Should you be LinkedIn?

Good blog post in the Kelsey Group blog on the uses and benefits of LinkedIn. The author, Michael Taylor, points out the growing significance of LinkedIn.

In a nutshell, Michael describes LinkedIn as "a powerful and growing business network that recently reported topping the 17 million-member mark, making it one of the world’s largest business networks on the Internet. With a large base of business-focused members, finding ways to share vendors and service providers seems like a natural extension with the possibility of enhancing its revenue generation and profitability."

What really struck me as interesting about Michael's post, though, is that he points out ways that business professionals can use the service to create their own professional networks.

In fact, in another blog post I recently read on Pro PR, the author writes, "I do not hire entry level people without looking at their blog, following their twitter stream and checking their Facebook presence. I want a sense of who they are over time, not just when they are in my office. I want to know what they think on the issues they care about and how they express themselves. I want to see whether and how they connect with others. And I can find out all those things from their social media presence."

This post really put the first blog into perspective for me. It is interesting to think that now even employers (not just already established business networks) are even catching on to the Social Media phenomenon. In a sense, they are creating new networks, thus opening up a realm of possibilities for new business professionals and making it easier to build professional networks.

My take away from these LinkedIn posts? Definitely a good idea to get involved in the social media conversation - start your own blog, update your Twitter, and definitely register for LinkedIn. It's not enough, though, to simply create a profile. You must also get involved, and stay involved. In a sense, don't forget to join the conversation. Tips from me later :)

Side note, feel free to visit my professional network:
http://www.linkedin.com/in/andreanowack