My business travel begins long before I get on the plane. By making the most of social networking and other social media tools, I get the most out of each business trip — finding new business opportunities, learning from new people, and building my network.

Today, Harvard Business online has published my top tips for using social media to get the most out of business travel. Tips like:

Fill your dance card. Use LinkedIn, a professional networking site, to expand your network when you’re in a new city. Use advanced search set the location you’re traveling to, and browse search results for current or prospective contacts. You can also search your destination city for fellow alumni and introduce yourself; many people are delighted to hear from alums of their alma mater.

For more tips like these, visit the Harvard Business site. I’m delighted to be contributing to such a terrific resource for business people and entrepreneurs, and in particular, to their great collection of social media stories.