LinkedIn: Is there value?
A few weeks ago, Chris Knudsen wrote a blog entry on the lack of value he has seen from his membership at LinkedIn. I guess he wasn’t really saying that there is not value, he was just commenting that he hasn’t seen much personal value.
I have always liked LinkedIn, but his post did make me think about the benefits that I have seen because of my membership. Though I haven’t used LinkedIn as much as I should, I really believe that it can be very beneficial to your business networking — you just need to take advantage.
To be honest, I don’t think that I’ve ever denied a LinkedIn introduction — I’ve always passed them on. I’m guessing that others would do the same if I were to ask for introductions or favors.
Guy Kawasaki wrote an entry this week on 10 Ways to use LinkedIn and I believe that it provides valuable tips. I love networking and believe that it is an important part of business. Hopefully, I can transfer the networking into an online environment to take advantage of LinkedIn and other technology advances. Here are his 10 tips summarized:
- Increase your visibility
- Improve your connectability
- Improve your Google Page Rank
- Enhance your search engine results
- Perform blind, “reverse,” and company reference checks
- Increase the relevancy of your job search
- Make your interview go smoother
- Gauge the health of a company
- Gauge the health of an industry
- Track startups
- (Bonus) Ask for advice
That being said… if you are a member of LinkedIn and we are not connected, feel free to send me the invite. (Don’t get me wrong…I’m not trying to be a LinkedIn spammer or enter into a LinkedIn popularity contest — I don’t think that it’s valuable to connect to strangers.) But if we have had some interaction, let’s get connected! If we haven’t had any interaction, I’d prefer to meet you or get to know you before connecting up.
Feel free to send me an email at bblake at fundinguniverse.com.
Great post and thanks for the mention.