Yesterday I was giving some Linkedin training and the subject of Linkedin Answers came up. As a result we used the service to ask the question which titles this blog post: Do you use Linkedin Answers? Have you had any success with it?
Asking the question gave me the opportunity to demonstrate how to use Linkedin Answers, a service where you can ask the entire Linkedin network worldwide a question. I also hoped that doing so would demonstrate how the service works, and whether it would deliver useful value.
I’ve used Answers in three ways.
- To get advice on how to use Linkedin from people who use it regularly;
- To get help looking for a specific person who may be outside my network (for example, a reliable lettings agent in Ipswich)
- To get advice on how to give a presentation to a specific audience.
All three worked really well, particularly the third. In both 2 and 3 above I send copies of the message to people in my network who I thought might know the answer, as well as making the question public. I had useful response from people I knew and also complete strangers. On the third I also blogged about the issue on my website which encouraged a wider group of people to go and look at the question. The best answer came from someone I was connected to on Linkedin through a personal contact, who happened to be related to someone who knew the exact answer I needed – out of Linkedin and back in again!
So what are people on Linkedin saying in answer to my question? Go and have a look here. And what is your experience? Please feel free to share.
Image: See Something Say Something (London) by Eric Fischer (Creative Commons)
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
My question about using Linkedin Answers has been open for a week and had 17 responses – you can read them here.