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Folsom Entrepreneur Explains Power Networking Using LinkedIn

By Alan Gray, NewsBlaze

Over the past few years, a revolution has been taking place. Some of us have been part of it, some ignored it while a relative few drive it forward. With so many radical changes, it is often hard to keep up with what works and what doesn't.

Pioneers like Eric Butow not only keep up, they investigate, analyze, learn and pass on the best information to flatten our learning curve.

Butow says business cards and power lunches are out, now that networking has changed forever. Estimates say 19 million business professionals log on to the LinkedIn website every day to look for job opportunities, search for potential clients, get recommendations from colleagues, and reconnect with former coworkers.

Described as "MySpace for professionals," LinkedIn has member profiles that detail professional experience, accomplishments and associations, which helps us connect with literally thousands of qualified professionals in any field.

"this informative text is well written; because of its value to business and human resources professionals and to individuals developing their careers, it is recommended for all academic and public collections."
- Library Journal

"How to Succeed in Business Using LinkedIn" takes readers through every aspect of the site, beginning with the basics of registration, through building a network to posing questions and creating groups.

The book is unique and practical, teaching you how to make the most of LinkedIn and it's powerful networking opportunities.

Readers learn how to

create a home page so others can find you

give and receive references

search for experts in any field

find leads

market your business

look for a service provider

become a service provider

find jobs and recruit for jobs

conduct business research

discover people outside your network

Excerpt from Chapter 1:

Grow Your Network Fast
When I joined LinkedIn, some colleagues asked to link with me and I asked to link with some of them. By degrees I expanded my link network to hundreds of LinkedIn members because my 14 linked members have links to hundreds of other connections. And those hundreds of connections have thousands more connections. In a very short time you'll have more connections than you ever thought possible. Fortunately, LinkedIn makes it easy to search for other LinkedIn members who share your interests, including the company you work for (or people you worked with at a company sometime in the hazy past) and people you went to school with (in the even more hazier past).

Guy Kawasaki, former Apple evangelist, managing director of the venture capital firm Garage Technology Ventures, author, and LinkedIn user, noted in his January 4, 2007 that if you make your profile available to everyone and customize your public profile URL (also known as a Web site address) to be your actual name, you make your profile information easier for search engines to index. This is especially true when people use Google to search for you because your site will have a higher Google PageRank, and so your profile will come up more quickly in search results when people search for your name, thus giving you more opportunities for people to network with you.

You'll learn more about customizing your profile name in Chapter 3, searching for people in Chapter 4, and adding new contacts in Chapter 5. As you connect with people, you'll also learn more about the appropriate methods for introducing yourself to other LinkedIn members in Chapter 10. If you're trying to reach someone on LinkedIn but can't get through, you'll learn about managing non-responders in Chapter 11.

About the Author
Eric Butow is the CEO of Butow Communications Group, a technical writing and Web design firm, based in Roseville, California. He is also the author of Amp Your MySpace Page.

Meet Eric Butow at a Book Signing for "How to Succeed in Business Using LinkedIn," Saturday, December 20, from 1pm to 3pm, at Borders, Roseville, California. If you or someone you know wants to get more out of using LinkedIn, come by the Roseville Borders bookstore to chat with Eric and have him sign your copy.

RSVP for the event

Paperback: 256 pages
Publisher: AMACOM (August 27, 2008)
ISBN-10: 081441074X
ISBN-13: 978-0814410745
Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.3 x 0.8 inches

Link up with:
Eric Butow
Guy Kawasaki
Alan Gray, NewsBlaze
Judyth Piazza, NewsBlaze

Tags: LinkedIn, succeed business marketing, business networking

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