Of all the social media sites, I use LinkedIn most frequently to make professional connections and to inform my network about my career updates and accomplishments. I have joined several groups and participate in discussions, post comments, and develop new relationships through my growing network of career minded individuals.

The beauty of LinkedIn is that it provides a forum for me to cultivate new professional relationships and steward existing members of my community. It also empowers me to showcase my personal brand with my home page profile as well as my participation in discussions or relevant events.

I have found that most people don’t used LinkedIn to its best advantage so I’d like to share 7 ways that you can enhance your LinkedIn usage.

These tips come from Susan Colantuono, Founder of Leading Women and author of No Ceiling, No Walls: What Women Haven’t Been Told About Leadership from Career-Start to the Corporate Boardroom.

1. Open the weekly updates that come your way. This is a great way to see what people in your network are doing and to Nurture Your Network. It’s a simple click away to send someone an email about the promotion or new job they updated, events they posted or even if they’re coming to a city near you.
2. Post a network update…and if you’re on Twitter your update will automatically post to Twitter (for busy women, this is multitasking at its best) – thanks LinkedIn for the partnership.
3. Post an event – if you’re going to or hosting an event, let the world know. It’s a great way to invite people in your network – or to set up a “meet”.
4. Visit your home page – regularly to make updates and keep your information current.
5. Respond to discussions – if you’ve joined a group, take the time to selectively choose discussions to engage in. It’s a good way to build your online professional presence. This is especially important for women who have a reputation of being invisible (and if my observations are correct) initiate and respond to discussions at about 25% the rate of men.
6. Spread the word about a job - I often get emails about job openings. Since I can, I now post them through the Leading Women group. It’s a great way to help a colleague (or yourself) spread the word and increases the candidate pool.
7. Recommend a book – great reads that enhance your professional brand and will help people in your network learn and grow are always welcome.

Nurture your network and enhance your virtual brand with this amazing online tool. And as Susan says – Network ON!

According to Keith Ferrazzi, a networking expert and author of: Never Eat Alone, you should build your resource team before you need it. Nothing is worse than the image of the unemployed individual desperately taking business cards at a professional conference in order to find a job. The reality is that you should start connecting with people and building your community long before you need anything.

We know that networking is not just about finding a job but building your circle of friends, mentors, and colleagues as part of your personal Board of Directors. If you are in a job now or developing a business you should be thinking ahead about the ways you want to move forward and how the people on your resource team might play a role.  Building trusting relationships takes time and earning the opportunity to ask your network for support is not instantaneous, or a given.

Former President, Bill Clinton was famous for keeping index cards with notes about each new person he met daily. His forward thinking attitude helped him build a strong network even while in college as he planned for his future political career. Known for his ability to connect with people and form a personal bond, Clinton utilized his index card system to recall important facts about people he met.

I encourage my students and clients to write notes on the back of business cards they acquire to remember specifics about people. This can be especially helpful after an interview when you are composing a thank you note.  And when it comes to stewarding your network, you should write thank you notes and follow-up with phone calls intermittently to show your sincere appreciation, even when you are not seeking their assistance.

As an experiment, start logging the new people you meet each day and jot down a few notes about them on an index card, à la Bill Clinton. At the end of the week reflect upon the number of new contacts you have made and take stock of these new members of your community. From the UPS delivery person to the new client at work, this is how you grow your network one person at a time.

Many people look for new careers because they are unsatisfied with their jobs, not in touch with their passion, or completely burnt out. Rebecca Carlson was very happy with her career as an Art & Creative Director in the advertising world. She was playing to her strengths but feeling extremely run down, depressed and often unable to get out of bed which was unusual for this active, athletic and vibrant woman. Following a trip to Jamaica, her symptoms rapidly progressed to the point where she lost the feeling in her legs and found it difficult to grasp a pencil with her hand. She decided it was time to visit her doctor to see what was wrong – thinking she had pinched a nerve or something of that nature. After weeks of medical testing, countless MRIs, and two spinal taps, her doctors revealed the heartbreaking diagnosis… Multiple Sclerosis. Read Full Story