Wednesday, April 8, 2009

The Power of Linked In

There are many networking sites out on the web. Many for all different reasons, you have your social networks like MySpace and Facebook. There are Art sites like Etsy and there are your business sites, like Linked In.

Some of these sites are good for connecting with friends and letting everyone know what you are doing with your life. Most people know exactly what to do when you get on. Then you have something like Twitter. A site that, some people have never heard of, or don’t know what to do with when they are on. That’s the same with Linked In. Many people who have a business, create there profile, invite a few people and then stall. What do they do next is the question. I can confess that myself, when I first signed up. I followed all the steps to creating that profile to asking for some recommendations. Then, it sat there for a long time. After some time, I poked around and looked to see what others were doing and followed along.

During the week, I go to many different networking groups to pitch my business and build relationships. One group I attend is STAR Networking (Sharing Tips and Resources). The director of that group is Michelle Dettlaff and she created a Linked In Group. Another reason to join Linked In.

Going back to Twitter for a second. As I twittered, I’m also checking out some of the links that look of interest to me. I found a fantastic one, that linked me to a post that was chock full of great ideas to help build relationships and in turn build business. Alan Underkofler, twittered that link to his blog. www.followupsuccess.com and I in turn started a new discussion on the STAR Linked In board. Because one of the tips mentioned a way to contact people and ask for a meeting, to find out about each others business.

Allan’s post also led me to adding him to my friends on Facebook and connecting to him on Linked In. After I did that, he contacted me, by e-mail. Ask me the question he has on his post and we had a fantastic and very helpful conversation that same night. Not only have we connected though Twitter, FaceBook and Linked In, we now have made a more solid connection by talking on the phone. I’m in Florida and he’s in California. And that is the power of Linked In. If you use these tools that are FREE to everyone, it is a goldmine.

And you are welcome to connect with me.
http://www.facebook.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/bonniesprung
http://www.Twitter.com/bonniesprung
http://www.myspace.com/usastudio
http://bonniesprung.etsy.com
http://www.youtube.com/myartshow

I’d love to share info with you.