Are you one in the 100 million

Are you one in  100 million, LinkedIn celebrates its 100 million members with this blog post
LinkedIn is one of many social networkig sites and the best known and widely used business networking site which is more focused and helpful in developing professional relationship.

When I joined LinkedIn, on an invite from my boss, I also created a profile that summarized my professional accomplishments.  What amazed me was in a span of about a month, I was able to connect with my ex employers, colleagues, friends from school and college and that handsome head boy who is now settled in Seatle. Any network consists of your connections, your connections’ connections, and the people they know, linking you to thousands of qualified professionals. You can use LinkedIn for:

Personal branding – You can list here your qualification, experience, professional achievements, awards, expertise etc. Which will help you to establish yourself as a subject matter expert.

Career Management – Here you will get the chance to be connected with the people of same industry/domain. So that you can exchange info/knowledge to keep yourself update with the latest trends. You also can be found by the recruiters or exchange the opportunities.

Make important connections – Like industry expert you admire, your prospective customers, prospective employers etc.

Learn and share – Different articles, links, info are sharaed among the connections. You can get connected with like minded peopel, see their hobbies, expertise and exchange views/knowledge.

Blog/website promotion – You can add your blog/wesite to your profile in order to get some traffic and exposure.

LinkedIn groups – LinkedIn groups based on domain/industry/hobbies are good to join. They are the ocean of knowledge and latest happening. You can share your experiences or can help others. (my previous post on LinkedIn groups)

So, have you explored the full potential of LinkedIn? Now is the time when LinkeIn celebrating its 100 million members.

Happy networking!

Merits of LinkedIn groups

Many of us have profile in LinkedIn. While the linkedin helps in providing a convenient way to stay connected to our colleagues, people who you’ve worked with us in the past, and peers who work in similar profiles or with the same technologies. On the other hand LinkedIn groups are by far the most powerful aspect of LinkedIn. LinkedIn groups are more like a forum for members to have real world conversations about products, issues, opportunities, events, and referrals of information. For almost every business functionaltiy/domain, there is a corresponding group available. Which helps like minded people to come together on a common platform to share views and knowledge.

I have seen many people whose business/leads/income revolving around these groups only or many of them become thought leaders in their niche all around a single LinkedIn group.

There are many merits joining the linkedin groups. Some of them can be:

• Knowledge/views exchange.
• Build thought leadership.
• Build personal network.
• Drive traffic to your blog/website.
• Opportunities – job/business.
• Helping others.

Linkedin groups has categories like Alumni, Conference, Corporation, Networking, Non-Profit, Professional and more. This segregate the kind of interaction you wish to have in groups.

It is a fact that shared interest and assistance between networkers is key to building relationships. So groups can really help strengthen your network and enhance your knowledge. So join more groups and relevant groups.