http://www.mindeliver.com/2010/01/534/

Zhu Shen,Ph.D., MBA is an award-winning business leader, author, media personality and thought leader in cross-Pacific life science business. She is the CEO of BioForesight, a strategic consulting company providing partnering, financing and outsourcing advisory, cross-cultural training, and media/public relations services to clients worldwide. She is an expert in social media, with over 9 million connections on her Linkedin network, and produced the DVD “The Art and Science of Networking and Social Media” which received rave reviews.

How long have you been on LinkedIn and how do you use it?

I think it was 4 or 5 years ago a friend of mine who started using LinkedIn and sent me an invitation and at that time LinkedIn was in its infancy. I was immediately attracted to the nice professional looking website with the layout and some of the features they already have. So I responded to his request and then setup a simple profile for myself. And then in terms of how I used it well, after the five years LinkedIn has grown significantly. They have over 50 million users worldwide. And they have a lot of nice features. So I use LinkedIn to establish my professional presence in the social media arena. And I use that to send updates about my activity, speaking events, conferences and other things that might be of interest to others in my industry. I also use that obviously to keep up with professional networks. And then continue to build the brand for my company and establish leadership position.

To learn more about the “Art & Science of Networking, Branding and Social Media,” register to attend this rare event on Sep 13, 2010 and learn from leading San Diego media and technology industries:

Registration:

http://socialwebnetwork.com/event

Monday, September 13, 2010 – 6 to 9 pm

AMN Healthcare Auditorium
12400 High Bluff Dr., San Diego, CA 92130

$30 per person by Aug 31, 2010
$40 per person Sep 1-11, 2010
$45 thereafter and onsite
(Registration fee includes light refreshments and a copy of “Art & Science of Networking & Social media DVD produced by Zhu Shen, retail $29.95)

Featuring Panelists:
Tammy Carpowich – Director of Interactive Strategy, KPBS
Moshe Engelberg, Ph.D. – President, ResearchWorks
Jay Jones – Managing Producer, KUSI Channel 9
Neil Senturia – CEO, Blackbird Advisors
Zhu Shen, Ph.D., MBA – CEO, BioForesight
Moderator: Joseph Panetta – CEO, BIOCOM
Get up close and personal with the Who’s Who in San Diego’s leading media (TV, radio, web) and technology industries, and hear them share the secrets of professional networking, branding, leadership, and using traditional & social media for your success in the digital age!

How much time do you spend on LinkedIn and how do you utilize your time?

It varies from this week to next. But I would say on average probably a few hours per week. And then primarily what I use that for is to send personal updates and then when I have major event or major developments I would update my profile. I would also get quite a few emails or messages that would come to my personal email box, that came through LinkedIn where people invite to connect with me or are introduced or referred by people that I know who are directly linked to me who request to connect on a professional level. Then I also do active searches on people I want to find in certain industries or groups.  And respond to requests, so those are the key things I use in LinkedIn.

What are some of the tools you use on LinkedIn?

The update tool, which I believe is 140 characters just like twitter is very useful. I use that to send my personal updates and especially when I have events where I’ll be speaking. I think it’s a nice way to broadcast to people in your network. I also use the recommendations feature both for myself to get recommendations from others in my network and also recommending others. Which I think is a very nice feature that allows people to see the accomplishments that you have made and the kind of nature of your professional relationship with people in your network. And they get a feel for your capabilities, your personal style in a positive way. I think that is very useful and a powerful feature which I use quite often. Then I also use the request to connect where you could make requests to connect with people in your network through other people you know. When I identify people that I want to connect with then I send a request. And I get requests through that way as well, which I always respond to help others. Now in your personal profile, there’s a few places were you can list websites. So for myself I obviously have my company main website and also have website where I have a feature article which is an important one, that I could share with people in my network. Often times they would read that  and send me an invitation or comment about certain articles. So those are quite useful to get the message across.

How do you go about getting your recommendations?

What I usually do is among the people that are connected with me on the first level. I think about those I really value and that I have a great relationship with and who have been extremely helpful in one way or another in my professional career. I would start off recommending them first and just talk about what it was like working with them. And then they will receive their recommendation in their email box and they will see what I wrote. A lot of times people will reciprocate right away because it’s a courtesy and it’s really good to do that. So often times I just get responses that way and they would write me a glowing recommendation too. Which will be posted on the LinkedIn site. For those who do not respond right away then after a little while maybe a week or two I will send them a gentle reminder. “I hope you like the recommendation I sent you. And I would appreciate it if you could recommend me as well if you enjoyed working with me.”

What do you see as the future for LinkedIn?

I think LinkedIn has evolved and now is undisputedly the leader in professional networking and social media tool. That’s their brand I think they are going to continue to make features more useful and add features. So it’s a better tool for people to make connections. And next year I envision myself to develop more professional contacts both in my biotech life science industry, but perhaps increasingly in the world of entertainment, media and others because of the book I’m writing with my son Perry, on his movie review career as a nine year old. So I think I will develop more relationships in that circle. I also think in terms of useful features in LinkedIn they may want to develop an intergraded platform where you can have other social media tools, which I noticed they are using already with Twitter. That will make the LinkedIn page more user-friendly and you can streamline the process. Also I think it would be nice for them to perhaps add a video feature or where you can post video from YouTube. So it’s a multi-media platform not just words. Because the video has immerged as a really powerful tool for communication and that drives a lot of web traffic.