LinkedIn can help you get back in touch with colleagues and classmates that you might not have found on Facebook and Classmates.com. More importantly, you can now use LinkedIn’s search to see who your connections might connect you with for your future career or even networking needs. Finally LinkedIn Groups and Answers also give you the ability to ask questions, answer questions, and learn a great deal of information that can help you in your career. Hope this helps…

Thanks so much for your comment. My retired father is in his 80′s, signed up to LinkedIn, and has been able to get back in touch with many people that he is worked with in his professional life that he lost touch with over the years. He has been able to meet some of them and have phone conversations with them as well. So, for retirees, LinkedIn (as well as Facebook) could help you get back in touch with those you might have lost touch with. If this is something you are seriously interested in, you should take advantage of the opportunity.

The other way in which LinkedIn might interest you is to stay on top of news in your industry or whatever interests you in the business world.

Finally, you could use LinkedIn to meet new people in your area by joining local LinkedIn Groups as well as looking for local networking events in the Events application.

So reasons for using LinkedIn are only limited by what your potential objectives might be. If you’re looking for photos, games, and funny jokes, Facebook will be a funner experience. But LinkedIn can also help enrich your daily life in many ways.

Hope that this explanation made sense. Feel free to respond back if you have any follow up questions.

Neal Schaffer

Thanks for the comment and question! Your question is one that I receive often, so here is how I answer everyone:

LinkedIn is a platform for social networking among professionals. So, imagine you went to a Chamber of Commerce meeting. Would you, after arriving, take a megaphone and announce to the crowd at maximum value about the services your company offers? You wouldn't right? You would first get to know the people around you, ask what they do, and maybe, slowly, start to introduce what you do without unbalanced self-promotion.

Does this make sense? LinkedIn is no different. Start blasting new connections and LinkedIn Groups with self-promoting messages and you will be ignored. Start asking how you can help others and become a good listener and you may have a chance to have people help you find business.

Promoting on LinkedIn isn't any easier than promoting at a Chamber of Commerce meeting. it is the same scenario: it is people-centric, so you need to have good people skills in order to succeed.

That being said, if you want to “promote” your company in the old-fashioned way, you have the option of:

- LinkedIn Direct Ads advertising (like Google AdWords)
- Creating a LinkedIn Company Profile (search my blog for the post I wrote on this)

Remember Christine, social media was made for people, not businesses. In order to succeed you must be a good networker. And I believe my book, and the concept of Windmill Networking, shall give you some good advice on how to succeed not just in LinkedIn but any other social networking website.

Hope all of this makes sense to you. Good luck…and do let us know how you do!

@NealSchaffer

Thanks for your help!!!!

Thanks for the comment and question! Your question is one that I receive often, so here is how I answer everyone:

LinkedIn is a platform for social networking among professionals. So, imagine you went to a Chamber of Commerce meeting. Would you, after arriving, take a megaphone and announce to the crowd at maximum value about the services your company offers? You wouldn't right? You would first get to know the people around you, ask what they do, and maybe, slowly, start to introduce what you do without unbalanced self-promotion.

Does this make sense? LinkedIn is no different. Start blasting new connections and LinkedIn Groups with self-promoting messages and you will be ignored. Start asking how you can help others and become a good listener and you may have a chance to have people help you find business.

Promoting on LinkedIn isn't any easier than promoting at a Chamber of Commerce meeting. it is the same scenario: it is people-centric, so you need to have good people skills in order to succeed.

That being said, if you want to “promote” your company in the old-fashioned way, you have the option of:

- LinkedIn Direct Ads advertising (like Google AdWords)
- Creating a LinkedIn Company Profile (search my blog for the post I wrote on this)

Remember Christine, social media was made for people, not businesses. In order to succeed you must be a good networker. And I believe my book, and the concept of Windmill Networking, shall give you some good advice on how to succeed not just in LinkedIn but any other social networking website.

Hope all of this makes sense to you. Good luck…and do let us know how you do!

@NealSchaffer