What if I told you I knew where you could get free advice, especially customized to the issue you are dealing with?  Or that I knew of someone who be loyal through thick and thin, always giving you the best answer possible?  Well, sadly I don’t know someone like that for you.  But maybe you do.

Most entrepreneurs do not get to success on their own.  It takes a network of contacts, peers, partners, etc.  A key for any entrepreneur should be to nurture these relationships.  LinkedIn can keep track of your professional relationships, but it takes a personal commitment to maintain those relationships and at the same time meet new people, engage them in conversation, and learn from them.  For some, this comes easily.  For others, this takes a lot of work.

The truth is, advice comes from both expected and unexpected places.  It’s as simple as that.  Growing up, my parents taught me to treat everyone with respect, and to listen to their stories – because everyone has one.  They thought a person, even if rich or famous, should never live in a comfortable bubble, but always foray into the unexpected and thus grow, while making an impact on others.

Let my parents’ wisdom guide your interactions with others.  Nurture your relationships – especially the ones that will build you into a better person, and from which you can always get good advice.  You never know what you will learn from the people around you. Sometimes you need to talk less, and listen more.

We all know about social networks like Facebook, Twitter, & MySpace, but it’s evident these are not business-focused. Sure you can use them to network with people to a point, and you can definitely advertise your business on them, but… what if you don’t know who to look for? What if you want to create a digital resume that is searchable?

You can’t do that.

Or can you? LinkedIn is a professional social network on which you can create a profile, update it with job, education, and skill information, and potential employers and employees can find you with a quick easy search! If you don’t have one already, I suggest you jump on it!

, a similar company to LinkedIn, is expanding like crazy. Its growth rate is much higher than LinkedIn’s was in its initial stages. BranchOut’s early success is in large part due to its use of Facebook’s platform. Facebook users can add BranchOut’s app to their account and then use the app to contact Facebook members that are employed by companies of interest.

While LinkedIn is positioned as a more professional network, BranchOut targets a wider range of audiences, especially recent college graduates. While the two companies are competitors, for users, they are very complementary. Initially, you might use BranchOut to connect with various contacts. After networking with various contacts, you might want to share your résumé. For this, you would want to use LinkedIn.

Source: “LinkedIn: BranchOut Enhances LinkedIn’s Prospects”

Facebook may be the largest social media platform in the world, but LinkedIn may be the most valuable. LinkedIn is considered to be the “professional” version of Facebook. Users create profiles, but these profiles have more of an emphasis on personal achievement and skill sets. LinkedIn provides a way for people to make personal business connections and apply for jobs. It is the world’s best way to network online. Professionals can make personal recommendations and apply for jobs using connections on the site. It allows users to share their personal expertise with the world. This can be a huge help to college students who are looking to find a job out of college.

A social media source that I recommend for any business is LinkedIn. My suggestion stems from when one is looking for a constructive social media site that is professional LinkedIn is the place to go. Unlike Facebook and Twitter, which are seen as more juvenile, LinkedIn is a very driven platform with the sole purpose of connected professionals. Getting an individual or business account on the site instantly connects you will other professionals in your same industry, allowing for easy idea exchange, and post and fill job opportunities.  Since LinkedIn is formed around the connection of professionals, this is the perfect fit for a final social media connection for your business, regardless of your mission.

A social network for business professionals. Although this sounds like a good idea, I have yet to hear any LinkedIn success stories. For me the whole idea of making friends to get hired seemed a bit utilitarian. Also, the interface seemed a bit complicated and unnecessarily unattractive. Therefore, I never did more with LinkedIn than create a profile and send a few friend requests to people that I could have just called on the phone in the first place. I may be missing out on some great career opportunities by not actively using LinkedIn, but to me, those missed opportunities just aren’t worth the cost.