My uncle once told me, “If necessity is the mother of invention, laziness is its father.” So when a friend of mine from Europe contacted me to help him fill out his upcoming business trip to Los Angeles, of course I wanted to help, but I was thinking how I could go about the task with the minimal amount of effort.
LinkedIn to the rescue!
I posted the whole story as a guest post on Jason Alba’s JibberJobber blog, including step-by-step instructions on using LinkedIn to fill out your business trip.
Marc Freedman is also a fan of using LinkedIn for travel, as he posted on his wiki:
Online networking is a terrific tool when you’re traveling. The benefits are many – make new friends and contacts in new cities, foster new business and relationships, and have a great time when you’re away from home.
I recently had a business trip to New York City that was a wonderful success. I met 30 other LinkedIn members. It was exhilarating to see everyone in person. I’m happy to share my experience and tips.
I’ve added both of these to the Smart Ways to Use LinkedIn page. Check it out for a comprehensive collection of articles and blog posts on creative ways to use LinkedIn to grow your business and advance your career.
Just out of curiosity, as I don’t have time to read your entire blog today, what’s is your *overall* opinion of Linked In? Soo many people have tried to get me in on it in the last few years, but I never had the time….
Overall opinion? It’s an unparalleled tool for helping you do your job better, grow your business and advance your career. The real problem is that very few people know how to use it. I’m not talking about the mechanics of it — setting up a profile, inviting people, searching, sending introduction requests — that’s the easy part.
The hard part is:
1) figuring out the soft skills part of it, like how to write an effective introduction request, a good recommendation, etc.
2) figuring out how to really apply it to your business.
That’s what this blog is all about — filling those gaps.