As a business owner and sales professional, I am inundated with information about social media. Questions ranging from “Who really uses Twitter?” to “How do I best measure my company’s spending on social media?” are all the buzz in the sales and marketing world today. As a CEO who has invested some finances and considerable time in learning how to use social media, here are a few thoughts about my favorite tool, LinkedIn.

Let’s begin by clarifying the definition of Social Media. Wikipedia defines Social Media as “…media for social interaction, using highly accessible and scalable publishing techniques. Social media use web-based technologies to transform and broadcast media monologues into social media dialogues.” 

Facebook and Twitter are great, but LinkedIn is the tool I like best, especially for professional use. Why?

First, there is an array of Discussion Groups in LinkedIn which you can join in order to follow what’s happening in your particular industry. The evolution of business over the Internet means that marketing your business requires you to give away subject matter expertise in order to stand out in a busy, wired world. 

LinkedIn is a great place to practice this free sharing of information as you participate in discussion groups about topics you love. I have built valuable partner relationships this way. I have found that reading articles posted within groups about my field, sales consulting, keeps me apprised of changes and ideas of which I should be aware. These topics have given me ideas for blogging, for longer articles, and information for Twitter.

Second, I like the built-in recommendation system which makes it easy for you to ask other people to recommend your services. Through LinkedIn, it has become socially acceptable to ask people to rave about your company’s services. The process is straightforward and painless with LinkedIn’s built in tools. The procedure helps you identify your association with the person you are recommending and offers adjectives from which to choose to describe that person. It also gives suggestions for free-form text which can prompt even the most inexperienced writer to include important details about the Connection they are recommending.

Third, I find it invaluable to see my Connections’ Connections. I have used this feature in LinkedIn dozens of times to ask for an e-mail introduction to someone I wanted to meet. Granted, this feature can be disabled if a LinkedIn user doesn’t want to disclose his or her Connections to the world, but most people make theirs available. I love this sharing of information and appreciate when anyone lets me see whom they know. Feel free to ask me for an introduction to my Connections and, if I think it’s a good match, I’ll be happy to introduce you via LinkedIn.

Connect with me there!