The feature I find the most beneficial to business people looking to expand their network or build their credibility is the “Answers” feature of LinkedIn. The objective of Answers is to share your expertise and establish yourself as an expert.  Answers is a great way to interact with people…to give and get information.  It’s also a great way to make your business stand out – by providing valuable information to your network.  A huge warning….This is not a lead generation forum, and using it like one will seriously hurt your credibility.  I am going to repeat myself on this one….this is not a lead generation forum.  You will only damage your reputation if you use it incorrectly.  Provide useful, relevant answers and you will do just fine.

To get to Answers, go to the top navigation bar on your LinkedIn profile, hover over “More” and click on “Answers”.

You can ASK and ANSWER questions here.  When asking questions, keep them short and specific. You are more likely to get response if your questions are clear and on point.  For example “How have you successfully used Advisory Boards in your business?”  OR “What are your best practices for hiring a virtual assistant?”  When answering questions, remember that these folks are honestly looking for information – they don’t want to hear your sales pitch.  So if you have something to share, do…if you’re just looking for a way to get visibility…believe me this is not the kind of visibility you want as you will quickly be identified as a spammer.  Probably not what you want