Rita Wilhelm’s Blog

How to use LinkedIn to Network

LinkedIn is a free tool that helps business professionals around the world network.  Over 17 million people in over 150 different industries use LinkedIn. 

I decided to interview Garren Du, who is an active user of LinkedIn, to learn more about how he uses this very powerful social networking tool.

Here’s the interview:

Rita:  Tell me a little bit about your business Garren. Garren:  After spending a decade of my life in the professional services industry ranging from marketing to technology consulting, I have decided to leave the client delivery business to my consulting colleagues and develop solutions to help them improve their practices (for some, reducing their level of frustration).  I founded Invogen, with two of my closest friends to help professional services firms improve their operating cash flow.  We do this by streamlining the invoice creation and management process.  Consultancies, law firms, marketing agencies and organizations that require time and expense tracking information on their client invoices, turn to Invogen to overcome their challenges. Rita:  Why do you use LinkedIn? 

Garren:  When I was a management consultant – road warrior traveling 45+ weeks a year – I used LinkedIn to keep in touch with my global network of business associates, clients and friends.  LinkedIn is a great destination for me to keep track of my colleague’s contact information, employment status and whereabouts.  LinkedIn also has a nice notification feature to alert you of your connections’ profile changes such as promotions, job changes, etc.

Rita:  How often to you use LinkedIn? 

Garren:  I use LinkedIn when I need to review my contacts.  LinkedIn is like my online address book.  I turn to it when I need to find someone whom I have worked with in the past or prior to meeting someone for the first time.

Rita:  What has LinkedIn done for you? 

Garren:  LinkedIn has helped me market my product and services.  It is like an online resume for me and Invogen.  LinkedIn shows me the degree of separation between a prospect and my current network.  It allows me to get additional information about a prospect through my contacts, which has been helpful in first time meetings.  I have also written recommendations to my business associates in the past, which has helped them market their services.

Rita:  What tips would you give someone who is getting started using LinkedIn? 

Garren:  I recommend new LinkedIn users be selective in regards to who they accept as contacts.  I see two types of users on LinkedIn:  users who are selective and users who accept all invitations.  Users that accept all invitations or invites everyone to join their network dilutes the meaning of networking.  I recommend new users treat the LinkedIn community and tool as if it was their own personal phone/address book.  This means you should accept the invitation if you really know the person - i.e., have worked with them before.  I believe LinkedIn is more of a business networking tool and should not be treated as a social networking site like Myspace and Facebook. 

Rita:  Thanks for the interview Garren.  Those are great tips. 

If you are looking for a job or want to make business connections, hop onto LinkedIn, create a profile, and invite some of your colleagues.  Chances are, they already have a LinkedIn profile too.

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