The Power In a Link – David Gowel [Book Review]

Linked In has always played a big part in my networking and follow up with people I meet and do business with and have always been keen to expand my knowledge of this platform.  I recently bought & read ‘The Power In a Link’ by David Gowel that proclaims to ‘change the way you do business using LinkedIn’.   I already have a good working knowledge of how to use Linked In, but wanted to find some definitive strategies that I could better focus my time on.  After reading several reviews of the book, I decided to give it a whirl!

Read this book if any of the following apply to you: (a) You are “new” to LinkedIn, (b) you see no purpose for LinkedIn (c) you think LinkedIn can’t help you make any money, (d) your LinkedIn profile is less than 100% complete, (e) you have connections on LinkedIn with people you kind-of-know but don’t-really-know, or (f) you consider LinkedIn to merely be “Facebook for business.”

A few words about the author….

David Gowel is the CEO of RockTech, a software company that allows professionals to quickly adopt new technologies such as Linked In.  David taught at MIT as an assistant professor of military leadership after serving in Iraq as an Army Ranger and combat platoon leader.  Throughout the book he re-calls many of his success stories and provides plenty of analogies to accompany his content.

Content Selection

I personally found there was a considerable amount of ‘warm up’ material that didn’t really deliver any content as such.  It’s purpose was to set the scene as to why Linked In is so powerful and how he has used the social network to great success.  The first 2 parts of the book were packed full of metaphors and analogies and didn’t really deliver enough meat in my pie!

The final part of the book did contain some useful content covering:

• Effective network growth
• Business tools
• Projecting the right message

Final Thoughts

Overall, I thought that there was very little actionable strategy I could implement and felt this book is more suited to the LinkedIn newbie or someone who is not very familiar with networking online.  I was also disappointed at the lack of depth by the author on the subject of LinkedIn. No-where is there information about the Products and Services Tab available for Companies, options for integrating LinkedIn outside of LinkedIn (namely the Recommend button for products and services and the Profile and Company badges — more information at http://developer.linkedin.com). Nor does the author delve into LinkedIn Answers.

But I would like to recommend this book if (as mentioned earlier):

(a) You are “new” to LinkedIn, (b) you see no purpose for LinkedIn (c) you think LinkedIn can’t help you make any money, (d) your LinkedIn profile is less than 100% complete, (e) you have connections on LinkedIn with people you kind-of-know but don’t-really-know, or (f) you consider LinkedIn to merely be “Facebook for business.”

Have you read this book or have come across anything more advanced? Please let me know in the comments.