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Written by Alex Cureton-Griffiths
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If you're like me, you've probably already had millions of invitations to online networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn and so on. Why bother using these services? What can you get out of them?
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- Findability - A lot of potential employers or customers now search professional networks like LinkedIn and Xing for the people they want to do business with. If you're not on there you could lose out on a great opportunity. Some of these sites also feed back into Google and other search engines, meaning it'll be even easier for people to find you.
- Staying organised - Instead of having to constantly update your database's contact details, just invite them to an online networking site and let them update it themselves.
- Finding people - Need to find a certain someone but don't know where to look? Maybe your existing contacts know someone. Sites like LinkedIn and Xing let you search your contacts' contacts to help you find the right people.
- Keeping up-to-date - Sites like LinkedIn and especially Facebook keep you constantly updated on your database's activity. If someone's changed jobs or left the country you can find out on the front page, without having to click through each individual profile to find out what's new.
- Following up - LinkedIn offers an invite tool that lets you insert individual names into a customisable stock invite. That means personalised follow-up letters and no more "Dear friend, it was nice meeting you at that event!".
Do you have any online networking success or horror stories? Let us know by leaving a comment!
Next time we'll be helping you decide which online networking service is best for you, or if you even need one at all. Until then, happy online networking!
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