LinkedIn is a highway system

Somebody today asked me a lot of questions about LinkedIn, and at one point, I mentioned that there are only TWO important things to consider to make the best use of LinkedIn:

1. Your unique value proposition (UPV)
2. Your strategy for promoting and delivering it via your LinkedIn connections

(CEOs will instantly notice the similarity to the master business equation: return = profit margin X velocity).

The UPV is basically a crystal-clear statement of WHY a company should hire you. In other words, what is the busines justification for hiring you? How will you impact the bottom line?

Your promotion/delivery strategy basically has to do with how you intend to multiply options that will enable you to APPLY your unique value and skill set to benefit clients and employers.

For example, that strategy might involve determining the 20% of the people you know who will create 80% of the career results you want.

In the end, LinkedIn is like a highway system: you can't use it directly, you have to create "career vehicles" in order to ride on that highway and get to where you want to be.