My informal chats with people tell me that a lot of you are benignly acquiescing to LinkedIn — accepting invitations, browsing contacts, and doing basic people searches — without necessarily knowing how to use and get the most out of LinkedIn as a networking tool.

Here are some links to LinkedIn-related content that just may help you to realize more value from the service:

1. Help and FAQ; includes Top 10 Questions
2. LinkedIn … Why? — from the NY Times
3. LinkedIn News Roundup — Links to independent reviews & tips
4. Networking Web Sites: A New Job-Search Arena — from CareerJournal.com
5. How to Use LinkedIn to Find a Job

Have more tips or advice to share, about LinkedIn.com, or networking in general? Start a conversation — post a comment.

We’re all corporate, aren’t we? Those of you who are in my LinkedIn network have worked with me at companies like Xerox, AT&T, and United Airlines; others of you are entrepreneurs and independent consultants who have found new livelihoods by coming at “corporate” from a slightly different direction.

In my career, I have known many who wear their corporate identities as visibly and routinely as a Hell’s Angel wears leather. (more…)

I’ve spent the past two weeks getting up and running on LinkedIn, and building up my contacts list. In that time, I have grown my contacts from 1 to 26, and through the discovery process, learned much about LinkedIn that totally escaped me for the better part of 18 months. Since I don’t want anyone else to waste that much of their LinkedIn potential, I’ll tell you a bit of my story, and link you to a CNN/Money article that you really need to read.

First, some stats concerning my own LinkedIn network, and how my network stacks up against the networks of my contacts: (more…)