I've received a flurry of invites to LinkedIn recently. Which is nice. However, despite a reputation (publicly stated) for connecting, I have only ever received TWO requests for a connection from people within my LinkedIn network. I think most people are using it to manage their contacts rather than as the powerful networking and interactivity tool it can be.
I'm not the first to suggest better ways of actually USING Linked In (try these from Linked Intelligence) but this is how I do it and it works:
1) Prospecting? Need a connection in a company so it's not a cold call? Search for people within that company then use your network to reach them. Ask your first connection for a referral, who'll ask their network etc until it reaches your target. A warm intro to a prospect is way better than going through switchboard.
2) Track Start Ups and watch for venture opportunities: Do an advanced search for a range of keywords like 'start up' or 'stealth'. Even better if you use the 'Sort by degrees away from you' to see those connected to your nearest/dearest.
3) Check the health of an industry you're considering investing in: Search on competititors of the venture you're assessing. Perform an advanced search for a company name and uncheck the 'current companies only' box - previous employees give more honest references about the business. The results you get from this search also give you an insight into turnover within that company, useful if that's your target opportunity.
4) Create an online resume: OK seems obvious but LinkedIn is not just a place to store contact details. It's a self promotion tool. So get those references in there, upload presentations of your business venture, put a photo up (yes photos are good, they make you real) and make sure your LinkedIn presence does you proud. Headhunters use it all the time to check out prospects.
It's important to update your profile for obvious reasons (same as a blog really, an abandoned profile is distressing for readers and makes them unlikely to connect with you) but one less obvious is the google page ranking benefit - more updates, higher ranking in search results. Because we all google each other. Well, I do!
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