The first time I heard of LinkedIn I thought, what in the world is LinkedIn? If you’re reading this article then you thought the same thing I did. On the surface it is a social networking site where professionals can get together and exchange information and ideas.  Deeper than that, it can become the lifeblood to your success.

The first time I ever saw LinkedIn I got an e-mail invitation from a friend of mine.  I thought the e-mail was a mistake, I had never heard of LinkedIn.  So I looked on the web for some more information.  Wikipedia’s definition is: a business – oriented social networking site founded in December 2002 and launched in May 2003 mainly used for professional networking; as of October 2009, it had more than 48,000,000 registered users spanning more than 200 countries and territories worldwide.  After reading that I decided it was reputable, so I joined and that was it.  I did not understand what else to do, so I did not do any more and left my account as it was.

I became interested in a program called MLM Lead System Pro, an online marketing system that helps struggling network marketers finally get results by teaching marketing skills.  We listened in on one of their weekly webinars as a guest. The guest speaker was Larry Beacham.  Within moments my eyes were opened.  In a few short months he began generating an average of 15 leads per day, 90% by using LinkedIn’s social network.  He also assisted 94 other struggling network marketers from around the world using MLM Lead System Pro and 89 of them were from LinkedIn.

LinkedIn allows you to connect with other professionals whether it is in MLM Marketing, banking and many other specific companies and general categories.  You choose what groups to belong to.  This will help you to be more specific in the information you’re seeking and what you have to offer others.  You do this by writing informative articles.  Larry Beacham’s success came by writing good articles with informative content that other people found valuable and helpful.  This allows you to become a problem solver; in being able to articulate what you have learned, helpful tips and reviews on what you’ve read you help other people find solutions to the problems they have been facing.

If the content of your articles is good enough people will leave comments.  When they leave their comments they are placing value on what you have written.  When they do this be sure to thank them for their thoughts and ask them to connect with you on the group.  After connecting in the group, make sure to keep in contact by finding out more about their personal situation and how you can specifically help them.  You can then base your future contact and helpful tips and information on what you’ve learned by connecting with them personally.  Remember you are not promoting your business yet; you’re promoting yourself and what you have learned.  You’re promoting what you have to offer people that can help them succeed.  Others on LinkedIn are also putting out information about what they have learned; so don’t forget to read their work and comment on their articles as well.