After listening and reading for a few months now about the various ways to leverage LinkedIn as a marketing and professional resource, I went ahead and created a MarketingProfs group there. Less than 24 hours later, 780 884 1,002 MarketingProfs members have joined, and now, I'm inviting all of you to join it, too.


Those of you who have a LinkedIn profile (and I'm guessing that's a good many of you) need to simply click on this link below:
Join the MarketingProfs LinkedIn Group
If you don't already have a LinkedIn profile, you'll need to create one first. Then, click on the link above.
Joining will allow you to find and contact other MarketingProfs members on LinkedIn. The goal of this group is to help members:
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Reach other members of MarketingProfs.
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Accelerate careers and grow your business through referrals from MarketingProfs Group members.
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Know more than a name. You can view professional profiles from fellow MarketingProfs Group members.
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Offer MarketingProfs feedback on the products and services you enjoy, or suggest others you'd like to see.
I'm sure there's lots more that can do with the group, as LinkedIn rolls out more groups features and capabilities, as my friend Mario Sundar says are in the offing. (As you probably heard, LinkedIn is definitely focusing on expansion these days.) I don't have all the answers at this point... but it'll be interesting to see where this leads!
Some of you might wonder why you should join yet another networking group, when there are a ton of online networks already available, including the MarketingProfs Facebook group, Twitter, and the like? Well, my take is that it's all about preference, choice, and what tools you're comfortable with. In other words, there's no silver bullet.
Just as some of us are Mac users and some swear by the PC (or, if you are like me, you swing both ways), there are those who gravitate toward one or another online networking tool. Regardless of your tools of choice, the reality is that none of us have any excuse for sitting on the sidelines.
So pick your poison, belly up, and start with "hello."