A good friend of mind just asked me for some tips on how to use LinkedIn.  I wrote him a long email and figure that I should share my thoughts on this with all of you.  As a result, I'm going to do a short series of posts on my understanding of LinkedIn and how it can help many of you. 

I'm not an investor in LinkedIn, but think it's a great service.  Here's the scoop.

Why you should use LinkedIn:

1. The service allows you to see who your contacts know - something that is virtually impossible to do sufficiently through normal social interactions.  LinkedIn takes the coincidence out of networking.
2. It enables you to passively keep up to date contact information for all of your contacts.
3. It facilitates introductions through your broader network.
4. It enables people to find you based upon your background and who you know.
5. It is a professional network that excludes unnecessary personal information.

More to come...