Linkedin.com is a tremendous tool.  It is a website dedicated to people who are connecting for business reasons.  It is powerful for a couple of reasons. 

1) It was built around business and not trying to add it as an afterthought.

Now that may sound trivial but in reality it is one of the most powerful things that Linkedin brings to the marketplace.  It has a focus that is different than Facebook and the other social networks out there.  You can connect with me by visiting my public profile here.  Scott Lovingood   Just add me to your network and select that we know each other from The Wealth Squad.  I am always looking to add new connections.

People who develop and build a lot of relationships have been proven to make more money and get involved in a lot more deals.  It gives you access to a much different group of people than the ones you will meet on Facebook or Myspace.  Now I am both of these as well but for different purposes than Linkedin.  Facebook is more like a big bulletin board with some games attached.  It can be a huge time suck as well if you don't limit yourself.  I am connected with a wide variety of people on Facebook which makes it less than ideal to try to create a focused brand on it.

Facebook is attempting to add the business side but are struggling with making that transition.  Twitter (Scott Lovingood on Twitter) is a stream of consciousness.  It is a great way to make a large number of casual acquaintances.  You can fire off requests into the nether and the people who are listening at the moment can help you out.  I think Twitter has it's uses and I use it.  But the model again is not centered around business.  Think of Twitter as an old time party line like my parents used to have.  You hop on the line and join in the conversation as it is happening.  You can talk to the people who are on at the time.  It does include the capability of doing searches and finding out real time conversations.   It serves a purpose and can be fun but is not the end all be all that many people like to believe it is.

2) It has already monetized itself.

Now this is a very key point.  Linkedin already has an actual business model that generates cash in excess of its expenses.  That is far from trivial.  Twitter currently has no revenue model.  How do they expect to survive if they cannot generate cash?  Facebook does generate revenue but as far as I know they are not profitable yet.  If you are going to build a business around a network, wouldn't you prefer it be built on a profitable company?

Now ask yourself about your own business?  Do you have a business model that is focused?  Has a profitable plan in place? 

Join me on Linkedin Scott Lovingood