Building Your Contact List with LinkedIn

A Rolodex on steroids. To me, that’s the essence and impact of LinkedIn.com, a business-oriented social networking site that connects professionals to more than 75 million affluent, ambitious and influential fellow professionals around Columbia and around the world.
LinkedIn gives you a way to maintain a contact list of people you know and trust in business. You can then use those connections to build a network by getting introduced to people your contacts know and trust.
Don’t let the term “social networking” scare you off. Designed specifically for business, this site is, well, more “businesslike” than its more well-known cousin, Facebook. It allows you to keep your personal and business lives separate in a way that many users appreciate.

HOW LINKEDIN WORKS

LinkedIn is built around the concept of connections — people you know (your direct connections), the people your connections know (called second-degree connections) and the people your second-degree connections know (third-degree connections). You make connections to people you don’t already know by requesting introductions from someone you do know. This “gate-access” approach is intended to build trust.
If you’ve ever participated in a business networking group such as BNI or the Show Me Business Network, you’ll grasp the concept that a referral from someone you know and respect is much more valuable than a cold lead.
LinkedIn offers several levels of membership: Free, Business ($24.95/month), Business Plus ($49.95/month) and Executive ($99.95/month). The premium accounts allow you to make more direct contacts (InMail), see more profiles, do more in-depth searches and organize profiles and notes within LinkedIn itself. You can do a lot with the free version though, so I don’t suggest upgrading until you’re sure you’ll use it.

LINKEDIN FEATURES

LinkedIn allows you to define yourself to other professionals — to manage information that’s publicly available about your work and accomplishments. You can find and be introduced to potential clients and partners, service providers and even headhunters at competing companies.
Members create profiles (mini-resumes) that highlight work history, education, accomplishments, etc. You can add recommendations from others to your profile page, upload your blog to it and post status updates.
The ability to search profiles — and actually see enough information to figure out whether it’s Bob Smith from Microsoft or Bob Smith from Smith Taxidermy — is quite comprehensive. You can filter searches by geography, company, profession, status, company size, industry and many more criteria (some require premium membership).
In addition to your profile, you can use LinkedIn to ask and answer questions. These questions are asked by people in your extended network, and participating in these exchanges is a great way to gain trust and build your reputation.
You can further refine the people you connect with by joining and creating groups. For example, there are groups for Missouri lawyers, Mizzou spirit and a group for the Columbia Chamber of Commerce.
LinkedIn also is a godsend to job seekers; you can post job openings and search for jobs by job title, keywords or company name. (Hmmm, this one’s interesting — I could own a Sears store!).

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