Use LinkedIn? What is your experience?

Hi, Viv.

Yes, all of this social networking can be a bit overwhelming. I am currently using Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. At this time I like Facebook far better than the others for the simple reason that it feels like a social place. I can post updates on my status, join groups, become a fan of something of interest to my target market, and even send out well wishes to friends/colleagues. What I have found with LinkedIn is that I can become connected to others, but then what? I have joined groups but that seems to be nothing more than adding a badge to my profile; nothing has come of those groups for me. Twitter is good for just sending out status updates and replying to others.

I got onto LinkedIn several years ago and nothing was happening for me--and then about a year ago a whole flock of former colleagues and friends from different career lifetimes began showing up--and it's become far more useful for me to get back in touch and reconnect. It also has a useful plugin for job hunting--when you go to a job posting, a sidebar pops up indicating who you know that works at the target company or knows folks who do. I've been surprised several times.

I got onto Facebook as the only and best way to keep in touch with my sons, now away at college--and then discovered a surprising collection of other colleagues and friends popping up as well--and a different cut from the folks I found on LinkedIn.

So I check in on both (as well as Biznik, Meet-Up and a new one called Blue Goose) maybe once or so a day. All have helped me "break the ice" on more active networking and worrying less about my ambivalence re: hard core marketing and selling.

Yes, if you're job hunting and wanting to work the "6 degrees of seperation' phenomena or if you want to throw out a question to the masses, LinkedIn is a great site. If you want to have authentic interaction, online or offline, and network immediately with people to grow your business, Biznik is the way to go.

Don't you just love the drop down options next to each face on Biznik that are always accessible. Though the 'triangle of power' is not obvious to many (I'm surprised at how there are Bizniks who've been around for a while who don't even know about that fact), the concept of face-to-action is very intuitive and effective.

(Ha, just discovered something funny as I was typing -try clicking the triangle of power next to your own face)

LinkedIn has been very useful for me because of it's private group function. Plus, the number of people using it allows me to get reconnected with lost contacts pretty easily.

It does appear to have some limitations, depending on what you need. A group I belong to is moving towards a mode of business networking where LinkedIn may be a bit clumsy.

The LinkedIn group could be used, though, for more general contact and feeding a private Biznik group.

I'm looking forward to upcoming Biznik releases. Sounds like there are more good things on the way.

Yes Eric, Biznik groups are going to rock and going to help fix a number of issues. Having your own 'mastermind' type group with a forum, or an industry-specific group, or a goal-focused group, etc. will be v. helpful to many of us.

I use it as way to have my resume available for prospects to look at without having to post my resume on my own site. As a small business owner, people get the impression that you sprang fully formed into what you are now doing, forgetting that you have a history and that your past experience helps make you better at what you are doing now. I can tell people to look at my Linked-In profile to get a sense of where I've been.

I LOVE Facebook!! I am on it a couple of times per day usually and get some of the notifications sent to my e-mail box. I have connected with nearly 400 people now from all over the world. Most I know personally and it's so nice to have many of my friends from the different parts and times of my life in one place. I feel really connected daily. I am even getting to know my local friends better because of the photos or little things they share on there. It's a wonderful site and easy to use. I like it WAY better than MySpace. Facebook is very sophisticated yet quirky and fun, too.

Warmly, Meredith Murray, Realtor Bellingham, WA

I've had a profile on Facebook for a couple months, but I haven't really connected there. I find it too hard to find people there. I think part of the problem is that my email is a private domain (not @hotmail or @gmail). There probably is a way to do the search anyway but I haven't taken the time to figure it out.

Hi, John, To search for friends, put their e-mail address (best) or name in the search box at the top of the page. If their e-mail address is not registered yet, it makes it very easy to send them an invite to join! Also, once you have a friend, click on their friends to see if there are people there who you know. Then click on that person and invite them to be your friend. Thus the web grows organically - it's amazing! They also have a feature: People You May Know. Check them out. When you click on their photos, you can see how many mutual friends you have. When it's up to 15 or 20 mutual friends, I figure I need to know this person! That's when I invite them to be my friend as well. It's such a great system... one degree of separation!
Best regards, Meredith Ann Murray, Realtor, ABR Bellingham, WA

I love Facebook, use it daily for personal connections and even a little business marketing.

I also use LinkedIn, but really nothing compelling about it. I might log in every couple months, but don't really get any value from it.

New to BizNik...first impressions is that it feels a little like a 'business' Facebook.

I have used Linkedin since it first hit TV during the news - probably 4-5 years or so - it has been a fairly good business networking site with the ability to connect with others I have known in business over the years and a number of good opportunities have grown as a result of it. It can also be used to answer questions that may seem mundane, but someone somewhere may have asked relative to a business issue, problem or thought - remember though - you only have peoples Opinions -

I've used LinkedIn for posting my profile, my experience, info about my business and connecting with others. Most recently, I've been impressed with their decision to add applications such as posting an Amazon reading list and importing the RSS feed for my blog.

I'm also very active on Facebook. I have a personal profile and I've created a Fan page for my business. This allows me to keep my personal and business contacts and information separate. Facebook is very much being used for small business marketing as you can post links to your site, import your blog feed, post video, post events. By creating a fan base with your fan page, you are also creating a targeted list people you can email through the Facebook system. Facebook is a great way to create viral marketing. Starbucks did it recently with their free coffee giveaway on election day. And no matter what your politics are, the Obama campaign made huge inroads with the younger demographic using Facebook.

You can see my Facebook Business page here: http://jkvirtualoffice.tk

Kimberly

I'm a writer (mostly medical), and among my colleagues, LinkedIn is the most popular. I think Biznik is a much better social network and offers us better content (especially the articles) and opportunities to "meet," but LinkedIn is a great way to keep up with people (especially potential clients) who move around. It also gives you access to your contact's networks, so you can expand your network dramatically.

I'm a writer (mostly medical), and among my colleagues, LinkedIn is the most popular. I think Biznik is a much better social network and offers us better content (especially the articles) and opportunities to "meet," but LinkedIn is a great way to keep up with people (especially potential clients) who move around. It also gives you access to your contact's networks, so you can expand your network dramatically.

I find value inf linkedin and facebook but use them for different things.

I use linkedin for researching companies and contacts that work in larger companies and in areas outside of seattle as well as Seattle. it is a great resource for a broader range.

I use facebook for more personal networking, family and friend. I have not figured out how it advances my professional objectives yet.

Biznik has its mosrt benefit for me in the local Seattle area and what I love about it is actually geing able to meet people and doing hands-on cross network referrals. I find that value only comes from what you put into it, not what you try and get out of it.

Hi Debra. You're lucky to be in Seattle! Not only is it a wonderful city, but it's the home to Biznik. I'd love to be able to attend some of the live events you have there.

Biznik is my favorite social network; I think it provides the most value. But it's pretty small in my area (Philadelphia/New Jersey) right now. I'm focusing on my LinkedIn network right now, since most people know about that, and once I build my network there, I plan to invite lots of folks to join Biznik.

You are quite right, you do get out of anything in life (professional or personal) what you put into it.

I use LinkedIn, but mostly as a 'storehouse' for my contacts. Occassionally I email everyone in my network, but mostly, I youse the Q&A section.

The 'Answers' heading on LinkedIn brings you to their forum, which has an easy to use category bar on the side. I espcially like how you can be picked as the 'Best Answer' in a category, which gives you stars on your profile!

But, LinkedIn's event section just...sucks. Their groups are cumbersome. And they don't have what I find to be the best aspect of Biznik, which is the articles.

With Bizniks' articles section, I find I use the site more regularly, because it provides me with relevant, user-generated content. LinkedIn is a tool I use when I need it for something, but Biznik is something I check every day.

Unfortunately, I can't compare it to facebook, since I don't use it. I spend enough time online, I don't want to open myself to the danger of getting sucked into that site for hours.

Plus, when you have a public, online persona, like I do, but you are restricted to marketing to a specific geographical area, like I am, then facebook just becomes a way for highschool friends to keep tabs on you. HIgh school was painful enough; I'd prefer it was left in the past.

I'm very new to social networking - started today! Just reading all the comments here has been informative and let's me see the great opportunities to learn from others on these sights. Looking forward to all the opportunities that lie ahead.

Hi Viv:

I've been on LinkedIn for a while but find that it's more useful for keeping in contact with people in the tech industry. Only in the past few months have I been finding that more people from other industries, such as banking and technical writing, are making their way to it.

One note. LinkedIn is a fabulous way to get around the inevitable HR blackhole when applying for that incredible job so perfect for you. I also like some of the job listing capabilities as well. And I've noticed that some companies are preferring to work solely with LinkedIn because it's easier to check out who you are as an applicant.

Just my two cents.

Hi Viv,

Re: Drive traffic to your blog using LinkedIn

I see that this question/thread was started a long time ago and that you are now using LinkedIn. Did you know that you can have your blog automatically imported into your LinkedIn profile?

Click on "Applications" on the left side of your screen just above your photo. Then click on "Blog Link" by Typepad. I use the Wordpress plug-in to import my blog but I'm assuming the Typepad version works in the same way.

Take care, Kimberly

Biznik also permits members to automatically import their blog into their profiles. Go to your profile and scroll half-way down the first page to see where.

Currently this is an enhanced profile feature available to the Active ($10) Membership level and above only, but we're discussing making this feature available to all members of Biznik (including free.)

Yes, Biznik is an ad-free site, and is completely self-funded by Dan and I (that means no VC or outside investment!) Therefore we are dependent on the revenue from membership upgrades to keep this community running and growing.

But we've got other new features up our sleeve that we believe will entice people to upgrade. ;)