Remember the traditional way of doing professional networking? Spend a few hours in the car or plane to meet up with others in your field or related fields. Make contact with a few folks, maybe exchanging business cards — many of which would end up at the bottom of a purse or pocket, or in a pile on the desk at home. Hopefully you’d chance to meet up with a few people who could really be an asset to you and for whom you could reciprocate; you would leave several well-intended offers of “Let’s keep in touch” behind and, once back at your home office, maybe you followed up — or they did — and… maybe not. Either way, a lot of time and energy (and probably money) had been spent for minimal return on your investment.
I’ve learned, however, that with a relatively new social-networking site called LinkedIn, you can save a ton of time, energy, and — yes — money! I love LinkedIn because you can seek out professionals with interests that match or complement yours, connect one-on-one or in groups or by being introduced by a mutual friend or colleague, and then you can exchange resources to further your professional growth and theirs. Job openings are posted, recommendations and referrals can be offered freely and requested courteously, and private communications can take place as well.
I know there is even more to LinkedIn that I haven’t begun to fully access. But in just a few months, I’ve found it a useful — and enjoyable — tool for growing and conducting my freelance copyediting business.
And, best of all, it’s not cluttered up with all the frivolous status updates, games, and applications you often find on social-networking sites like Facebook (though I do like Facebook as well, and it has its place).
I would encourage you to try out LinkedIn, especially if you have need for professional connections. A quick way to get to the site is to follow this link to my profile and surf around from there: http://www.linkedin.com/in/finaltouchproofreadingediting.
September 3rd, 2010 at 8:48 am
Heidi,
I have been on LinkedIn for a while, but only recently tapped into more of its powerful networking capabilities. Thanks for making more folks aware of LinkedIn and the benefits it can bring to online marketing and networking in general.
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