Why is LinkedIn Useful
By Kyle McCabe | May 12, 2009
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Why LinkedIn? (photo by tj scenes)
Despite the mass of “What Is LinkedIn?” articles out there on the web, LinkedIn still remains a mystery to many. The main question seems to be “why is it useful?” And that’s not surprising. Our free time is limited, and we hardly want to spend hours on yet another website that offers little value.
The value of a website can be measured by what we each get out of our time spent on that website. So for some people LinkedIn will be a waste of time. For others, it will be the most valuable website they ever used. So how can you find value in it?
LinkedIn is a professional networking destination. If Twitter is the cocktail party and Facebook business casual, LinkedIn is the business suit (h/t @paulchaney). Here are a few brief reasons you might want to check it out:
1. It’s a great way to find more people in your industry, whether they be colleagues, clients, prospects, or a new employee or employer. Making these contacts can help grow your business, your career and your reputation. It’s the same value as networking in the “real” world provides, via a different medium with its own benefits and drawbacks.
2. It’s a great way to let people find you, both by making you available to your network on LinkedIn and improving your own personal search engine rankings. Similar to point #1, this can help grow you and your business. The more you show up as a possible solution to people’s various challenges, the better off you will be as a professional.
3. It’s a great place for professional development. Between Groups and Answers, you can pretty much find out anything you need to know or want to learn, no matter what market you’re in. There are millions of people using LinkedIn, and many of them are eager to answer your questions about all kinds of subjects, from running a small business to finding the right gadget to “how to” tutorials.
Check out this video for a little more info…
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