The document discusses the Q&A feature on LinkedIn, which allows users to exchange expertise, knowledge, and contacts. It provides advice on how to effectively use LinkedIn Answers to ask questions, find answers to questions, and connect with other professionals. Key benefits highlighted include tapping into the wisdom of the LinkedIn community, accessing insights from experts around the world, and developing new business opportunities and connections.

1. Linkedin Answers: A
ii Global Focus Group
1
I
f there is one reason why you should be on LinkedIn,
it is for its ‘Q&A’ feature. The name of this service is
actually ‘Answers’ — a forum to exchange expertise,
knowledge and contacts with other users. For the sake of
simplicity, we can call this feature Q&A; this is how most
users refer to it anyway. This is where you can tap the
'inherent wisdom of the LinkedIn community.’
With the diversity and depth of users LinkedIn has come
to represent, this feature is a potent force in itself for mem-
bers to use to their advantage. Call it a global focus group
giving you access to some of the best minds in the busi-
ness. The advice, insights and references coming your way
in the process for free here may not be available from con-
sultants charging hundreds of dollars an hour.
It works because people come to LinkedIn Q&A seeking
help, and in the process lend a thought themselves too —
this mutual give and take keeps the Q&A eco-system going.
USE LINKEDIN FOR Q&A,
ITS EVEN IF YOU
HAVE NO CONTACTS
This may sound a bit odd, but you can be on LinkedIn with a
network size approaching zero and still benefit greatly —
through its Q&A. You can access and participate in everything
being discussed on this forum and enjoy its advantages,
without a need for having a network of your own.

2. 74 LET’S CONNECT
If you don’t want to take anyone’s word for it, try asking
active LinkedIn members and they will vote for this feature
being the site’s killer application.
There are more than a few ways to leverage this service
to get ahead at work.
ASK QUESTIONS
If you had all the answers you would be God, right? But
since you are not, nor is anyone else (unless proven other-
wise), one might as well ask some questions in life. Dial
LinkedIn — you may be able to get some enlightenment
here.
What kind of questions work here? A high percentage are
related to one's work, as may be obvious. But members
GETTING THE RESPONSES YOU SEEK
Structure the question well: Be very lucid in what
you are asking; vague or ambiguous questions don't
work. No one can read your mind. Be brief. And the
first line of your question has to be written well; users
usually read these and decide if they want to read on
and possibly answer. Your question will be jostling with
hundreds a week for attention.
Ask suitable questions to avoid being flagged:
Choose your questions carefully. They may be flagged
by other users if seen as inappropriate, an advertisement
or a duplicate of another question asked by you. If
enough users flag it, customer service may hide the
question if they feel the flagging was justified. And
impose restrictions if you make a habit of asking such
questions.
Limitation: You are allowed to post ten questions a
month on any topic of your choosing.
A question is open for only seven days: After this, it
is closed to further answers. You may re-post it, but it
will count as an additional question being asked during
the month.

3. LINKEDIN ANSWERS 75
also use this forum to raise questions pertaining to social
issues, global concerns, education, charitable causes, per-
sonal tax and legal matters and even entertainment.
Post any questions, and sit back as not just your own
network but the larger LinkedIn community responds to
the same; there is an option to restrict your question to
some or all of your first degree contacts if you are happy
with the more limited response you may get.
EXAMPLES OF GOOD QUESTIONS
Not all questions get good responses; the following are some
that did and were rated highly by the respondents:
Will the books industry go the music industry way as
books go digital?
Do-It-Yourself activism for Peace and Environment:
What simple things can individuals and organizations
do to make a big difference?
Airlines: Getting it right, and wrong, for the business
traveller. Do you have suggestions and experiences to
share?
Should there be seats reserved on company boards
for women?
How has LinkedIn been useful to you as a
professional? (This question provided valuable insights
for this book)
“
Learning to Motivate
I was struggling with motivating my team for
multiple low priority projects and I posted a query on
how to manage this on Linkedin under the Project
Management head. Thanks to the responses I got from
people, especially the ones on specifying daily tasks for
the team and the concept of explicit and implicit moti-
”
vation, it was easier for me to manage the team and
the projects.
— SHWETA KAPOOR, LEARNING CONSULTANT
SAPIENT, SOUTH KOREA

4. 76 LET’S CONNECT
Teaching civilian management to a
“
military leader
My management style was forged while in the
military and there are certain parts of that style of lead-
ership that can be antagonistic in a civilian environ-
ment (do it or die trying is not very popular). Adjusting
my approach to a non-military leadership style left a
few holes in personal experience. Through questions
posed to contacts at LinkedIn and through links to
resource sites I did not otherwise know existed, I am
seeing areas that I can make significant gains in getting
the best performance possible from team members
”
and coaching them to take charge of their careers and
be the best they can be as members of the team.
— KURT WELTE, MANAGER, QUALITY ASSURANCE AND
DEPLOYMENT, MGA US, LLC, USA
DON’T FORGET A FEW COURTESIES
Say ‘Thank You’: Drop a thank you note whenever
someone makes the effort to respond to your question.
If you intend using LinkedIn regularly, people will start
recognizing you — you do not want them to identify you
with the wrong practices. Do you ever forget to thank
people in the real world? So why would you do that on
LinkedIn?
Rate the answers: When a question is closed, you are
expected to rate answers received. You can mark one as
Best, any number as Good and simply nothing for the
rest. Make sure you give credit where it has been
earned. If someone has made a good effort, reward them
with your rating — it helps them gain expertise points,
discussed later.
READ Q&AS BY OTHERS
Why limit yourself to just your own questions? LinkedIn is
full of questions and answers, current and archived, that are

5. LINKEDIN ANSWERS 77
a delight to read — even if they do not directly pertain to
what you do. You may often come across questions you
were only thinking of passively, and the answers could be
valuable to you. Reading Q&As on LinkedIn is like reading
BusinessWeek, Harvard Business Review, Business 2.0,
Forbes and all many business magazines put together.
TIP: KEEPING TABS ON THE
QUESTIONS
It’s not easy keeping tabs on the questions and answers on
LinkedIn — they just keep coming in all the time. And you
may not want to miss out the good ones. The best way to
deal with this is to subscribe to these on a RSS reader where
they will come in like on a ticker tape. Read the useful ones,
archive them if need be, and delete the rest. You also have
the option to mail permalinks of any questions to yourself or
anyone you wish for future reference — save them in a
separate folder in your email client for future reference.
These will always work for reading any time in the future.
CATEGORIES
The Q&A section on LinkedIn is divided into the broad
categories given below, with further sub-categories under
each: (Users have felt the list is not exhaustive enough to
cover all kinds of questions one asks here — these often land
up in the closest matching one or under ‘Using LinkedIn.’)
Administration Law and Legal
Business Operations Management
Career and Education Marketing and Sales
Finance and Accounting Personal Finance
Financial Markets Product Management
Government and Startups and Small
Non-Profit Businesses
Hiring and Human Technology
Resources Using LinkedIn
International

6. 78 LET’S CONNECT
“
SHARING RECEIVING EXPERTISE
AND
I visit the Q&A section almost every day. Only the other
day, I was about to start calculating sample sizes that would be
representative for several sets of data in my statistical
research. This would usually take some time to go back to my
books and/or research online to refresh my knowledge on the
subject. I just decided to check the Q&A section only to have
a nice surprise waiting for me: somebody had asked a very
similar question and received answers! Just one instance how
this feature saved me a lot of time.
I regularly post answers to questions about publishing and
self-publishing, book marketing and promotion, marketing
services on the internet, e-commerce, e-books, building small
business websites, search engines optimization, websites
promotion, translations and teaching languages, immigration
and visas, real estate etc. These are all areas I command some
expertise in, often a result of research I may have done on
some of these industries in the past.
”
It is also a great feeling to receive a ‘Thank You’ or a
‘Good/Best Answer’ rating to some of the answers.
— OLGA KELLEN, RESEARCHER, TRANSLATOR, CITIZEN OF THE
WORLD, USA HTTP://WWW.LINKEDIN.COM/IN/OLGAKELLEN
EARN EXPERTISE POINTS
Whenever you answer a question, there is a possibility it
may get rated as ‘Good’ or ‘Best’ by the person who asked
the question. Everytime it is rated ‘Best’, you gain a point
of expertise. The more points you gain, the higher you
appear in the list of experts — useful in people finding you
and sending some business or opportunities your way.
CONNECT WITH MORE PEOPLE
Beyond a point it may be difficult to judge who you would
want to connect with and who you would rather not. The
profile can help decide, but you may sometimes want to

7. LINKEDIN ANSWERS 79
judge a person by more than just this. In the real world, we
often form opinions about people based on our interac-
tion with them; LinkedIn Q&A can simulate that experi-
ence to a great extent.
The kind of questions people ask here, or the answers
they give, says a lot about them. It is a great way to meet
interesting and intelligent people. They are also the ones
who are active on LinkedIn and will be more open and
willing to connect with you if you have impressed them.
And this is how the network grows not just in quantity,
but also in quality. The key here is to be an active partici-
pant on Q&A — you have to give others a basis to judge
you too.
“
CONNECTING THROUGH DIALOGUE
I think the Q&A feature is unique. While many such
forums have been available on the internet for years, this
one fosters one-on-one interaction between a questioner
and a respondent. I have made some of my best new con-
tacts through these Q&As. Since I can add a private com-
ment to the questioner, I often get a dialogue started. And
whenever I ask a question, I make sure I send a thank-you
note, often with an additional comment or a clarifying ques-
tion. If they choose to engage further, we have a conversa-
tion. If not, I respect their choice. Once we have connected
in this way, it is natural for one of us to suggest we link our
networks. I have had many enriching conversations over
”
email and telephone with LinkedIn members I resonate with.
I have also had newer clients finding me this way.
— JEANIE MARSHALL, PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT CONSULTANT,
MARSHALL HOUSE, USA
“
Developing a diverse network
The vast majority of my connections have come
as a result of the Linkedin Q&As. I also reply to all
those who answer my questions, and often get a dia-
logue going resulting in us connecting. While this is not
the primary objective of being on this section, it often

8. 80 LET’S CONNECT
results this way indirectly. I intentionally have a very
diverse network; I enjoy getting the perspective of
many people in various fields and geographical loca-
”
tions. It keeps one from becoming too narrowly
focused.
— SHEILAH ETHERIDGE, MANAGEMENT AND ACCOUNTING
CONSULTANT,OWNER, SME MANAGEMENT, USA
GET WORLDWIDE PUBLIC OPINION
A
Planning something new? Need to run an opinion poll?
Need feedback on a product or service? Run a qualitative
survey on LinkedIn — ask a question designed in a manner
to give you the desired feedback. The methodology may
not meet the strict criteria of a professional market research
agency, but it can surely generate some useful insights.
You can throw it open to the complete LinkedIn uni-
verse, limit it to a geographical region or to just some or
all of your contacts depending on who you want respond-
ing to the same.
“
Getting more than just answers
I recently started working on a consulting project
for an insurance company. My first step was to survey
some friends about how they made certain decisions
about purchasing a particular type of insurance. I also
posted my question on LinkedIn Answers. Not only did
I get great feedback from across the country, but one
individual, Mike, wrote to say that he thought he was
working on a technology project related to this issue
for a UK insurer. We started emailing back and forth
sharing information and concluded there were no con-
flicts. His technology solution is now being included in
my final proposal to the insurer. Mike and I also began
sharing information about how we manage remote
tech teams (his in Eastern Europe, mine in India) and
”
we found we had similar issues and could brainstorm
about solutions.
— DIANE K. DANIELSON, USA, CO-AUTHOR, THE SAVVY GAL'S GUIDE
TO ONLINE NETWORKING (OR WHAT WOULD JANE AUSTEN DO?)

9. LINKEDIN ANSWERS 81
DEBATES
What if you want to go beyond just asking questions and
getting answers want to get into a discussion or a debate
on certain topics? You can do this too on LinkedIn Q&A.
If the topic is provocative enough, there will be enough
interest for a back and forth to start on its own. Another
way can be to initiate a dialogue with the respondents:
reply to each individually with something added from
your side, asking for a further viewpoint from the respon-
dent. Invite others to join in too. You could post the
responses to your blog and get more people involved.
TRENDSPOTTING
Thanks to the sheer number and diversity of professionals
on LinkedIn, you can be sure of at least someone being
clued into events and developments at different places
globally. And by reading Q&As or posing some right ques-
tions yourself, you may be able to get a whiff of trends
early on. Often before others can.
“
GETTING A FEEL OF THINGS
I use LinkedIn for two reasons: by asking questions, I
get more angles to my work related issues from people
thinking along with me. And by reading the responses to
other people’s questions I get ‘a feel’ of what the thinking is
”
out there. That I (virtually) run into some interesting people
is a nice bonus.
— RIK DE JONG, HUNGARY
ONLINE MENTORING
Even as some LinkedIn users would be too busy to
respond to questions on the site, it is a good feeling to see
many making that extra effort to help others. And just
because they are doing so does not mean they are not
busy or important; they may well be stars in their respec-
tive fields. Without being overbearing or too intrusive,

10. 82 LET’S CONNECT
hitch on to such people and seek out some mentoring to
get ahead in your work.
And when the time comes for someone wanting you to
be his or her mentor, don’t hesitate to give back to the
community.
WHY YOU LINKEDIN
CAN RELY ON
ANSWERS
It’s impressive how LinkedIn has built in checks to ensure the
quality of interaction is maintained. Since all users are real
people with real identities, only the foolhardy would risk their
reputation, and account, by indulging in time-wasting or
inappropriate conduct. Being busy professionals, they can also
be expected to be responding to questions in a serious
manner. And how many with a fake identity or alias would
really bother answering questions? One will be able to see
through them anyway. So go ahead, trust the answers you get
— but still throw in a dash of caution and do double check
just to be sure.
SAVE MONEY
How much do you think all the advice on Q&As is worth?
While you work on your calculators and spreadsheets to
figure it out, here’s a hint: it’s invaluable. Count your stars,
and money saved, for all of this is coming to you free.
FOCUSSED GOOGLE
SEARCH RESULTS, BEATS
The next time you are looking for some information, espe-
cially business related, try a search on LinkedIn Answers.
You might not only get what you are looking for, but also
further links and leads to people directly relevant to your
query. It might just be better than searching on Google
and other search engines, where you could end up with
tons of data — mostly irrelevant, leaving you to sift
through pages and pages of links.

11. LINKEDIN ANSWERS 83
A SUBTLE SALES AND MARKETING TOOL
Here’s a little tip: When you ask a question, or answer
one, there are ways to make a bit of a sales pitch — sub-
tly if you prefer. Here’s how:
Ask a question in a manner to draw attention to your
business, leaving links to your website or blog — peo-
ple who may even remotely be interested in your work
may initiate a dialogue with you or at least visit these
sites.
Likewise, answer questions where you can make a ref-
erence to your business and any related web resources;
here too, people may want to know more if they like
your answer.
Make a direct pitch, telling people what you do, asking
for sales leads or at least an opinion on what they feel
you can do to be able to promote your products and
services better. There would always be someone will-
ing to share their views, provided you do not make it a
habit.
“
Answer, and seal a deal
I have two recent instances where someone post-
ed a simple question on the site seeking a financial
adviser in the New York area. I responded, naturally,
but I also asked two of my clients who are on LinedIn
to recommend me as an expert. That sealed the deal;
”
one of these two people also looked up my answers on
this site and liked my style.
— DANIEL JATOVSKY, DISTRICT LEADER AT PRIMERICA FINANCIAL
SERVICES AND OWNER, DAVID GORDON PRODUCTIONS, USA
“
Credible Answers All
Most of those responding to the questions are try-
ing to establish their own validity and will make a careful
measured answer to postings of a serious nature. While
there are some facetious answers that get put out there,

12. 84 LET’S CONNECT
so far I have not seen any that were posted to mislead
someone. And those answers that were really off-base
”
were countered by answers that questioned them, mak-
ing it obvious that they were off-base.
— KURT WELTE, MANAGER, QUALITY ASSURANCE AND
DEPLOYMENT, MGA US, LLC, USA
A PRESIDENTIAL HOPEFUL COMES
CALLING AT LINKED IN
Users of LinkedIn were in for a surprise when
an online ‘Q&A Event’ was held on September
12, 2007 with the question ‘How can the next
President better help small business and
entrepreneurs thrive?’ being thrown open to
all users. The question was asked by none
other than US Presidential candidate Barak
Obama. The post got hundreds of responses;
at the same time, some users initiated a
debate on whether LinkedIn should be used
for such purposes or not. Moral of the story:
LinkedIn Q&A must be a good place to run a
focus group — even politicians seem to have
started believing in it.