Schmoozing on LinkedIn

According to the book, schmoozing is “another word for business networking”. The worksheet we did was all about networking our LinkedIn profiles in a way that helps us engage with our connections on the site to try and build followers for our potential business, as well as make connections that could be beneficial to us. The worksheet discussed 1^st and 2^nd connections. 1^st level connections are those who you may direct message/interact with, whereas 2^nd level connections are “friends of friends”, or your 1^st levels’ 1^st level connections that you can only interact with by being introduced to (confusing, I know).

I thought that this worksheet taught me a lot about how to best make connections on LinkedIn. Personally, I am not all that familiar with LinkedIn, and I have a lot of work to do regarding expanding my profile. This section of the workbook as well as the worksheet provided me tips that I otherwise wouldn’t have received. I have a few 1^st level connections right now, but not too many. I know that I can work on expanding my list by working with my 1^st levels to be introduced to my 2^nd levels, and the book provided my insight on how to best approach that situation. This will be beneficial to me when I begin looking for future careers in Public Relations, because as the book states, “It’s not what you know (in business). It’s who you know.”

Now that I have this knowledge about schmoozing on LinkedIn, I will be able to help other companies in the future that I work with in developing and managing their profiles on the site. Doing so will allow the company to not only find worthy employees, but also worthy clients and partners. I look forward to being able to exercise this knowledge in the future, both in my career and in my personal life.