The Power in a Link: Open Doors, Close Deals, and Change the Way You Do Business Using LinkedIn

Make your LinkedIn account work for you and your business LinkedIn is not just another social media tool. It′s the world′s largest professional online network, with over 120 million users in more than two hundred countries. The Power in a Link shows you how to employ this remarkable yet misunderstood resource to map networks, stimulate word of mouth, and leverage unparalleled business intelligence to close deals. "I travel the globe teaching entrepreneurs and often let them know it′s foolish not to actively use LinkedIn. This productivity tool is invaluable, but I probably still wouldn′t be using it anywhere near the level I am today if Dave didn′t ask for a warm introduction to me so he could show me the light." — BILL AULET , Managing Director and Senior Lecturer, MIT Entrepreneurship Center "Dave Gowel has shown me that when used properly, LinkedIn allows professionals todisplace hope with decisive action." — ROGER STAUBACH , NFL Hall of Fame Quarterback and Executive Chariman, Americas, Jones Lang LaSalle "Building reputation and generating word of mouth doesn′t happen by accident. Dave′s book provides a fresh, strategic approach to our most basic professional activities." — JEFFREY BUSSGANG , General Partner, Flybridge Capital Partners, and author of Mastering the VC Game "V=n(n–1). Metcalfe′s Law has seen iterations and ′improvements,′ but the basic point still holds: the value of a network is an exponential function of the number of nodes. Most people argue over things like the relative strength of connections, V=n(log n), or the added value of groups, V=2n. They′re all missing the real story, Gowel′s Corollary: the value of a network is only as valuable as how you use it: V=U[n(n–1)]. As Dave teaches us, page by page, anything times zero is zero!" — GREGG FAIRBROTHERS , Adjunct Professor of Business Administration, Dartmouth′s Tuck School of Business, author of From Idea to Success

Foreword by Roger Staubach vii Preface ix About the Author xii Introduction xiii Part 1 Why Wake Up? 1 1 Engaging in the Social Capital Trade 3 2 LinkedIn–a–Nutshell 17 3 Social Network Analysis 27 4 A Search That Is Truly Advanced 37 Part 2 From Army Ranger to LinkedIn Jedi 47 5 A Lesson in the Power of the Network 49 6 Well–Connected Connections 59 7 When Recommendations Are Powerful 65 8 Make Better Introductions 77 9 In Like a Ranger, Out Like a Rockefeller 87 Part 3 Getting Technical 97 10 Disrupting Your Privacy and Security 99 11 Projecting the Right Message 111 12 Effective Network Growth 127 13 Business Tools 145 14 The World at Your Fingertips 155 Notes 161 Acknowledgments 163 Index 165

DAVID GOWEL is the CEO of RockTech, a software company that allows professionals to quickly adopt new technologies, with offices in Cambridge and New York City. He cofounded the marketing firm Clearly Creative, where his successes earned him the title of "LinkedIn Jedi" in the Boston Globe . David taught at MIT as an assistant professor of military leadership after serving in Iraq as an Army Ranger and combat platoon leader. He is currently a board member of the East End House Community Center and a founding member of the Kendall Square Association in Cambridge, Massachusetts.