Get LinkedInby Bryce Crosby

LinkedIn, an increasingly popular social media site, is more than Facebook in a suit. It is an online business-networking tool that any businessperson should be utilizing.

The saying “it’s all in who you know” could never be more true (it could actually be a LinkedIn slogan). While gaining information on prospective clients is a LinkedIn virtue, you also have the ability to show off your own talents. Creating an account is a very simple process (unless you want to go into greater detail). Your profile is ultimately your resume, showcasing current and past employers, skills and interests. You can join groups that interest you, and participate in discussions by answering questions people from various industries need help answering.

The main premise for LinkedIn though is to "link" to people you know, creating a connection. Once you have added your past/current co-workers, college friends and family, your LinkedIn network has begun. Sit back and watch as it grows. You also get to see the connections of those you "link" to, providing an opportunity to extend your network even more. 

While LinkedIn is a great place to get noticed, it is also building on the power of the web as a business tool, allowing companies to research and find new employees and partners. Google hired an avid blogger because they followed their daily entries into their blog and were so intrigued by the blogger, they offered him a job without an interview: their Internet presence was all the interview they needed.

Follow up and extend your relationships Let’s say a few months ago you went to a conference on eco-friendly construction, and met someone who owns their own contracting firm. You chat each other up for the night and feel that in the future, should you be looking at building a new house or even an office, this would be the right guy. You exchange business cards and go your separate ways.

Now we’re back in the present, months of even years later, and you are ready to move out of that tiny apartment and build a house. You think of the person you met at that conference. You find the business card and go to call them, but you realize you know very little about him other than the small talk and some of the clients he told you about. You go to his website, but realize a public relations practitioner had a hand in the content. If only you could get a real references before you talk to him. This is where LinkedIn comes in. 

You can look up both your contact and his business. You can see some recommendations he has received from clients, his education background, and anything else he wishes to share (be aware of people who put very little information into their accounts as there could be a reason for this). All of a sudden, you see the answer to your prayers: your old college roommate was a client.

You call up your old college pal, and ask him about this guy and his company. A real reference, not one of those references everyone gives, all the time: “Bob worked very hard while working here and would be a great asset to any company” (there is a reason people pick certain references and leave out the others. Time to talk to the others). Thanks to LinkedIn you get a real reference, no bias, just a straight-up, honest answer (unless you and your college roommate had a falling out).

You also have the ability to look up other clients who the contractor has worked for and talk to someone there. In any case LinkedIn allows you to find a lot of information about a company or a person with little work, and in today’s world, trust is hard to come by.

Whether you are looking to get information on the next Google, post your skills for the world to see or find someone to build your dream house. LinkedIn can help you get the information you need. So it’s simple: if you want to work for Google, show off all the education you have, and have an amazing house that is environmentally friendly, you need to get LinkedIn.