Windmill Networking: Understanding, Leveraging & Maximizing LinkedIn. Neal Schaffer

for a job into an exercise about selling “me.”

      In order to do so, I had to better define the following:

      My Product – me

      My Brand – what differentiates me from everyone else in the market; what are my unique strengths

      My Market – target industries, companies and titles

      My Tools – resume and web profiles

      My Marketing Strategy – how to get the message out and acquire leads

      I had to imagine that I was starting a new business development role in a new industry for a new company, only this time the product was me. I did this by first concentrating on utilizing LinkedIn. I reached out to professional networking groups and other individuals that I met through LinkedIn.

      This is when I really started becoming a heavy LinkedIn user. I used it to help expand my real and virtual networks. After finding a job and then dealing with the elimination of my position soon thereafter, I found myself ahead of the social networking game. I knew right away I had to be utilizing LinkedIn to attack the “hidden job market.”

      I began to realize that social networking is really a form of social insurance of which we all can never have enough. Somewhere along the way, I created my own style of networking, which is extremely effective in both understanding and utilizing social media:

      Windmill Networking

      You can waste a lot of time online on social media sites, so you first have to understand what it means to “network” online in a Web 2.0 context. That is what Windmill Networking is all about. With a particular objective in mind (which I will help you create) and a plan to implement your brand via LinkedIn, you can successfully sell yourself or your product.

      Although I first defined Windmill Networking as a way to help me find a job, I realized that this process, along with other forms of social media, are about much more than career management. These resources encompass a whole range of professional activities.

      Before proceeding, I would like to point out a disclaimer of this book. The historical perspective that comes with writing a book is almost irrelevant in today’s Web 2.0 world; change is constant due to the speed at which technological advances are implemented through the Internet. LinkedIn began in 2004, took a few years to gain membership in significant numbers, and now has grown its membership to 40 million people. Furthermore, just when you think you have LinkedIn figured out, significant functionalities like Applications or new Group features are introduced (which has forced me to rewrite a few chapters)! LinkedIn sometimes introduces these features without previously informing their free members. With that in mind, please understand that when you implement what I teach, the functionality may have been slightly altered.

      In a constantly evolving medium like LinkedIn, where User Generated Content (UGC) is constantly changing the makeup of its user interface, it is difficult to summarize the historical perspective because we are developing it as we speak! I feel it is important to look at LinkedIn and the role it plays in social networking and the development of Web 2.0 technology. Doing so is my best effort to give some historical perspective to the reader and to “future-proof” the content of my book.

      For real-time commentary that follows LinkedIn’s changes as they happen, please visit my blog at www.WindmillNetworking.com. I created and maintained this blog (which was formerly located at http://linkedinquestions.wordpress.com) to keep readers informed of the latest developments. My blog also provides additional insight into the world of LinkedIn and social media. In addition to my blog, I hope to publish new editions of this book as LinkedIn evolves.

      To be honest with you, I never thought I would “cross the chasm” from blogging to end up writing an actual book about LinkedIn. As time progressed and the economy worsened, more people came to me asking for advice not only about using LinkedIn, but also about looking for a job and utilizing LinkedIn for business. One day, my lovely wife mentioned, “E-books are becoming very popular, so why don’t you write one?” Seeing that I was in transition at the time, I thought, why not write a real book! And so I did!

      Through the process of writing this book, I am learning a great deal about LinkedIn, social networking, and myself. I consider myself a humble lifelong learner and am always excited to meet new people and have new experiences. I hope this book embodies this principle. In fact, I hope this book helps you understand how Windmill Networking can work for you. It is my dream that writing this book allows me to reach and potentially network with more people than I could ever reach using any one social networking site.

      As you read this book, you will come to understand that I am sometimes critical of LinkedIn and opinionated about its different features. Let me state here there is no bigger fan of LinkedIn than me! Please take this criticism as exactly what it is—my constructive opinion of how LinkedIn can reach its full potential in the world of social networking. I will not paint a rosy picture of all of its features if I do not think the features are worthy of such praise. You, the reader, want to quickly understand how to leverage and maximize your LinkedIn user experience; I will help you do so by offering a guided tour, sprinkled with my colorful analysis, of the pros and cons of each feature through the lens of Windmill Networking. Once again, these are my personal opinions; however, they are based on real experiences of a power user whose only intention is to help you, the reader, quickly achieve your career and professional objectives using LinkedIn.

      Finally, where do the windmills fit in, you ask?

      I was looking for a way to explain social networking to those who either do not understand it or seldom engage in it. I stumbled across this terminology one day while in the shower, in the midst of writing this book (I know it sounds corny but it’s true)! I had subconsciously visualized a picture of a modern wind turbine farm for my LinkedIn blog site, and I knew there was some reason why I thought this was a striking image.

      Figure 0.1 Discovering Windmill Networking

      The concept of windmills illustrates how we as social creatures can reach our highest potential when plugging ourselves into common grids. Windmill Networking, as you will discover in coming chapters, is not only natural for us to grasp, but is also something the Web 2.0 world provides for us that earlier generations did not have. It should be cherished and used for maximum benefit.

      I could not finish this Preface without giving thanks to all of the people who have supported me during this venture, beginning with the one who gave me the idea to begin it—my lovely wife Miwako. Luna and Kyle, my adorable children, were very understanding of daddy doing his “work” late in the evening. I also received tremendous love and support from my Mom & Dad, brothers and sisters Ira, Denise, Mike, Rina, Larry, Christie, Gary & Valerie. Cousins like Dylan Schaffer. Nephews like Jimmy Giokaris (who created the wonderful cover art, logos, illustrations, and formatting of this book—going way beyond my original expectations both in terms of quality as well as time invested!) and his girlfriend Whitney Sones. And Breanne Cooley, my super editor, who not only both surpassed my highest expectations with her excellent editing abilities, but also provided invaluable guidance and advice that greatly improved the way I communicate my message to you. Close behind is my proofreader, Norman Naylor, who blew me away with his deep understanding of the English language and his devotion to spending significant time in helping out a friend. Many close friends gave me their support, including Eric Ho, Eric Tom, James Wang, Larry Liu and Phil Ting. The people that inspired me to take on this task are also the people that I had not even met a year ago—the people who started out as part of my “virtual” LinkedIn network—who quickly became part of my real network. Real people volunteered their time to help me out, always with a “Pay It Forward” attitude. Sometimes, even though our meetings were brief, they often had a lasting impact and thus positively affected the creation of this book. There are way