Last week an order came if for my Social Networking for Business Profits – In 30 Minutes a Day or Less eBook. I also got an email from the person who purchased it and it turns out he is someone I hadn’t seen or been in touch with in over 20 years. We had met many years ago at a previous company where I used to lead Personal Growth seminars.

The interesting part is how he found me. He was doing a search for a business podcast and he stumbled upon an interview I had done for an Internet Radio station. Based on our previous relationship and his current interest in Social Media, he decided to purchase the eBook.

He then wrote me an email which allowed us to re-established a connection and started a new conversation. Who knows where this new conversation will lead?

This is what Social Networking is all about. Making new connections, sustaining existing or rekindling previous ones. This is a different mindset than looking at the particular ROI of every activity on-line.

Granted, there needs to be an ROI to Social Networking – otherwise it is easy to get carried and take away from doing business. However, determining how to measure the true ROI of Social Networking may be a bit more complicated.

There is a good chance that if you are reading this blog, you are already subscribed to LinkedIn. The question I have for you is: how are you using LinkedIn?

Most people see LinkedIn as a community to look for connections to jobs or to hiring people. While that is certainly a use for LinkedIn, I personally think that the most powerful way to use the site is to put people together.

I like being the “go to” guy when someone in my life has a need for something. So I often get calls or emails asking me if I know of someone who does something that they need. By having a vast network of people, I can more readily find that someone and refer them. LinkedIn makes it very easy to do so with it’s introduce feature.

So start thinking of LinkedIn as a marketplace where you can connect buyers and sellers. The more you connect people with each other, the more influence you will gain with the people in your network. And the more influence you gain, the more you will be able to capitalize on it at a future date.