Twitter may get all the press right now, but if you write about business or need experts in any number of areas – medicine, careers, government – you can’t beat LinkedIn, the business online network with more than 40 million members, for finding story sources.

Here are some of my favorite ways to use LinkedIn to find sources:

1. Use LinkedIn as a contact manager. If you meet someone in person or online you think might make a good source, invite them to connect on LinkedIn. When you’re writing a story, look through your LinkedIn connections for potential sources and email them through the network to ask if they’re available for an interview. In LinkedIn’s Contacts section you can email one message to multiple recipients, so you can send the same interview request to several potential sources at once. Another feature of the Contacts section lets you sort connections by geography or industry, so you can send a group email to potential sources in a certain city or with a specific job title. If you use Microsoft Outlook, you can use LinkedIn’s Outlook Toolbar to manage your LinkedIn contacts in Outlook.

2. Ask a question in the Answers section. When I was a newspaper reporter, if I needed “man on the street” comments for a story I’d go to a local shopping center, sports arena or other place where I was bound to run into a lot of regular Joes. Today, I post a question on LinkedIn’s Answers section. If you use the Answers section to solicit quotes, word your question so it’s easy to understand and doesn’t elicit simple “Yes” or “No” answers. Always identify yourself as a reporter so people know whatever they say may be published. It’s a good idea to follow up with anyone who responds by email or telephone to verify they’re who they say they are, get additional information or comments and to make sure they understand you’re going to quote them.

3. Use the Advanced Answers Search. Another way to find sources is to use LinkedIn’s Advanced Answers Search feature, which uses keyword searches to dig deep into the backlog of Answers material to find what people have written about a particular subject. If a keyword search turns up one or more discussion threads on the topic you’re researching, scroll through the answers to determine whether any LinkedIn members in the discussions could be potential sources. If they are and you subscribe to one of LinkedIn’s premium service levels, send the prospective source an InMail requesting an interview. If you can’t send free InMails, check out the person’s LinkedIn profile for an email address, or track down their company Website and search for an email address for them there or contact the PR department and ask them to set up an interview.

4. Use the Companies profiles. This spring, LinkedIn overhauled its Companies section to include more information on businesses whose employees use the network. You can use the Companies section to search for employees at a specific company, or do keyword searches to search for companies by geography or industry. Once you find a prospective source, go through the same routine I outlined in step no. 3 to contact them.

5. Look up sources by their job title. – Need to interview IT managers or corporate HR directors? Use the People section of LinkedIn’s user database to search for sources by their specific job title. When you find prospects, go through the steps outlined above to contact them. Note that if the person works for a large company, they may request that you go through their company’s PR department to set up an interview.

I’ve blogged extensively on other ways writers can use LinkedIn.

What’s your favorite way to use LinkedIn to find sources?

Social networks like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn have created all kinds of new work-related etiquette questions:

Is it OK to post a link to that killer story you wrote for Ladies Home Journal on Twitter more than once – an hour?

Does memorizing the LinkedIn profile of an editor you’d like to pitch constitute stalking?

Is it OK to friend your editor on Facebook?

All humor aside, since social networks have become such an integral part of freelancers’ daily work life, it’s easy to forget some people – including editors – still use them just for fun.

When it comes to social networks, it’s important to look before you leap. And when it comes to connecting with editors or potential editors, that means looking at how they’re using social networks and acting accordingly. If an editor you’re dying to work for is on Facebook but only uses it for friends and family, don’t go there. But if the same editor is on LinkedIn and has specifically listed “Career opportunities,” “Job inquiries” or “Getting back in touch” in their LinkedIn profile, it’s a clear sign to use the service to introduce yourself.

Linda Formichelli has lots more to say about this in a post called Connecting with editors on social media on The Renegade Writer blog for freelancers. If you read closely you’ll see yours truly is one of the writers interviewed in the piece.

I spent Monday afternoon talking to small business owners at the ShopSymposium/09 conference here in Portland. The subject of the panel discussion I participated in: how small business owners can use social media without having it take over their lives.

That’s not all the panel discussion covered – to track everything that was mentioned do a Twitter Search of #ss09. But productivity is definitely one of the main things small business owners worry about. That and creating a social media strategy in the first place, which can be intimidating. The key, according to the dozens of small business owners, consultants and industry experts I’ve interviewed, is to take it one step at a time.

As promised, I’ve compiled a resource guide to stories and blog posts I’ve written on social media basics and how small business owners can use it in various aspects of running their companies.

If you were at Shop/09, be sure to say hi or leave a comment. If you weren’t, I’d love to hear what social networking issues you’re grappling with. And don’t forget to find me on Twitter at @michellerafter and on LinkedIn at michellerafter.

The tools

• The secret to my LinkedIn success – Advice on using the business network aimed primarily at writers but applicable to any solo entrepreneur.
• There is no such thing as a dumb Twitter question – After avoiding the Twitter phenomena for a long time, I figured out how to start making it work for me.
• A writer’s guide to getting the most from Twitter – More basics applicable to any small business or sole practitioner.
• How to start a business podcast – 10 rules to create an podcast that will attract listeners and boost business. From IncTechnology.com

The strategies

• Michelle’s social media maxims – Compiled for a recent Willamette University MBA Program First Thursday presentation. No. 1 – Everybody’s doing it, but not everybody knows what they’re doing.
• My TwiTip guest post: When one Twitter account isn’t enough – Use different accounts for different aspects of your business, work and life.
• LinkedIn’s corporate play takes aim at recruiters – A new suite of prospecting tools LinkedIn hopes will appeal to the recruiters and HR professionals among its 35 million members. From Workforce Management
• Turn social networks into your recruiter – If corporate headhunters can mine Facebook for job candidates, small businesses can too. From IncTechnology.com
• Sex sells, and other blogging lessons learned – Good headlines attract attention, especially on blogs. That’s just one of the things I learned in my first year as a blogger.

The problems

• Taming Twitter: Did they really just say that? – Forward-thinking companies are mitigating the risks of social networks by designating Twitter reps and updating electronic communication guidelines. From Workforce Management
• Tech security forecast for 2009 – Experts predict more malware and attacks from mobile devices and social networks. From IncTechnology.com
• Social network scams – Welcome to the latest online hustle. From YourSecurityResource.com

While I’m on vacation this week, I’ll be rerunning some of the best WordCount posts of the year. Watch for new posts, including my predictions for the top digital media personalities to watch in 2009, starting January 5. Happy New Year!

Today’s reruns: how writers can use LinkedIn, the business social network.

The secret to my LinkedIn success

How freelancers can use LinkedIn’s companies database tool

Link your blog to your LinkedIn profile

How to keep track of story sources

Take this quiz to find out what kind of LinkedIn user you are

I’m a Savvy Networker. I know because I took this quiz and found out what kind of LinkedIn user I am.

The quiz was created by Tom H.C. Anderson, head of a New York Web 2.0 market research firm called Anderson Analytics LLC.

Anderson came up with the test so people could see where they fit in among LInkedIn’s 30 million members.

Anderson puts LinkedIn’s social networkers into four groups: Savvy Networkers, Senior Executives, Late Adopters and Exploring Options.

I didn’t really need a sophisticated algorithm to tell me I like to network and I’m hooked on LinkedIn. My connections are at 340+ and counting (but I’m way behind on Facebook and haven’t started using Twitter yet, although I plan to in 2009). When it comes to computers, software apps, electronic gadgets and Web 2.0 innovations I’ve never been the first in my circle – physical or virtual – to try something new. But I’m usually right behind, and love reporting on what I’ve learned – all those years spent as a tech writer I guess.

In his research, Anderson found that the more connections a person had, the more likely they were to have a higher personal income. You can read some of Anderson’s other findings here or on his blog here.

I originally wrote this in September as a guest post for on The Renegade Writer blog. I’m reposting it here at the request of some freelance acquaintances.

Last September I was getting ready to start writing again after spending most of the previous seven years at home with my kids. I was totally out of touch with the freelance world and way behind on the subjects I’d once specialized in, technology and the workplace. So when a friend told me about a social network for businesspeople, I was all ears. I signed up the same day and was immediately hooked. Within a month I’d reconnected with a bunch of former colleagues. One of them even gave me an assignment – I was back at work.

That was my introduction to LinkedIn. Since then, LinkedIn has grown substantially – to 30 million people – and the ways I use it have too. Today it’s one of my workday mainstays, something I use to research companies, find sources, organize contacts and a lot more.

I also joined LinkedIn to get up to speed on the whole Web 2.0 thing, which had passed me by during my extended hiatus. LinkedIn was my entre into the world of social networks, and from there it was an easy jump to blogging and learning new forms of online storytelling. I immersed myself in it so thoroughly, I now write about it for several clients, and happily answer questions about LinkedIn for freelance friends who are where I was a year ago.

If you haven’t taken the plunge yet, or just want to get more out of it, here are my top 10 secrets for how writers can successfully use LinkedIn:

Flesh out your profile. Include all your previous jobs and schooling. The more companies, schools and organizations you affiliate yourself with, the bigger your circle of contacts can grow. Add a picture or some kind of illustration that lets a little of your personality shine through. Be aspirational: describe what you want to do, not just what you’re doing now. The LinkedIn police aren’t going to call you out for dubbing yourself a freelance magazine writer with only one or two published pieces under your belt. If that’s what you consider yourself, say so.

Join groups. There are lots of groups on LinkedIn. Joining writers groups is one way to build up a virtual support system. Joining those or other groups also gives you the ability to send group members invitations to join your network. So if you see an editor at a magazine you’ve been interested in writing for in a LinkedIn writing group you belong to, you can use the connection to send them an invitation.

Build a network. The more people in your network, the wider the net you can cast when you’re searching for story sources. If you haven’t already, use the tools LinkedIn provides to import information from Outlook, Gmail or another contact manager, then go through the list and pick out people you’d like to invite into your network. When you happen upon sources you think you might want to use again in the future, ask if they use LinkedIn and offer to send them an invitation.

Create a phone book. In late August, LinkedIn expanded the amount of information you can store on your LinkedIn connections. In addition to their profile information, you can now input office and cell phone numbers, IM addresses, address, Website and birthday date; there’s even a notes section for adding anything else you’d want. This makes it possible to store info on a source in one place so you don’t need to toggle between Outlook and LinkedIn.

Troll the Answers section. Forget ProfNet or HARO. This is probably the No. 1 way I use LinkedIn. Use the Answers Advanced Search feature to look for keywords related to subjects you’re researching. If you find someone you want to interview and you don’t pay for LinkedIn’s premium-level service –frankly, I haven’t found a reason to – look at their profile to see if they’ve listed their email address or blog. If they did, jackpot! If they didn’t, go to the Website for their company, group or agency and track them down through a company PR representative or even a main phone number.

Query your contacts. Another way to find sources on LinkedIn is to send group emails to subsets of your connections. LinkedIn lets you slice and dice your connections list by geography or industry, which makes it easy to put group emails together. You can also hand pick a group of names to send a message to.

Update your Status line regularly. The Status line is LinkedIn’s answer to Twitter or Facebook’s “What are you doing right now?” Use it to point people to your blog, solicit sources for a story or brag about your latest publishing achievement.

Check for work on the Jobs board. Most of the positions on the Jobs board are full time. Every once in a while, though, there are listings for freelance, part-time or temporary full-time gigs. And the caliber of available jobs is much higher than what you see on Craigslist.com.

Use Companies feature to research new markets. If you identify yourself as a writer in your profile, the Companies directory will automatically show a list of industries related to writing and editing. Click on any of the industry links – book publishing, newspapers, magazines, education, marketing and advertising, public relations, software – and you’ll see lists of all the companies in those industries LinkedIn has in its database. Clicking on the Newspaper listing, for example, brings up 930 newspapers. Like everything else on LinkedIn, they’re ranked according to your LinkedIn network connections, so newspapers where you have a 1st degree connection come up first. This is a great feature when it comes to pitching stories. First, you’ve got a list of who’s got what position at a paper or magazine – again, if they subscribe to LinkedIn. If you see someone you want to pitch but don’t know and there’s another editor you do know, you could use your LinkedIn connection with the second editor to ask for an introduction to the first. Of course, you could do that without LinkedIn too.

Mind your manners. Do you really want to notify your entire LinkedIn circle every time you make a minor change to your profile? Probably not, so make sure to adjust your account settings accordingly. Likewise, it’s easy to reach out to people, but don’t overdo it. Sending group emails to every source on your list every day, or even every week, might be OK with some but others could start to think you’re a spammer.

Ever since LinkedIn added a status update feature, the online business network’s members who blog – including lots of writers – have used it to let people know when they put new material online.

Now LinkedIn’s made it even easier for bloggers to flag friends and acquaintances about new posts. The networking company has partnered with leading blog software platforms WordPress and Six Apart to display LinkedIn members’ most recent blog posts directly in their LinkedIn profiles.

Adding your WordPress or SixApart blog to your LinkedIn profile is pretty simple. Go to LinkedIn’s new Application Directory page and click on the icon for the blog software you use – the WordPress icon works for Wordpress.com blogs and self-hosted blogs that use WordPress.org. You’ll see a bunch of other applications on this page, I’ll talk about those in a minute. Now do the following:

1. Click on the icon to go to an application preview page for your particular blogging software. Check the boxes to have your blog appear in your profile, and on the LinkedIn homepage, and then click on “Update settings.”

2. Next you’ll see a preview page that displays what your blog posts will look like on LinkedIn. Click on the “Edit” link to choose whether to have all of your blog posts show up on LinkedIn, or only blog posts that you’ve tagged “LinkedIn.”

3. If you choose to only have blog posts tagged “LinkedIn” show up, you’ve got to make sure to go to your blog and add a “LinkedIn” tag to all those posts.

4. Once you’ve added your blog to your LinkedIn profile, fellow LinkedIn users will be able to click on the blog header to go to the blog’s homepage, or on a blog post title to go to that post.

I added WordCount to my LinkedIn profile this morning. Start to finish it took about a minute. You can see what my updated profile looks like here. You can watch a video from WordPress about the new feature here.

LinkedIn’s new blogging feature is one of several applications the network is trying in a beta test of Open Social, an open-source application programming interface, or API. Developed by Google and a bunch of development partners, Open Social makes it simpler to create software programs that work across multiple Websites. But unless you’re a software developer, the only thing you really need to know about Open Social is that because of it, you should expect to see more of these mini-programs popping up on your favorite social networks, blogs and other Websites in the future.

Today, I’m blogging over at The Renegade Writer, a Website for freelancers run by Linda Formichelli and Diana Burrell. The topic: The Secret to My LinkedIn Success. If you’ve been to WordCount before, you know I’m a huge LinkedIn fan, using it every day to troll for sources, manage contacts and participate in discussion groups. To find out more about how to incorporate LinkedIn in your writing practice, hop on over to my guest post.

They say a picture’s worth a thousand words. So today, for your viewing enjoyment, here’s a picture of this blog.

The image comes courtesy of Wordle, a Website that creates word clouds from text that you give it, or in this instance, of all of the words I’ve ever written in this blog. You can see a bigger version of the image here.

I love this image because it captures the subjects I write about and the issues that concern full-time freelancers. But I especially love that it shows LinkedIn in a great big font, since I write a lot about how freelancers can use the business network to find publishers, keep track of sources and reshape their careers on this blog and on my freelance message board.

Thanks to freelance writer Charmian Christie for writing about Wordle on her food blog, Christie’s Corner. You can see Charmian’s Wordle creations here.

LinkedIn just unwrapped a new feature that may be the social network’s best tool yet for freelance writers – a comprehensive company directory.

The Companies feature is a database of LinkedIn’s 26 million members that can be searched by company, geography or industry. Freelancers can use it to look up editors at umpteen publishers of newspapers, magazines and Websites in the United States and around the world, just as long as some portion of the staff is on LinkedIn.

The company directory is a potential goldmine of information. Instead of relying on out-of-date editorial listings in Writer’s Market or other market guides, freelancers can use LinkedIn to see who’s who at publications they want to pitch. And unlike Writer’s Market it’s free.

How to use the feature: Once you log onto LinkedIn, you’ll see the Companies directory tab on the main toolbar. Clicking on it will bring you to the Companies main page, where you can search for companies by industry, name or Zip code.

But the best part: if you identify yourself as a writer in your LinkedIn profile, the directory will automatically show a list of industries related to writing and editing. Click on any of the industry links – book publishing, newspapers, magazines, education, marketing and advertising, public relations, software – and you’ll see lists of all the companies in those particular industries that LinkedIn has in its database. Clicking on the Newspaper listing, for example, brought up 931 newspapers. Like everything else on LinkedIn, they’re ranked according to your LinkedIn network connections, so newspapers where you have a 1st degree connection come up first.

That’s a handy feature when it comes to pitching stories. First, you’ve got a great list of who’s got what position at a paper or magazine – again, if they subscribe to LinkedIn – that you can use for pitches. Or, if you see someone at a paper or magazine you want to pitch but don’t know and there’s another editor you do know, you could use your LinkedIn connection with the second editor to ask for an introduction to the first. Of course, you could do that without LinkedIn too.

If you click on a company name, such as The San Francisco Chronicle, for example, you’ll see a brief profile of the company, listings for any employee who’s on LinkedIn, new hires (with job titles), recent promotions, popular profiles, job listings, info about the company, career paths of employees (where they worked before and after, based on information that LI members included in their profiles) and some other stats.

Other uses of the Companies directory:

* Researching publishing markets that are new to you

* Looking for a job, which is what I think they set up the Companies directory for in the first place.

* Searching for sources, which is potentially so huge I think I’ll save it for a different blog post.

To read the article on LinkedIn’s company blog announcing the new service, click here.

If you experiment with the Companies directory and think of other ways that freelancers could use it, please share.