SAHBA and LinkedIn

Jessica Whyde

The future we always heard about is here. Gone are the days of waiting for the monthly newsletter to arrive in the mail and getting the update on day’s events on the six o’clock evening news. We have entered the era of text messaging, blogs, tweeting, Google and BlackBerries. We expect our information to be relevant and delivered almost instantaneously (or at least our customers do). As much as we may wish for the "good ol’ days" when we could move at a more manageable pace, there is no going back now. The reality is that we, as an industry, need to adapt or get left behind.

Whether we like it or not, “social media” is here to stay and more of our customers gravitate toward this communication method each day. Generally, I’m not one to go along with the crowd and I’ll admit I wasn’t sold on LinkedIn the first time I heard about it. However, now that I’m LinkedIn it has become part of how I do business.

SAHBA has joined the LinkedIn world and I’m proud to say we recently surpassed the 100-member milestone for our SAHBA group on LinkedIn. However, LinkedIn remains uncharted territory for the majority of our membership and we want to help get everyone involved. Many of our members have been asking about LinkedIn and why they need to add it to their already endless “To Do” list. Below are answers to some FAQs:

What is LinkedIn?: Think of it as the professional version of Facebook or MySpace. The focus is on professional networks and industry information rather than vacation photos or updating your friends on what you ate for breakfast. It’s not a competition to see how many people you can get to be your “friend.” In fact, I recommend that you only connect with those people you’ve actually met in person and would feel comfortable recommending.
Why do I need to be LinkedIn?: Rather than refer to a list of staggering statistics that indicate how quickly the market is shifting to social media, I’ll explain it from my personal experience. LinkedIn has been an outstanding way for me to reconnect with former colleagues and stay in touch with current colleagues. Because people change jobs so quickly, it’s easy to lose track of individuals you’ve established valuable relationships with (e.g. mentors or references). However, if you are connected on LinkedIn, you’ll always be able to get in touch with your contacts because they’ll update their information when they switch companies and you’ll be notified.

In addition, LinkedIn allows me to receive and share relevant industry information. For example, I am updated on events my connections are planning to attend, receive press releases about companies and organizations I’m associated with, and see the sorts of topics my colleagues are discussing on a daily basis. Through LinkedIn I can also share information about my areas of expertise with my connections and the online groups that I’m part of.
How do I get LinkedIn?: LinkedIn is extremely user friendly and if you already have an e-mail address, you should be able to establish your account in less than two minutes. From there, you decide how extensive your profile becomes, how many connections you establish, how many groups you join, and how often you receive updates. Most people I’ve talked to over the past couple months have been afraid they will have to put “all of their information out there” for “everyone to see.” One of the benefits of LinkedIn is you have the option to be very selective about the type of information you share and who you share it with. LinkedIn will guide you through the process of setting up your profile and the search function will allow you to find easily colleagues or groups you may want to join.

We want to get you LinkedIn to SAHBA! To join the SAHBA group, go to http://www.linkedin.com/groupRegistration?gid=2431733. As always, feel free to call on any of the SAHBA staff to assist you. I’ll look forward to seeing you on LinkedIn soon!