Folsom Entrepreneur Explains Power Networking Using LinkedIn

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 networkExcerpt 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

Judyth Piazza, NewsBlaze

Alan Gray is the Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of NewsBlaze Daily News and other online newspapers. He prefers to edit, rather than write, but sometimes an issue rears it’s head and makes him start hammering away on the keyboard.

Content Expertise

Alan has been on the internet since it first started. He loves to use his expertise in content and digital marketing to help businesses grow, through managed content services. After living in the United States for 15 years, he is now in South Australia. To learn more about how Alan can help you with content marketing and managed content services, contact him by email.

Technical Expertise

Alan is also a techie. His father was a British soldier in the 4th Indian Division in WWII, with Sikhs and Gurkhas. He was a sergeant in signals and after that, he was a printer who typeset magazines and books on his linotype machine. Those skills were passed on to Alan and his brothers, who all worked for Telecom Australia, on more advanced signals (communications). After studying electronics, communications, and computing at college, and building and repairing all kinds of electronics, Alan switched to programming and team building and management.

He has a fascination with shooting video footage and video editing, so watch out if he points his Canon 7d in your direction.