I’m still amazed at the power of LinkedIn. Such a simple concept, but oh, so effective.

I started contracting about 7 years ago (wow, that long?) And I didn’t even have a website when I first started. Why not? Because LinkedIn became my primary way of meeting potential clients right from the start. I already had quite a large network of contacts when I started freelancing. And I love technology tools that make your life easier. So given that LinkedIn lends itself beautifully to the IT contract market, it became my Channel of Choice.

I thought I’d share a few of my personal experiences with LinkedIn, to show just how useful it can be to the non-believers. (Don’t worry, I recognise that not all businesses will benefit in the same way. For some industries, it just doesn’t suit). But here are three examples of cross-continent connections that resulted from LinkedIn.

Vancouver-Milan-Bourne End in search of Salesforce training in Italian

A couple of years ago I was contacted on LinkedIn by a Project Manager based in Vancouver. He was looking for a Salesforce Trainer to deliver training in Italian in Milan. It turns out the company – then known as Psion (now Motorola) – also had an office in my small village, Bourne End. I’d always wondered what they did. In the end, I was lucky enough to deliver training for Psion in Italy, Germany, France and right at the bottom of my road, in the UK.

Zurich-Marrakech in search of Salesforce training in French

Shortly afterwards, a Project Manager based in Switzerland was looking for a Salesforce Trainer to develop and deliver a Train The Trainer course in French in Marrakech. He also found me by searching LinkedIn. I certainly never expected to deliver Salesforce training for Abbott Laboratories in Morocco, but it was a fabulous experience.

US-UK-Italy-Germany-Turkey in search of a Turkish trainer

This last example shows how LinkedIn connections help one another. I have a connection in New Jersey who contacted me regarding a role in Turkey. I posted a Status update on LinkedIn asking my connections for help. Within 5 minutes one UK contact sent me the name of a contact who might be able to help. Then two more contacts from Germany and Italy suggested other contacts who could also help. I feel happy that I may have I indirectly helped my US contact, and it reminded me that people are fundamentally kind and enjoy helping one another when they can. It only takes a few minutes to share a message, but it can quickly put people in touch who would otherwise not have been able to reach one another.

What’s been your experience? Who have you you linked up with LinkedIn?

p.s. And no, I don’t work for LinkedIn!