“The Power of Leadership”

In my opinion, the most powerful “Social Media” tool for business leaders in the on-line networking site LinkedIn.  LinkedIn has engaged more than 75 Million Professionals in more than 200 countries around the world to become the largest service of its type.  The executives of all of the Fortune 500 companies use LinkedIn.

You get started by building your “Profile” as on any other Social Networking site, but on LinkedIn, your Profile is professionally focused and is basically your Resume.  With such a wealth of Resume data on one site and the ability to search and contact anyone listed, it’s no wonder LinkedIn has become the #1 source for employee recruitment.  I’ve used LinkedIn myself for this purpose as I assume the best prospects are not unemployed; they’re probably working for my competition and should be recruited not waited for.  Be sure you upload a professional quality photo as well; this adds greatly to your Profile and helps Contacts to recognize you and Prospects to be more comfortable with you.

The next step is uploading our Contact files from whatever database management tool you use, you’ll quickly be able to see those Contacts you already know who are already on LinkedIn and can request a LinkedIn Connection based on the status of your relationship.  It’s critical that your LinkedIn Connections be people you actually, know, like, and trust and vice versa.  If you cannot with confidence Recommend a Contact to someone else or if your Contact is not willing and able to make a qualified Introduction on your behalf, they are really of no value to you.  So, please don’t build a large list of contacts just to have an impressive number of contacts, this might look impressive, but it will not serve you well.

On the other hand, you will want to build a Network which is a strong and broad as possible, as this is where the power of the Search and Contact functions on LinkedIn really become weapons of mass profit!  You can search the database of your Connections and their Connections with the “Find People” feature.  It’s one thing to know someone; it’s another altogether to be able to purposely search their “Rolodex” for your ideal prospects or a special vendor or whoever you may be looking for and specifically ask for an Introduction to that person you’d like to meet.  Through my LinkedIn Network, I am able to search more than six million professionals for contacts and request an Introduction from someone of mutual respect and trust and make new connections with ease, and quickly.  They know I am someone who can be trusted and can review my entire professional resume before taking my call.

This is why I recommend LinkedIn as the most powerful “Social Media” tool in my business toolbox and I hope to connect with you on LinkedIn as well!

“Networking is an essential part of building wealth.” – Armstrong Williams

Have a great day!

Shawn
Performance Institute – A Global Leader in Human Capital and Business Development

Russ M. Miller, LLIF – Chairman and CEO

Sunny Hong Zhang – Managing Partner – China

Shawn M. Miller – Managing Partner – USA

P.S.  Your thoughts on our Thoughts are valuable to us and other readers; please post your comments in the Reply box…