Yesterday, I wrote about how to build your LinkedIn network by connecting to friends and colleagues. You can get even more value out of the service by joining and participating in LinkedIn groups.

One of the main advantages of joining a group is that you're able to send messages directly to other members even if they're not in your network (if they allow this in their settings). Some of the other benefits include:

• Meeting people who share your interests, professional and personal
• Keeping up-to-date with the latest news and trends related to your industry
• Finding out about job openings that might not appear in your other search channels
• Positioning yourself as an expert in your field
• Learning about other offline networking opportunities

Joining a Group

A good way to find groups you want to join is to see what groups the people in your network belong to. These appear at the bottom of their profile page.

You can also search for a group by going to Groups > Groups Directory. You can type in any keywords and also filter by category (Alumni, Nonprofit, etc.) and language.

When you click on the group name, you'll get taken to a page that has some basic info about it, including people in your network who are members, the group owner, and a link to an external website if there is one.

When you click Join Group, you are presented with a number of options about how you want to be communicated with in relation to the group, e.g. this is where you can set whether other members can send you direct messages.

Now when you click Join Group, you will either be added automatically to the group or a message will be sent to the group's owner, if the group requires approval to join. In the latter case, you'll usually get an e-mail within 24 hours telling you whether you've been approved or not.

I've Joined a Group. Now What?

Look around.
It's always a good idea to see what's already going on in the group before jumping in yourself. Check out what people are posting in the discussion boards and news areas to get a sense of what people are interested in and the general "feel" of the group.

Introduce yourself.
This may not always be necessary, depending on the type of group it is. But many will have a thread at the top of their Discussion board that asks members to introduce themselves. If so, take advantage of it by telling people not only who you are but also why you joined it. Is this an area you've specialized in for twenty years or something you're looking to learn more about?

Contribute to the community.
Post links to news articles or websites with information that other members may find interesting. Answer people's questions. Start a thought-provoking discussion.

Check out other members' profiles.
This is a great way to find other groups that you may want to join. Or you may find people that you would like to invite to join your network.

Managing your groups

When you want to get back to a group at a later date, simply go to Groups > My Groups.

Note: There are links to five groups in the Groups menu that will take you directly to them. You can determine which five appear there by using the Edit the Order of Your Groups link on the My Groups page.

You'll also see a Following tab at the top of this page. This lets you add people to a list so you can quickly find the activities they've been doing on LinkedIn (answering questions, joining groups, etc.). By default, all your connections are on the list, but you can stop following them as well. So far, the only place I've seen that you can someone new to the list is when they have posted a comment in a discussion thread, and there's a Follow link under their name.

I (obviously :) don't use this feature a lot so, if you have more info about how it works or what benefits you get from it, please let me know and I'll update the post.

Create Your Own Group

I haven't done this myself, but it looks pretty straightforward. There's a tab on the My Groups page that has a form you fill in to submit to have your group approved.

I would suggest you check to make sure there's not already a similar group before you do this. In addition to searching the directory, you might want to post a question in your status line (on Facebook and Twitter as well) to find if others know of any, in case they're named something you didn't think of in your search.

If you've started a group and would like to add your thoughts about it, feel free to add a comment belong or send them to me directly. Or if you'd be interested in writing a guest post on the topic, I'd love to hear from you!

Posted in How To,LinkedIn,Series,Social Media