All-in on LinkedIn

I have got my Dear Abby hat on because this month I’m writing an advice column: Dear reader, if you’re not already, get on LinkedIn. ¶ If you are on there, make sure your profile is up-to-date, professional and polished. ¶ (And just to be honest, it’s a Kansas City Monarchs hat I’m wearing, because you know the Royals are first in the Central, on target for their first playoffs appearance in 29 years!)

Ahem. LinkedIn (LinkedIn.com) “connects the world’s professionals to make them more productive and successful.” Consider it Facebook for professionals. Instead of high school classmates and back-to-school photos, it’s the professional profile of the general manager you met at the Golf Industry Show, it’s a group who all studied under the same legendary turf professor as you and it’s hundreds of your fellow turf professionals showing off their credentials.

There is always a debate on the value of social media. Personally, I’m a fan of LinkedIn and Twitter (you can follow us @Golfdom or me @SethAJones). I also think a quality maintenance blog can do wonders for a superintendent at a private club.

To me, LinkedIn is a no-brainer. Where else can superintendents put their entire career on display — educational background, career path, professional designations, honors and awards?

I know why I love it, but here’s why I think you should embrace it: Imagine a member is irked at you. He’s already on LinkedIn. He wants to know your qualifications. He searches for you… and you’re not there.

That’s a strike against you.

OK, a different scenario. Imagine the same agitated member. He searches for you to see who you are and how you got your job. At this point, he’s steamed about something, and he thinks you must be the owner’s brother-in-law.

But you are on LinkedIn. He pulls up your profile (which you are in complete control of) and sees the degree you’ve earned, your career path, your year served as the local chapter president, plus the endorsements you’ve gained from fans of your handiwork.

Suddenly he has a different impression of you. Maybe you know what you’re doing after all, he thinks. Perhaps he should reach out and actually talk to you about his beef, instead of sniping you behind your back in the clubhouse. Heck, maybe he’ll send you a connection request.

Me, I’m zeroing in on 1,000 connections on LinkedIn.

I want all of Golfdom’s readers to be there because I really believe in its value. It also makes my life easier. Business cards are great, but I’m lousy at entering them into my Outlook contacts. LinkedIn, meanwhile, is easy to track and keeps me connected.

I invite all of our readers to reach out and connect with me, if we haven’t already. I’m an easy guy to connect with, just search for my name plus Golfdom.

If you’re not already on there, trust me, your absence will be noticed.

Big news! We debut a new department in the magazine this issue. This one at the request of readers, I’m happy to say. The Golfdom Files, which you can find on page 18 of the print issue, is a look back at what the top-of-mind topics were in Golfdom years ago.

The magazine has a proud history that dates back to 1927. Thanks to our friends at Michigan State University, the entire archive is available online (check it out by visiting Golfdom.com).

In this first installment we go back 86 years (86 years!) to see that some things never change… you’ll see what I mean when you check it out.

Expect this department to appear in the magazine on a somewhat regular basis. And let me know what you think of this new addition. Better than “Second Office”? Worse than “19th Hole”?

You can message me on LinkedIn to let me know.