Glad you found the LinkedIn Etiquette post helpful, Acadia.Hope to connect with you there sometime. Vatsala Shukla on LinkedIn

You are most welcome, Kathryn. Considering your profession, I would think more visual social media platforms like Pinterest, Facebook, Google Plus and Instagram would be the ones that are up your alley. However, there are some awesome art groups on LinkedIn where you could network with colleagues and peers. Give it a shot sometime!

LinkedIn is a great place to find like-minded professionals, Delia. You must try it out sometime. What I have noticed about the spamming is that it often comes from Group Members or those people who have found your profile in a search and realize that you are a potential lead but do not bother to nurture the relationship before pouncing on you with a sales pitch. This is a new trend and one that really should be stopped before professionals hesitate to connect. Interestingly, when I received the new sales pitch from someone who is not even connected to me to do my social media work, I considered it spam and wrote back to the Social Media Expert with a few etiquette tips. I haven’t received any reply which makes me wonder, would I do business with this person. Her credibility as an expert has fallen in my eyes.

Hi Roslyn. Given the nature of your business, perhaps more visual social platforms are better suited for raising awareness of your products. Yet, maintaining a robust profile on LinkedIn is beneficial to any professional or business person for some good reasons. One of which is connecting with similar businesses and for due diligence of potential partners. Also, if you Google your name, apart from your website, the next search item is either Facebook or LinkedIn. The latter is quite important from a viewer’s perspective as it lends credibility to your brand. Also, the new LinkedIn Publisher tool allows you to share your expertise with an audience that you may not be able to access on other sites. Give it a shot!