A couple of years ago, when someone recommended I get on LinkedIn, I thought "I don't want to sign up for *another* website!" I was truly social-networked out.

More on Social Media: Social Media Home How to Get Started with Social Media Social Media Is Like Online Dating Social Media No-No's 5 Ways Social Media Keeps Skills Up to Date Social Recruiting LinkedIn vs. Facebook vs. Twitter vs. (Fill-in-the-Blank) Social Networked Out? More About LinkedIn: LinkedIn Basics Leveraging Your LinkedIn Profile Effective LinkedIn Profile LinkedIn Applications and Your Profile How to Be Found by Recruiters in LinkedIn Search Value of Growing Your LinkedIn Network Adding Misspellings to Your LinkedIn Profile More About Twitter: Twitter Toolbox Twitter as a Job Board Top 10 Twitter Job Search Lists 101 Best Twitter Career & Job Search Resources 8 Twitter SEO Tips for Job Seekers Top 50 Employers Recruiting on Twitter Top 50 College & University Career Center Twitter Accounts More About Facebook: Facebook & Your Job Search Social Media Experts: Marci Reynolds, Social Media Expert Alison Doyle, contributor Jason Alba, contributor

I was getting invitations here and there, and trying to remember where all my memberships where. I wasn't getting any value out of any of them, and the last thing I wanted to do was sign up for more things that would provide more value.

Fast forward two years. I still get invitations, even a lot more than I got two years ago. Did you know there are over 200,000 social networks? Ning.com alone has over 200,000 social networks, for just about anything. Aside from Ning you’ll hear about LinkedIn, Facebook, Xing, Ecademy, Bebo, MySpace, and many more. Check out this list of social networks by Scott Allen, author of The Virtual Handshake.

Another difference in my experience from two years ago is that I HAVE gotten value out of my social networking efforts. I have grown my network (I don’t focus on the number of connections I have, rather the number of people who I develop relationships with), developed rich relationships with my contacts, and have been able to communicate my brand and offering to them. I have helped people and made sales.

I had to be in the right place, at the right time, and doing the right thing. In other words, I had to know which networks I should join and be involved in.

I will share my techniques, tactics and strategies, and answer any questions you have for me (some answers might be "I don't know!").

For now, go get an account on LinkedIn, and get your profile beefed up. We'll talk more about that in the next article, but give it a shot on your own for now so the next article makes more sense.

© Copyright Jason Alba, 2008. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

Jason Alba is the CEO and creator of JibberJobber.com, and author of I’m on LinkedIn – Now What??? After a corporate downsizing impacted Jason in 2006, he experienced firsthand the difficulties of conducting a job search. Drawing on his extensive computer software and IT experience, Jason analyzed the job search process and developed JibberJobber.com, the gold standard in career management technology. Jason specializes in social media, with an emphasis on getting professional or business value out of various social tools. Jason maintains four blogs, including JibberJobber.com/blog, and is co-author of I’m on Facebook – Now What???

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