Top 5 questions executives ask about LinkedIn

Over the past few years, our clients have gone from, “What is LinkedIn, and why should I be there?” to “I know I should use LinkedIn for business development. Can you help me get started?”

As a result, we have spent a great deal of time educating clients on best practices for filling out their LinkedIn profiles, making connections, engaging in groups and uncovering and maximizing sales opportunities.

During these group and one-on-one sessions, we revealed a few of the most common concerns and questions executives have about LinkedIn:

1. Can I keep my contacts private?

Business is about relationships, and we hear from a lot of executives who worry that a competitor will look at their contacts to try to poach clients or employees.

Unfortunately, LinkedIn’s options on contact privacy are all or nothing. Contacts can either be visible to only you or to all of your connections. LinkedIn also caveats that “people will always be able to see shared connections.”

While there may be some cases where a professional would need to hide his network, we generally advise against it. One of the main benefits of LinkedIn is the ability to tap into second-degree connections and look for ways to facilitate mutually beneficial introductions.