As social media takes over more and more of our lives, many professionals are looking to separate their personal and business connections.
To that end, business coach Vanessa McGovern shared some insights for making better use of LinkedIn at last weekend's SheStreams conference in Fort Lauderdale.
Some of the highlights:
* You are more than your job. Include information about your activities outside the office. That charity benefit you organized for your church, school or favorite cause shows a valuable skill set - even if it you weren't paid for the work.
* Join groups. That makes it easier for you to connect to others with similar interests.
* Use the "Answers" feature. This is a forum where people submit all kinds of questions and others answer them. See if there are categories where you can provide some valuable expertise.
* Don't be humble.
* To get the most out of LinkedIn, aim to have more than 500 connections. "It's not about who you know, but who knows you," McGovern said.
McGovern is based in Broward. Connect with her on LinkedIn and learn more at her blog, http://leveragelinkedinnow.com.
- CHARLENE PACENTI, MomsMiami.com