Relationships matter and it helps to be Linked In
We are all involved with social networking one way or another, Facebook, MySpace, Classmates, Ancestry.com or [insert name of some random niche] forum. All of that is fine and well for your friends and family but what about your coworkers, colleagues employers or potential employers?
If your not using an alias for your personal social networking you should be. Did you know you can likely search your name and find all sorts of information about yourself? Yeah you, try it. A potential employer or client might search your name before doing business with or hiring with you. Party photos are not great for business and business boring details are not good for friends.
You spend so much time socially, why not business socially? One good way to help yourself stand out in the corporate world is Linked In. You can build a profile, essentially a resume, and get rankings for top job titles in your area. Your colleagues can recommend your various jobs and you can give details of your efforts for each position. More important, you can link to colleagues and build up a reputation.
Check out my LinkedIn profile and make a connection... R. Stacy Cook or Stacy Cook.
I have aliased my personal domain name www.stacycook.com to my profile at www.linkedin.com/in/stacycook/ and because LinkedIn is ranked already very well essentially I have used it to improve rankings for my namesake and you can too. I also use my profile to link to my other web projects which helps promote them.
I also use the pages in project proposals and introduction emails when conducting business with folks I do not know very well. This allows them the opportunity to get more information about me and feel more comfortable knowing I come highly recommended and they can view my experience and history. Relationship are important, they matter, LInked In provides a solid avenue for business social networking. It helps me and it will help you too.
