A LinkedIn profile is more important than résumé, more useful than a business card and more permanent than an email address. As essential as LinkedIn is to today’s professionals, many people still struggle with the question of how to use it or what makes it useful. That’s why I’m delighted that today marks the publication of the latest book in my Work Smarter with Social Media series for Harvard Business Review Press: Work Smarter with LinkedIn.

work-smarter-with-linkedin-cover-250Work Smarter with LinkedIn takes you through exactly what we’d cover if we sat down together to get you powered up on LinkedIn. If we had an hour or two together, we’d talk about your near- and long-term professional goals, and then we’d focus on how LinkedIn could help you achieve them. I’d show you how to:

  • Ensure your LinkedIn profile positions you effectively, which includes finding an easy way of keeping it up-to-date
  • Build a LinkedIn network that actually helps you get your work done, instead of notching your bedpost with as many connections as you can get
  • Identify and connect with the people who will make a big difference to your business or professional goals…which is the miraculous power of LinkedIn, once you know how to use it
  • Travel smarter (or less!) by making smart use of LinkedIn and related social tools

Work Smarter with LinkedIn is that coffee shop visit. It’s the conversation I wish I could have with everyone I’ve every met who is a bit fuzzy on what LinkedIn is for, or is unsure whether they’re tapping its full potential. When I tell people about a few of the ways LinkedIn has dramatically affected my own career — some of which I share in the book — there is usually an aha! moment when LinkedIn starts to make sense.

I want you to have that aha! moment by reading Work Smarter with LinkedIn, and I’d love your help in spreading the word. Please let your friends, family and colleagues know about this short guide to making LinkedIn an effective business tool, and if you really want to get your business partner, kid or colleague turned onto LinkedIn, consider giving them a copy yourself.

Thank you in advance for your help, and here are some links that can help you spread the word:

  • Click to tweet this: Are you ready to Work Smarter with #LinkedIn? Then check out my friend @awsamuel’s new ebook from @Harvardbiz Press: http://amzn.to/wswli
  • Click to tweet this: The next best thing to a coaching session with @awsamuel: her new ebook, Work Smarter with #LinkedIn: http://amzn.to/wswli #readthis
  • Click to tweet this: Want to know who to connect with on #LinkedIn? Read Work Smarter with LinkedIn, just published by @HarvardBiz Press: http://amzn.to/wswli

And one more great way to spread the word: by sharing this ecard from Rob Cottingham:

Cartoon: Connect with Lenny (in prison)

Find Work Smarter with LinkedIn on