The Power Formula for LinkedIn Success
Kick-start Your Business, Brand, and Job Search
The rise of social media is unavoidable, yet business people can’t help but wonder what’s in it for them. While many in business view the leading social networking site Facebook as only marginally useful, some eighty million business and professional people belong to LinkedIn, a network designed exclusively for business use.
Wayne Breitbarth is one of those users. His book, The Power Formula for LinkedIn Success, is a step-by-step guide to help fellow businesspeople make the most of this valuable networking tool.
Other books have been written about LinkedIn, but the difference with Breitbarth’s guide is the fact that he is a true convert—a non-believer who “never wanted to be on LinkedIn, never thought it would be useful,” but now spends time teaching executives how to make the best use of the network. As it turns out, Breitbarth, who is not a professional writer but rather a Wisconsin office furniture supplier, is an ideal person to instruct others about LinkedIn’s business value.
He presents twenty chapters of specific advice for exactly how to take advantage of LinkedIn’s many built-in features, plus a bonus chapter that makes a strong case for college students using LinkedIn, not Facebook, when performing a job search.
The author begins with a “new way to look at social media,” describing how the reader can create his or her own “power formula” for using LinkedIn. He then walks the reader through every LinkedIn feature, including the profile, personal identification box, recommendations, and summary, in addition to applications and tools. Breitbarth discusses how to expand a LinkedIn network, how to use keywords, how and why to join groups, and how to set preferences. All along the way, he offers details, tips, and tricks, occasionally showing screen shots of LinkedIn areas to accompany the text.
Providing the “ten actions that LinkedIn power users find most useful and effective,” Breitbarth also demonstrates how the network can be used to potentially locate a new position, including a helpful “6-week, 2-hour-per-week road map” for business users to grow accustomed to LinkedIn and gradually build up their presence.
The Power Formula for LinkedIn Success is a thorough, comprehensive how-to manual, yet it is easy to follow and a pleasure to read. With Wayne Breitbarth as a guide, even a business executive who knows little about social media will be able to learn to put LinkedIn to good use.
Reviewed by
Barry Silverstein
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. No fee was paid by the publisher for this review. Foreword Reviews only recommends books that we love. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
