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LinkedIn has all of the core features that you can find in any social networking site including the ability to search the database for other people that you can link to or add as contacts in order to grow your network and establish closer ties. Unlike social networking services, you are not necessarily adding these people as “friends”. Although you may find some professionals that are actually your friends in real life, LinkedIn’s idea of networking is bringing coworkers and colleagues closer together. Any other people that you do not know very well can be considered as prospects and they can be useful in hiring new people in your business or getting opt-ins for your online site. All it takes is finding these prospects using the tools in LinkedIn.

Using the Advanced Search Option

This is the most common method as it can return lots of different prospects all by inputting a few commands. You can either refer to your prospect list that you created through other marketing methods and search for their full names to see if they have LinkedIn profiles or you can define a target group to get a list of the people that match that group. Spend more time with the target group as different profiles may have similar groups that are written in a different way. For instance, you if you are planning to look for marketing directors, try to look for marketing managers as well.

Exploring Groups

Many members in LinkedIn join groups to participate in themed discussions or simply try to get more profile exposure. Like searching using the advanced search option, try to explore groups that match your target group for better chances of quality prospects that are interested with whatever you have to offer in your LinkedIn profile.

Browsing other Profiles

You can use the first two methods to grow your network. After you have a few prospects in your network, you can start browsing their profiles and see their connections. The people that they are connected with may turn out to be prospects as well since it is likely that connected people have the same interests or are in the same company. Take a good look at their profiles before making any decisions.

Keeping an Eye on Network Updates

Once you start to browse other profiles through connections, you will see many more ways to grow your network. The more people that you have connected in your network, the more network updates you will see. This is very important in finding quality prospects because you can take advantage much quicker than others if you keep a close eye on the updates. Be on the lookout for individuals that change positions so you can move on in and make a proposal if the changed position is something that you can take advantage of.

With over 40 million members registered in LinkedIn around the world, it is likely for prospects to wind up using any of the methods. Having a large network always gives greater possibilities so try to build you network first if you ever have problems finding prospects in LinkedIn.