Linkedin -- It is dynamic. Not static

Just read Stephanie Sammons' book; Linkedin to Influence. And I have some AHA moments.

Linkedin is NOT static.
It is not a place to ADD more connections in count, and forget about them.

It IS a place where you can ACTIVELY ENGAGE your Network, EXPAND your connections, and build your INFLUENCE.

The way you do it:

1) Build a STRONG profile.
Show (not tell) your expertise by:
- posting slides (powerpoint) on SlideShare.net
- write high quality posts on regular basis, and ACTIVELY share them.

2) Engage

- follow influencers, publishers, journalists for hot topics (or to get ideas. But, honestly, I am not into group-think or group-talk.)
- re-share quality info found on Linkedin or other online sources.
- read, comment, share posts that you like. Your activities will be seen by all of your connections, hence keeping you on top of their minds.
- engage your audience by thanking, commenting, liking their comments.

3) Build / Expand your Network:

- tag your connections, so that you can quickly pull up people of the right group; i.e. current clients, hot prospects, CPAs, etc. for easy mass-emailing.

- regularly "touch" your connections; by following / commenting on their activities, and share useful articles especially articles on how-to.

- Searching (or Advanced Search) on people, company to find out more about them. Click on the "hamburger bun" to search by people, company, etc.

-  Search your connections' connections. You can do "keyword "search such as title "CEO, owner" or do "advanced search" to add more filters; such as function "sales, business development", company size of different "number of employees" and etc.

- Reach out to your connections' connections by inMail. Mention Shared Connections or shared interests.

Different social media platforms have different characteristics:
- Facebook is about -- fun. fun. fun.
- Linked is about -- useful. useful. useful.
- Twitter is a place where -- everybody talks and leaves the room. No one listening. It is -- rapid pace!

At the end, nothing beats face-to-face connection.
Linked in just pull away the veil of 6-degree-separation. It allows us to see the invisible links, hence facilitates us connecting with our connections' connections.