Getting the most out of LinkedIn- a BNet Podcast

LinkedIn Australia reached an impressive milestone recently, clocking up more than 2 million Australian members. Last week, I was interviewed by Phil Dobbie from BNet on how to ‘get more’ out of LinkedIn.

Cliff Rosenberg, Managing Director for LinkedIn Australia and New Zealand, and Tara Cheesman , Executive Director of Executive Women Australia, joined the discussion, which explored various LinkedIn tips such as how to connect, who to connect with, the importance of joining relevant groups; and the significant commercial benefits we have each realised for our respective businesses.

Some helpful tips were discussed in the podcast, which I feel I should share.

Cliff highlighted LinkedIn is not about how many connections you have, but rather the quality of people you connect with. Quality over quantity. He also noted the importance of establishing connections with professionals that could be important to you and/or your business -be that trusted connections, influential people, or prospective clients.

It’s all well and good to say you have over 500 connections- but at the end of the day, if those 500 people have no common professional/industry interests with you, then what’s the point in connecting? Unlike Facebook, LinkedIn is not a social networking device but rather a professional networking platform, and should be used accordingly.

Tara explained how LinkedIn has enabled her group, Executive Women Australia, to produce a number of successful events and functions; all organized within the LinkedIn community. It’s interesting to explore this concept- that LinkedIn has the potential to connect you to speakers for an upcoming event, venue possibilities, food options and even volunteers to work at your event.

For my part, I focused on Next Director, and how LinkedIn has enabled targeted professional groups to really excel. The quality of conversations we have as a group, as well as the caliber of people in the group, are vital for Next Director’s success. Having these discussions, and even debates, in a professional context, is the essence of Next Director and is greatly valued by our members.

I also talk briefly about using LinkedIn polls as an effective way to test new ideas. We use the analytics from these polls to learn more about our members, and ensure we continue to service their needs effectively.

But enough from me, listen to it yourself. I’m interested to hear your thoughts.