What’s New in Business

I’m on LinkedIn: Now What?

I’m on LinkedIn: Now What? By Jason Alba, Happy About, 2008
Do you have a LinkedIn account and now you’re wondering how to use it? I’m on LinkedIn: Now What takes you through the basics of LinkedIn and how to get started using it to the ways you can make it work for you.

Under getting started you will learn what LinkedIn is, how to create or update your profile, managing your account and settings and how to connect with others. Did you know that if you ask three people to connect to you and they all say no you could lose your account? Be specific about who you ask to link to and if you’re going to send a request to someone who doesn’t know you well you might consider sending an e-mail to them telling them why you want to be linked to them. If you are the one receiving invites from people you don’t want to link with because you’re not comfortable being linked or you are not sure who this person is who’s asking you can let the request lapse without a response so you don’t jeopardize their account by saying no.

Making it work for you covers searching, understanding degrees of separation, recommendations, jobs and hiring, services and LinkedIn groups and answers.
Using this section of the book you can see how you and others can use this site to check out potential employers or employees, how you can block certain people from your information (you may not want your current boss to know you are job hunting) and how to establish yourself as a resource for others or use others to find answers to questions you have.

The last section deals with personal branding, shady practices, netiquette and complementary tools and resources. After reading this I realized a number of ways I could better utilize the tools within LinkedIn. Now I just have to implement them.

We are Smarter than Me: How to Unleash the Power of Crowds in Your Business

by Barry Liebert and Jon Spector, Wharton School Publishing, 2008.

This book looks at the power of social networking and using it to power your business. The authors look at a method coined as “crowdsourcing.” Crowdsourcing is defined by Jeff Howe of Wired magazine as “The tapping of the latent talent of the online crowd.” It is a process that is being utilized by more and more businesses. This book looks at the companies that have successfully employed this process to develop a network of people who helped them re-define products and services and expand their businesses. It also includes examples that were tried, but did not end up being viable as businesses or products.

Some of the examples include Proctor and Gamble, Amazon and Intuit. Using groups consisting of customers, employees and others with an interest in your products many companies used the power of crowdsourcing to come up with innovative and new products or services. Some examples of ideas that were tried and failed and the reasons behind the failures are also included. If you have ever thought of using the power of crowds to help you develop new ideas or take your business to the next step this book is for you.

The authors thought that they could get the masses to write the book as well and although thousands contributed someone still had to edit the final product. Sections on how you can apply what is being discussed as well as input of quotes and statements from contributors are included where appropriate. If you are looking to “drive innovation, reach new markets, revitalize current markets, resurrect customer loyalty or improve profitability” you need to read this book.