients, Building Business and Making More Income

The name of this group pretty much says it all. Members talk about getting clients, building businesses, and making more income. Sounds like a combination many entrepreneurs could appreciate.

Which LinkedIn business groups do you belong to?

LinkedIn Photo via Shutterstock


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Mark O'Neill Mark O'Neill is a staff writer for Small Business Trends, covering software and social media. He is a freelance journalist who has been writing for over 25 years, and has successfully made the leap from newspapers and radio onto the Internet. From 2007-2013, he was the Managing Editor of MakeUseOf.com.

28 Reactions
  1. I love Conversion Rate Optimization Pros, the largest conversion rate optimization group on LinkedIn. #shamelessplug https://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=2847256

  2. Thanks for combing through the groups to come up with these 20. Social Media Marketing immediately got my attention. Want to check out the very last on the list too.

    I don’t use LinkedIn that much so I’m not with that many groups. I don’t think I’m with one to do with small business.

    • I am not a huge LinkedIn person myself – but that is just due to time limitations. But I might start joining some of these groups.

      • To be honest, I’m not that inspired by LinkedIn – not that much to do with time constraints. But then again, maybe I haven’t given myself a real chance to be inspired.

  3. We are now on LinkedIn how have other people found it?

    • Hi Lee,

      Like I mentioned to Mark, LinkedIn doesn’t do that much for me in terms of interest. However, I haven’t really given it a good go, so that’s probably a contributory factor.

      How are you finding it so far?

  4. Nice listing, although maybe title should have been for LinkedIn Groups for Small Businesses.

    For large companies, the two LinkedIn groups that stand out, IMHO, are:

    “Corporate Planning, Strategy & Strategic Market Segmentation” group with over 25,000 members

    “Strategy & Corporate Strategic Planning Xchange” group with over 50,000 members

  5. Martin Lindeskog

    Mark:

    I belong to several groups, but I haven’t been active for some time. I need to find time to go over them again. Thanks for compiling this list!

    Do you know about any group for international business with an exchange of business ideas and potential mutual joint-ventures?

  6. I belong to 4 of the above mentioned groups. I’ve started a new one Conscious Business Building for Solopreneurs, feel free to join us.

  7. We have found that LinkedIn works for professionals to meet and network for possible employment later with other professionals. It also offers the small business owner some tips in how to run their business, but it really doesn’t generate new customers/clients for businesses nor does it convert them into paying customers.

    Facebook is still the number one way to get known in social media for small businesses. Google + is on the rise and is coming up fairly fast but it is a bit confusing for owners to tackle initially… so we stick with Facebook and have had great results with customer/client expansion and conversion.

  8. Thanks for taking the time to compile this list Mark.
    As a newbie to LinkedIn, it’s a great starting point for me.
    I’d briefly browsed the Groups but there are so many it’s overwhelming.

    Thanks again

  9. I find LinkedIn to be more a recruitment site rather than a business site.
    I’am I wrong?

  10. By joining the right groups, there are so many things you can learn from LinkedIn. I love that so many professionals are on it and they are willing to share what they know.

  11. Nice write up and collection of LinkedIn Important Groups.
    I’d also like to add for Diversity and Inclusion the Largest LGBT Group is as of Feb 2017 42,500 global members and grows daily. It is the only daily moderated 100% professional, Fortune 500 HR Policy friendly LGBT Group on LinkedIn. Recruiters and all Community Allies warmly welcomed. Here’s a direct link >> http://www.linkedin.com/groups/63687

    • Since my last comment LinkedIn’s largest group of LGBT professionals as grown as of Feb 2018 to over 43,600 global members. It’s also been branded.
      I run OutBüro – the LGBT business, entrepreneur, and professional global community (www.OutBuro.com) and OutBüro on LinkedIn. It’s LinkedIn’s largest LGBT Professional Group (www.linkedin.com/groups/63687)

  12. Linkedin is very valuable not only for finding new connections but also for learning from your peers.