I was first invited to join LinkedIn several years ago by an attorney friend of mine. He was looking for a new job. I thought people used LinkedIn when out of work and looking for a job or seeking a new position. I declined his offer to connect. I planned to retire from ADT Security Systems (final in May, 2010), was not looking for a job and I had no desire to start all over again that far in my career.

I was comfortable and I was wrong!

My efforts on Facebook to promote a do it yourself Web marketing group failed in early 2009. Perhaps it was because of the subject, perhaps it was the platform. That was prior to the current popularity and fan page rage. I still do not think it is the right platform to promote what I do. Twitter? Frankly I never got the application for my business either.

I believe it is because of what I love to do and what my target market is. I teach self employed and small business owners how to market on the Web. I help maximize Web sites results from search engines. I also use free social media tools such as blogging, video marketing, article writing, etc., to promote sites. I sell a personalized service, not a product. My best efforts come in one-on-one relationships rather than mass marketing.

Latter last year I took another look at LinkedIn after I learned more about it. LinkedIn boasts a membership over 65 million professional business people. It touts the highest per capita income of all major social networks, about $110,000. A new member joins approximately every second. Over half of its members are from the US with executives from all Fortune 500 companies represented. Personally, I see more and more former business associates joining regularly.

LinkedIn led me into a new world of networking on the Web. I adopted my face to face networking skills to the digital age. Through searches and groups I re-connected with old business friends and acquaintances. I also established new relationships with people all over the world. It has proven to be a way to establish credibility and leadership which is a way for me to expand my business. I build quality relationships by offering solutions to problems and adding value.

I invite you to do the same if you want to reach out to a higher level executive business person.

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Michael Yublosky, MBA, is a successful self taught do-it-yourself Web master and E-Marketer. He combines 30+ years of professional consultative sales experience coupled with sales and marketing management, training, coaching/mentoring experience. He is also an adult educator and conducts local classes and seminars. Michael shares his knowledge with similarly minded small business owners and managers as well as self employed entrepreneurs. Yublosky’s free information and tips as well as down loadable pdf files can be viewed at his do-it-yourself site DIYWEBJEM. Additional interesting small business insights are found at his DIY E-Marketing blog.