by Erin Erickson
Chicago Board Member

I recently wrote about LinkedIn, its perks and the ASBPE LinkedIn Group that has been established. (You have joined, right?)

Now I bet you’re wondering exactly what you can do with LinkedIn other than find old coworkers. One of my favorite bloggers, work expert Penelope Trunk, writes a great blog post about 10 Ways Journalists Can Use LinkedIn. Some excerpts:

2. Build a network without making networking your full-time job. … LinkedIn works best when you connect to your top sources, important industry contacts, coworkers, and people who know you well. …

4. Use a connection to get a great assignment. If you’re a freelancer or looking for a job, perform a search in the “Writing and Editing” industry sorted by “Degrees away from you” to see who might be able to help you in your network.

5. Find an expert fast. The advanced search feature is [one of] the most powerful tools you can use on LinkedIn. You can search for any combination of keywords, job title, company, location, industry, and you can sort by “degrees away from you” to find people close to you in your network. This is a great way to find experts in almost any field or subject matter. You can also track down executives at companies.

I’ve listed a few of her pointers. For the rest of her list, head over to her blog, Brazen Careerist.