It’s not just about what you know; it’s about who you know.
As professionals, don’t we all know this statement to be as true as it gets? The guy with the biggest bonus or pay cheque may not be the best in the business, but he may have known the right people at the right places to get him the breaks. After all, as has been well documented, people prefer doing business with those they know. And trust.
ILLUSTRATION: MALAY KARMAKAR / MINT
The name of the game is networking, left best to those most adept at working the floor at business conferences and at cocktail parties. No longer. The power to do so has now come to the desktop; making it possible are professional networking sites. And if you have to be on one of these, you will be best off devoting time to LinkedIn, a clear leader with more than 14 million members globally, a significant number from India, too.
Perhaps the biggest gathering of professionals and entrepreneurs we have seen at a global level, it is like a chamber of commerce successfully giving its members a forum to freely exchange ideas and opportunities in their own comfort zones and in a trusted environment. It’s a place where people meet online and convert these interactions to strong offline associations.
Starting off: Your profile is everything
Setting up a LinkedIn account is as simple as creating a new email account. For LinkedIn to be at its effective best, make sure your profile talks about your work, education, memberships, awards and skills completely. This site is all about networking; what people read about you will decide if they want to do business with you or move on to the next person. With a strong profile, you will be amazed by how LinkedIn works automatically for you while you sleep as people find and connect with you.
Your network
Your network is defined as the group of LinkedIn users you can contact through your connections up to three degrees away.
#Your direct connections make up the first degree of your network.
#The people connected to each of your direct connections make up your second degree.
#The people connected to those in your second degree make up your third degree.
The 10 commandments
Like everything else, LinkedIn is just a tool—its effectiveness is only as much as the user can get out of it. Here’s how you can get LinkedIn to work for you:
1. An ever-expanding Rolodex
LinkedIn is all about building your network. Start off by importing your address books into LinkedIn, and the site will tell you who among them are already members you can invite to connect with you. As they accept, your network grows. And as you use LinkedIn’s various features, you will meet more people to connect to.