LinkedIn is a great way to stay connected with your business network.  The nice thing about it is that it doesn’t take much time.  Just a half hour a week and you can stay connected.  Following are the basics on getting started:

1. Setting up your account is easy.  Go to www.LinkedIn.com  and create an account.
2. Next, over time you can create your profile.  You don’t need to do it all at once.  Look at a sample profile – http://www.linkedin.com/profile/sample.
3. Once you’ve created your account and filled in your profile, you can add new connections a few different ways:
   1. Simply search for individual names using the search function (http://blog.linkedin.com/2013/03/25/linkedin-search-just-got-smarter/ ).
   2. Join one of the many groups.  Look for groups under the Interests tab.  One local state group worth joining is Linked Minnesota.
   3. Follow the college you attended by looking under Education in the Interests tab.  Then you can search for other Alumni you may know.
   4. Once you’ve started to build your connections work on staying noticed.  Depending on how you set your settings, updates will appear on your home page (Need help with settings and understanding updates, go to – http://help.linkedin.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/431).  These are updates from different connections you have added or groups or companies you follow.  Feel free to add comments or add a simple “Like” if you like the update.  Congratulate people on anniversaries or job changes.
   5. As you get more comfortable add your own updates.  Once a week is fine.  It keeps your name out there.

For a look at the statistics on how most people use LinkedIn go to –  http://www.ragan.com/Main/Articles/The_mostpopular_ways_people_use_LinkedIn_47070.aspx#

For more ideas on how to use LinkedIn go to –  http://www.forbes.com/sites/cherylsnappconner/2013/10/27/five-linkedin-strategies-you-havent-thought-of-before/

You don’t need to overdo it.  Just set a specific amount of time per week to manage your LinkedIn account.  You can even access LinkedIn through your smart phone using free apps.  Go to http://help.linkedin.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1156 to get free apps from LinkedIn.