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Do Business on LinkedIn

If you're looking for work, start with LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com), the leading online business community. You can't not be a part of it.

As with any social network, you can't just visit every so often. You need to fully participate. Saying “I have a LinkedIn page but I never use it” is like buying a ticket to a dance party and not dancing. Why bother? If you're going to derive the benefits, you need to actively engage. Consider this: LinkedIn now has more than 200 million members. Not only that, almost 3 million companies have their own LinkedIn page. LinkedIn is where you go to make connections and do deals.

Think of the time you spend on LinkedIn as an investment in your career. It will increase your hipness/cool factor. Plus, you'll begin to develop relationships with people and companies you didn't even know existed before.

Three years ago, I found a job posting on LinkedIn. I didn't get the job, but the contacts I made became colleagues, and remain so to this day. They asked me to present with them at a conference, where I met some book publishers, which eventually resulted in this book! It just goes to show you how networking—including on LinkedIn—can lead directly to opportunities!