http://www.happyabout.info/linkedinhelp.php

Book: I’m on LinkedIn — Now What???: A Guide to Getting the Most OUT of LinkedIn

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This book is designed to help you get the most out this popular business networking site. With over 12 million members there is a lot of potential to find and develop relationships to help in your business and personal life, but many professionals find themselves wondering what to do once they signup. This book explains the different benefits of the system and recommends best practices so that you can get the most out of LinkedIn.

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{Disclaimer: I know Jason and have collaborated with him on various topics in the past, and would expect to do so in the future. This is MY opinion. And, anyone who knows me knows it’s not for sale. I have received no consideration for this review. I was given a proof copy to review and sent my feedback to Jason. If my suggestions made it in to the final, that was up to him. Unlike some bloggers, I have my own set of ethics about what I allow to influence my opinion. Now if he wants to send me a stack of hundreds, I can revisit that policy. Till then, nothing you read here is sullied by anything so mundane as money.}

Jason has written a book. Now that it’s out, I can take notice of it. These are my thoughts about it.

A good one, imho!

He gets kudos for turning out a “hit the ground running” tome. I think it’s more useful than the average self-help book.

About the only suggestion I’d make is to create a workbook to help the reader “fill out” forms before getting to the computer. I see people building profiles in “real time”; not realizing that their mistakes are live when they hit save. Beginners need to be a little cautious about creating “future digital dirt”. I know one beginner who was, horsing around, putting in lame entries as place holders. Google came through and swept up the profile and it was enshrined as “him” in their search space. By virtue of his unusual name, he’s having a devil of a time pushing the “lame entries” down in the search results. (Although I did share a secret about back dating content and having the bot believe it. You need a friend with an “old” web site, site map with a Google date stamp on it, and a willingness to do a little forgery. Don’t trust anything on the net completely. Even Google’s bot has some blind spots.)

If the new owners of LinkedIn have any horse sense, they’d offer it with each paid subscription.

And, the LinkedIn Executive Leadership should read it to figure out their value proposition. (The Intelligent Designer knows they have no clue! LinkedIn has some of the characteristics of a schizophrenic. And their changing policies reflect that lack of insight and shifting values.) Then, they should have their employees read it. They all might have some sense of what people are trying to use the site to do.

I have several quibbles about LinkedIn, not the least of which is “12M members”. Which Jason repeats. Some of the others, Jason covers in “shady practices”. Perhaps, in his next book about LinkedIn, he can expose some of the “nuances” of those flaws. Not the least of which is the “shifting sands” of LinkedIn’s policies. But after all, this is intended to be an “entry level” book, and some of these flaws don’t become apparent until you spent a lot of time “shaking the monitor and pounding on the keyboard”. His next book can cover the effects of “pounding”. :-)

A new user can use Jason guidance to use Linkedin. Maybe some understanding will come from that guidance. The book is also useful in finding high quality people, who are open to helping. That’s different from being an “open networker” or a “mega-connector”. Big difference! Using endorsements, the newbie can quickly establish credibility. And, one you are “endorsed”, you have in effect enlisted the endorser in your continued success. Often the leads to non-Linkedin content is, per se, a window into someone’s thinking. When that is your boss, new boss, hiring manager, or even a networking jewel it’s like found gold. Identifying an influential blogger — No, not me, I only have six (3 relatives and 2 friends whim I quiz) faithful readers — from the LinkedIn profiles is like getting a seat in an advanced seminar in a graduate class.

I recommend Jason’s book to every turkey (i.e., FOWG jobseeker) that wanders into my turkey farm (http://tinyurl.com/lxu93) as a fast way to come up to speed on a potentially valuable resource. I say potentially because I think the jury is still out on LinkedIn. Link MySpace, Facebook, Ryze, and the 999 other social networking sites out there, it is hard to say who will “win” in the marketplace, or how stuff will morph.

Until that’s decided, use Jason’s book to get into the current leader in the “business social networking” genre.

You have to be quick because in the technology space change happens quickly. You can stand on Jason’s shoulders and get a leg up in the coopetition (i.e., cooperative competition) that is “networking”.

So, after all these words, for those that need a conclusion, I’ve stamped his book:

RECOMMENDED

Can I be any clearer? From the fellow who recommends very very few things a (job)seeker should pay for, this is one of them.

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