Why I’m Tapping into the Power of LinkedIn and Why You Should Too

When you hear talk about social media you may automatically assume that the talk is about Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube. These three platforms are indeed the main powerhouse sites when regarding the social web but there is one more site that shouldn’t be ignored and has the power to bypass any of the platforms above – this site is LinkedIn.

I met Lewis Howes (known as a LinkedIn Expert) a few months ago in San Diego and witnessed him give an awesome discussion about the platform. Immediately I started to step up my game within the site by filling out every section on my profile (online resume), connecting with several different groups that interest me, and even making brand new connections. The following reasons is why I plan to dig further into the network and tap into its real power.

Built-in Database
LinkedIn gives its users the ability to literally export your contacts into different files (.CSV & .VCF) If you want to back up your LinkedIn connections to Microsoft Outlook, Outlook Express, Yahoo! Address Book, or Mac OS Address Book you can. In other words those are basically like virtual business cards you can keep in your data base. Join a targeted group, have a valuable discussion with with the members, add the them to your network, and there you go, you have yourself a new connection to your personal network. Its up to you if you want to grow that relationship further by taking the interaction to a skype conversation or offline. Did I mention you’re not limited to 140 characters?

World’s largest audience of influential, affluent professionals
Who are the people that sign up for LinkedIn? CEOs, business professionals, and job seekers. A majority of active LinkedIn users are affluent professionals, which means they don’t mind buying. Especially if you have a valuable products and services.

Statistic: Executives from all Fortune 500 companies are LinkedIn members.

Untapped networks
There are so many unmade groups within the platform waiting to be made and have a community built around it. In fact, I just made one for aspiring and established lifestyle business owners. And I’m not talking about just making groups named after your blog, I’m talking about making groups around specific targeted markets. If you want to go even deeper with your group you can make subgroups and start targeting different cities to build a community around a specific region, which equals meetups and more connections offline and online.

Become An Expert
LinkedIn gives you the ability to answer peoples questions. This is such a great way to establish yourself as an expert in your field and build relationships.

Hiring and Recruitment
With LinkedIn basically being an online resume you can literally search for the ideal business partner, employees, and shoot you can even search for your ideal dream job. Dan from the Tropical MBA talks about how you can also use LinkedIn to hire virtual assistants from the Philippines, this platform is GLOBAL people. 

Statistic: A new member joins LinkedIn approximately every second, and about half of the members are outside the U.S.

Review and Wrap Up
I just scratched the surface on the potential LinkedIn has and why I’m so intrigued by this platform (and why I’m totally going to leverage it). Building relationships, providing value when needed, and joining a community (or building a community) are important factors when providing a service or a product – LinkedIn is definitely a source where all the factors above can be established. I observed many other strategies and tactics that can be implemented on the site but I want to save them for future case studies. I urge you to fill out your profile completely, add everyone your know including me, join a group (or start one), and build relationships online which potentially leads to offline relationships.

Think about LinkedIn like when you first heard about twitter. You had no idea how it worked and how it was a great branding tool but once you played around with it you noticed the potential of the site – same thing with LinkedIn, get your hands dirty. Enjoy!

Photo Credit: shekharsahu

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