LinkedIn is an online social network of experienced professionals from around the world with over 37 million members in over 200 countries. Executives from all the Fortune 500 companies and well know experts, authors and leaders are all LinkedIn members, so the question is, are you?

Do you remember the old saying “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know”? Your professional network is one of the most valuable assets you own that will yield you a return. It is your personal network that you turn to for job inquiries, introductions to new business opportunities, collaboration on joint ventures, research on new people you meet or new companies you want to engage in business.

In the past you relied on human to human networking where you would speak to friends, family and colleagues, stating your purpose and hoping they could either assist with another introduction or at least point you in a direction towards an introduction. Your goal to find someone who may know someone who can help you make a connection typically took going through many individuals on a one to one basis and was inefficient and took valuable time.

In today’s environment of real time access to information, social media and limited personal time, LinkedIn provides you a way to find, be introduced to and collaborate with qualified professionals that you need to reach out to in mass therefore saving your most precious resource – your time. If you are looking for new business, new partners, new referrals, to stay in touch, to research candidates or partners, recruit new employees, or find a new job, than you need to be leveraging the power of LinkedIn.

So what can LinkedIn do for you:

• Direct Recruiting – You can find people who are potential candidates for hire, or at least find someone who knows someone who is looking.
• Lead Generation – With a growing network of qualified links, you have a direct audience to use LinkedIn tools to keep them informed of what you are working on, blast emails to your network and presentations tools to generate interest.
• Expert Positioning – LinkedIn provides you the ability to join groups or mini communities of like-minded individuals where you can not only ask questions to collaborate with peers, but can answer questions as well. In addition, obtaining recommendations from business partners, employees and peers will provide you with a foundation to build credibility and establish yourself as an expert in your field.
• Research – In LinkedIn, there is an open source to search a company’s name, location and individuals associated with this company. It is a great resource for tracking down previous employment information, other partners and who people are networked with.
• Google Search – When you make your profile public in LinkedIn, search engines such as Google picks up your profile and makes it easier for people to find you. If you are in business and trying to establish a presence or build credibility, enhancing your page ranking in Google is always a good way.
• Job Search – When you get the itch to start looking for a new position, people always turn to their network first. Here your network is expanded. Since you are connected to your connections and your connections have connections and so on. This provides you with the opportunity to cast out inquiries to a larger net.

LinkedIn is rapidly becoming the largest business-oriented online social network and since it is a professional audience, the focus is on business. It is about making the necessary connections to boost your business and build referrals well beyond any network you can develop using human to human networking. The time is now for you to join LinkedIn and harness the power of business connection that is easy, real time and the next wave in business networking.