Networking, either online or face-to-face is still networking. LinkedIn is a virtual form of networking. You are networking because you want referrals. You have to give to get. You have to be active with your network.

Networking is still about building relationships, visibility, trust, and likeability. You want to use the power and leverage of technology. Results are multiplied when you combine online social networking with offline networking. This can be as simple as scheduling a phone call or meeting for coffee.

3 Steps to get referrals from your network:

1. Build a targeted network.
2. Communicate what you do.
3. Interact with your network regularly.

One of the best tools to use on LinkedIn for networking is LinkedIn Answers. Answers allow you to ask and answer questions on most any topic. By focusing with subjects related to your industry, you are interacting with people who are interested in your market.

On questions that I ask, I will follow up with a personal reply thanking them for answering my question. If they are someone that I am not connected with and I think they would be a valuable addition to my network, I will suggest a connection. If they agree, then I will send an invitation.

Make a point to participate in answering questions posed by your network. This allows you to interact on their questions. You will also have a portion of your network that reads what is being posed and answered by their network. They do this to learn and obtain expertise. By participating in Answers, you are reaching this part of your network.

With LinkedIn you will get out of it what you put into it. It is a networking site and as in face-to-face networking you have to put in the effort.

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 8th, 2008 at 6:11 am and is filed under BLIF Marketing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.