As social media encompasses a growing portion of the marketplace, it becomes increasingly urgent that professionals protect the one access point we have into this expansive venue that values and facilitates a professional code of ethical conduct. LinkedIn is more than just the business version of Facebook. In fact, it isn’t even quite that, so much as the business person’s version. What’s more, if used right, LinkedIn can be the single most significant gateway of the modern age into financial security for people on any end of the business spectrum.

What Distinguishes LinkedIn From Facebook

Before discussing the ways in which professionals can best utilize LinkedIn to preserve and build upon the unique opportunities it provides, it is worth describing the specific nature of those opportunities. What does LinkedIn provide to professionals that Facebook does not?

In brief, Facebook is fine for keeping up with your friends, but if you’re trying to build a relevant network of targeted leads-whether that’s for jobs, investors, associates, or customers-it falls severely short. Partly because many professionals don’t even use Facebook, venture capital malaysia (https://medium.com/@venturecapital1/venture-capital-malaysia-da5921260622) since most of the chatter is irrelevant to their focus. Businesses often use Facebook for advertising to that member base. For those with products and services to sell, the chatter is extremely relevant. But that’s also advertising, not networking.

A prime case in point on the difference between Facebook and LinkedIn is simply in the words they use to describe one’s social network: Friends vs. Connections. This is indicative of a more pervasive difference in overall focus. You go on Facebook to build Friends. You go on LinkedIn to build Connections.

What that implies exemplifies the clear distinction between LinkedIn and Facebook: that people in your Connections’ networks may contact you inquiring about them or about business opportunities of theirs or your own. Professionals use LinkedIn to receive and provide References for jobs and schooling, and to locate employers and employees. Where the networking element of Facebook builds your Farmville and reminds you when to wish someone a Happy Birthday, on LinkedIn it allows you to reconnect with classmates and former colleagues for facilitating future endeavours.

That’s why calling LinkedIn a business version of Facebook is somewhat of a misnomer. Because it’s not for businesses per se, but for people engaged in business-for workers, executives, and entrepreneurs.

Why & How To Protect LinkedIn As A Precious Asset

One of the biggest potential dangers the inherent differences between Facebook and LinkedIn poses is that businesses will start using LinkedIn to advertise to professionals. Consider a business magazine that’s more advertising than articles, more promotions than substance, and you see the risks. Professionals today have the opportunity to prevent those risks from becoming reality by taking certain actions now (and avoiding taking certain others) to preserve and protect the invaluable-and genuinely incomparable-assets that is LinkedIn.

1. Join & Participate In Relevant Groups

Groups are like the Trade Conferences of the Internet, except they run all the time and require no travel expenses. LinkedIn features many special interest Groups with the potential to grow into increasingly powerful and cohesive resources for all their overlapping communities. These include: Multi-level marketing (MLM) Network Marketing Group, eBusiness Opportunities, eMarketing Association Network, World Global Marketing Network. But a Group in name is nothing. Groups are only as good and fruitful as the people who are a part of them. Contributing to these Groups fosters the larger communities of which they are a part.

Groups also provide businesses seeking to promote their products and services on LinkedIn a captive and, most importantly, willing audience for doing it. This includes businesses looking to build their team member base and offer business opportunities. Which brings us to our second point…

2. Use Groups For Promotions, Profiles For Connections

If promotions (and that includes self-promotion) were relegated to the Groups area, where the demographics are more targeted and interested, then the Profile areas can be left for interesting and relevant discussion. For making contacts and commenting constructively on one another’s posts.