Webifiable

I’ve recently become interested in expanding my use of the LinkedIn website. A friend recommended that I read The Power Formula for LinkedIn Success, by Wayne Breitbarth.

Breitbarth is a self-taught LinkedIn expert. As a furniture salesman in his fifties, he was originally a skeptic of LinkedIn, but is now an outspoken proponent. He shares his passion for social media through private consultations and public presentations. After much encouragement from his wife, he decided to put his expertise together in a book.

The book covers all of the basics of LinkedIn. Everything from setting up your profile to getting recommendations is included. Breitbarth gives tips on applications, expanding your network, searching LinkedIn, preferences and even power users. The book finishes up with a six-week, two-hour-per-week road map to results.

Nearly everything Breitbarth wrote about I agree with in principle, if not in practice. His overall philosophy was very solid and something that I can endorse.

Breitbarth recommends that you only connect with actual professionals that you trust. After all, LinkedIn refers to them as “Your Network of Trusted Professionals.” This aligns with my personal philosophy of being a literalist when dealing with social media relationships. I believe that friends on Facebook should be people you really consider friends in real life. Similarly, I agree with Breitbarth when it comes to establishing connections on LinkedIn.

As he puts it, “With LinkedIn, the goal is to connect with only those people who you consider to be trusted professionals.”

For me, the sign of a good how-to book is if I keep putting it down to immediately implement something the author is writing about. Breitbarth’s book was no exception, as I was constantly tweaking my profile, using new methods to look up contacts, and once stopped for an hour to write recommendations.

For anyone getting started on LinkedIn, this book is a must-have. I highly recommend it.