network
•Finding jobs through the LinkedIn jobs database and associated Simply Hired service
•Finding new business through actively seeking new customers and partners; your mere presence on LinkedIn can indirectly attract potential leads
•Finding answers to questions other professionals ask about a wide variety of personal and professional topics
•Finding solutions to business problems through interaction with other professionals
•Finding companies for business development purposes or to create a target list while in transition
•Finding service providers recommended by your network
•Finding groups of like-minded professionals to connect with
•Finding events to attend based on your professional interest
•Sharing information like blogs, presentations, or book reviews; to keep in better touch with your network, showcase your expertise, or advertise a service or product
This is not a complete list of what you can do on LinkedIn by any means! It merely scratches the surface of what LinkedIn can do for you.
Just as you are able to search for others, others can also search for you. This leads me to the concept of how you should be selling yourself to achieve whatever objective you might have on LinkedIn.
If you bought this book, you are probably curious about what else you can do with LinkedIn. I will show you what capabilities do not appear on the surface but are clearly achievable through your real and virtual network. By utilizing Windmill Networking, you will truly take advantage of all that LinkedIn has to offer.
Why You Need to Be on LinkedIn
If you are a professional, there are many reasons why you need to have a presence on LinkedIn. You should utilize the platform as your primary social networking tool.
Some people consider LinkedIn merely a place to find a job. It is true there are a number of recruiters on LinkedIn and it can definitely help you in your job search; however, LinkedIn goes far beyond looking for a job. Personally, I continued to extensively use LinkedIn even after I found my job.
So why should you have a presence on the site?
1) To Get Back in Touch
Are you one of the many members of Classmates.com? Do you use it to keep in touch with people from your school days? You can think of LinkedIn as an extension of that, with the ability to directly connect you to not only former classmates, but also former colleagues. All of this is possible without additional costs to send emails or other restrictions that Classmates.com has. Upon graduating from college, more and more people in your network will be professionals, not classmates; this is the foundation upon which LinkedIn is built. This is the primary reason that most executives have a presence on LinkedIn. No other social networking site focuses on this transition to the professional sector as LinkedIn does.
2) To Be Found
Once you have a presence on LinkedIn, just as you can find your former colleagues, they can also find you. Once you fill out your profile, you are added to the 40 million user database. LinkedIn has excellent search tools that allow people to easily find you. Being found is important if you are in transition or are thinking about new job opportunities. It is even more important for your business!
3) To Acquire Expertise
LinkedIn has many Groups that are open for professionals to join. By joining these Groups, you are not only able to directly contact experts in your industry, you can also engage in Group Discussions and read Group News that is specific to your interests. Most industries are covered, with the largest of these Groups containing anywhere from a few thousand to one hundred thousand members! I know of executives who have landed new jobs in new markets who use these Groups to acquire new expertise. LinkedIn also provides a great Q&A functionality that you can use to ask the network of 40 million professionals any question you like. I have asked questions like "What is the best CRM?" and "What CMS Do You Recommend for First-Time Web Developers?” The Answers section is completely searchable, so you can learn a great deal and feel comfortable knowing that the information is coming from real professionals, not just your standard Internet message board. On these message boards, the majority of these entries are anonymous, displaying usernames that have no profiles attached to them. With LinkedIn, there is an entire profile attached to anything you do on the site.
4) To Further Your Career
If I titled this section "Looking for a Job,” you would miss a crucial point: Even if you are not currently looking for a job, a network should be your insurance for your future career growth. Companies are organic entities whose needs change. Few companies can guarantee your job will be there 10 years from now, next year, or even next month. For this reason, you need to be on LinkedIn to expose yourself to potential companies and recruiters. Even if you are happy in your job, there is no harm in having a minimal profile on LinkedIn. You may receive contacts from recruiters in your industry or specialty who may help you out in the future.
LinkedIn is free career insurance! “Buy” into it!
5) For Sales & Marketing
LinkedIn is not a forum to directly sell your product; you will be removed from LinkedIn should you decide to spam people. You will also be banned from Groups should you fill message boards with advertisements; however, there are many companies that are finding new business or receiving referrals by adapting to and utilizing the functionality that LinkedIn provides. They combine this adaptation with Windmill Networking. From a personal perspective, I have used LinkedIn for sales & marketing to a) find potential customers, b) map out their organizations, c) request introductions inside the organizations, d) look for potential partners or distributors, and e) look for potential service providers. In fact, I found a lawyer to consult with me while writing this book on LinkedIn! Why start from scratch looking for a service provider when you can utilize your network of real professionals to help you find them?
6) To Extend Your Trusted Network of Advisors
One of my four older brothers is particularly good at helping me map out and execute my professional goals. He once asked me, "Neal, do you have a Trusted Network of Advisors?" In other words, for anything in life, do you have a trusted person who will give you advice? Do you have a financial advisor? A legal advisor? A career coach? A reliable internet marketing consultant? These advisors are essential to not only bounce ideas off of regarding your professional career; they can also advise you about personal affairs. Through Windmill Networking on LinkedIn, I have met and cultivated relationships with people who have become a part of my own Trusted Network of Advisors. I have done so by meeting many through Windmill Networking and following up where possible with face-to-face meetings.
7) To Connect
I recently read a book called The $100,000 Career by John Davies. It claimed if you meet 100 people and meet 100 people whom they introduce to you, you will definitely be able to find a job. I have not personally tried this exercise, but the whole idea is that you never know how someone, or someone they know, may be able to help you out when you need it. This is the premise of Windmill Networking. I openly connect with anyone on LinkedIn because you never know how you can help them or vice-versa. Case in point: I recently accepted an invitation from someone who was interested in relocating to Asia and looking for job advice. Six months later when I was looking for advice from him, he was able to guarantee an interview from the lead recruiter of a very large enterprise software company. This could not have happened if a) we never connected and b) I did not offer to help him in the first place.
The real key to all of the above is in building out your
