100+ Smart Ways to Use LinkedIn
This resource is intended for people who…
- …are new to LinkedIn and wondering how to use it to help you in your business and career
- …have been using LinkedIn a while but felt like you haven’t really been accomplishing anything with it
- …are trying to persuade their friends to join LinkedIn and want to communicate the value proposition
- …think there’s no real value in LinkedIn (and those who want to rebutt them)
No matter how much I know about using LinkedIn, 10 million users (or some subset thereof) are collectively going to know a whole lot more about it than I do. In May 2007, I kicked off a group writing project called “Smart Ways to Use LinkedIn”. What follows are the results of that project, plus some writings of my own, plus various blog posts and a couple of articles that fit the intent of this collection. It is a dynamic, growing collection, so if you have anything you would like to add, please contact me and I’ll add it.
Business Development / Marketing / Sales
- A Tool to Help with Reference Selling - Dave Stein
- Getting More Than Just Answers - Diane K. Danielson
- How to Use LinkedIn to Build Your Business - Liz Ryan (via The Virtual Handshake blog)
- Market Your Company on LinkedIn - Gordon Choi
- Using LinkedIn for Market Research - Loren Baker / Jason Calacanis
- Secrets LinkedIn Can Tell You About Your Customers - Matt Asay
- Using LinkedIn to Make the Sale - Al Chase (excerpt from The Virtual Handshake)
- Warm Calling via LinkedIn - Alex Iskold
Career Management / Personal Branding / Resumes
- Becoming a Recognized Subject Matter Expert on LinkedIn - Barbara Rozgonyi
- Brush Up Your Resume - CarlenLea
- Enhance Your Resume with LinkedIn Testimonials - Harry Joiner
- LinkedIn and Career Management - Jason Alba
- LinkedIn as Resume 2.0 - Scott Sehlhorst
- Your Reputation: Create a Permalink - Todd Defren
Job Search
- Best Practices for a LinkedIn Job Search - Konstantin Guericke (via Dave Taylor)
- How Do I Use LinkedIn to Find a Job? - Dave Taylor
- How to Use LinkedIn to Find a New Position - Eric Mariacher
- How to Find a Job Using LinkedIn - Liz Ryan (via Dave Taylor)
- LinkedIn and Your Job Search - Alison Doyle
- Following Up on Inside Connections at Potential Employers - Scott Allen
- Searching the Hidden Job Market for Opportunities - Debra Feldman
- Using LinkedIn to Prepare for Your Job Interview - Darlene McDaniel
Recruiting
- Companies Use LinkedIn to Find Top Talent - Desire Athow
Growing Your Network
- Grow Your Network While You Don’t Need It - Eric Mariacher
- Growing Your Network Online - Kathie Thomas
- LinkedIn as Cult Builder - Matthew Reinbold
Keeping in Touch
- Borrowing the Expertise of Others - Eric Eggertson
Meeting Face-to-Face
- Breaking the Ice at a Meeting with LinkedIn - Pete Johnson
- Using LinkedIn to Fill Out Your Business Trip - Scott Allen
- Using LinkedIn for Travel - Marc Freedman
- Connecting with People in Your Network When Traveling - Stewart Rogers
Organizing and Extending Groups
- Using LinkedIn to Create a Granfalloon - F. John Reinke
- Pros and Cons of LinkedIn for Alumni Groups - Andrew Shaindlin
Miscellaneous
- Introducting Your Network to Each Other - Scott Allen
- Using LinkedIn to Find Celebrity Guests - Stan Relihan
- Unpredictable Benefits of LinkedIn - Nathan Gilliatt
- LinkedIn a Box - Brendon Connelly
Specific Jobs / Industries
- 10 Ways Journalists Can Use LinkedIn - Penelope Trunk
- LinkedIn for Startup Entrepreneurs: 5 Reasons to Join - Dharmesh Shah
- Five Ways IT Managers Can Get More Out of LinkedIn - Shane Schick
- Five Ways Authors Can Profit from LinkedIn - Mahesh Grossman
Lists
- How to Change the World: Ten Ways to Use LinkedIn - Guy Kawasaki
- 20 Ways to Use LinkedIn Productively - Web Worker Daily
- Making Your LinkedIn Business Network Pay Dividends - Tatsuya Nakagawa & Peter Paul Roosen
- Top Reasons to Use LinkedIn - Various, compiled by Chris Pirillo
I’d like to give special thanks to the prize donors and congratulate the winners for the first round of the Smart Ways to Use LinkedIn group blogging project:


For starters, all participants will receive a signed copy of Andy Sernovitz’s Word of Mouth Marketing: How Smart Companies Get People Talking and the first ten entries will receive signed copies of Liz Ryan’s Happy About Online Networking.
In addition, the following people will receive:
-
Eric Mariacher - One admission to The Internet Marketing Main Event, September 14-17 in San Francisco from Paulie Sabol. - CarlenLea - Her choice of a one-hour “Intro to LinkedIn” teleseminar for your organization or one month of personal LinkedIn coaching from Scott Allen (that’s me).
Scott Sehlhorst - A copy of Trendwatching.com’s 2007 Trend Report courtesy of Reinier Evers.
- Matthew Reinbold - A lifetime JibberJobber membership courtesy of Jason Alba.
Barbara Rozgonyi - Admission and 2 nights hotel to BlogWorld & New Media Expo in Las Vegas, November 8-9, courtesy of Rick Calvert.- Nathan Gilliatt - 1 year of web hosting, 100 Meg with WordPress installed, plus domain registration, from ACS Web Services, courtesy of Kathie Thomas.
Kathie Thomas - A half-hour coaching session via phone or Skype with Des Walsh.- Andrew Shaindlin - A signed copy of Happy About LinkedIn for Recruiting from Bill Vick. This includes the over $500 in bonus items that come with the book.
-
Brendon Connelly - A copy of Shally Steckerl’s Advanced Everything Bundle LinkedIn Networking and more, plus a signed copy of Wes Zimmerman’s, including the Advanced LinkedIn Cheatsheet, Advanced The Perception of a Difference, courtesy of Bill Austin - Diane K. Danielson - A 3-month membership to MarketingSalad from Biana Babinsky plus a $20 Amazon gift certificate from Miki Saxon.
- Eric Eggertson - A book bundle consisting of:


Steve Mulder’s The User Is Always Right courtesy of Scott Abel- A signed copy of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Growing Your Business with Google from Dave Taylor
- A signed copy of The Virtual Handshake: Opening Doors and Closing Deals Online, signed by yours truly.

F. John Reinke - A book bundle consisting of:
- Steve Mulder’s The User Is Always Right courtesy of Scott Abel
- A signed copy of Tim Ferriss’s The 4-Hour Workweek courtesy of the author
- A signed copy of Denise Berry’s Small Business Cash Flow courtesy of the author
- Jason Alba - A book bundle consisting of:
- Steve Mulder’s The User Is Always Right courtesy of Scott Abel
- Signed copies of More Space and Blog Marketing from Jeremy Wright




