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Workers connect on social networking site

Meet Art ... who knows Scott ... and knows Cory... and knows they don’t know each other, but probably should for business purposes.

With two virtual handshakes and an invitation over LinkedIn, a lively Web site for business professionals, Scott and Cory “meet” online. Soon Scott Jarvis, a bank vice president, and Cory Garrison, a client development consultant, meet in person. They later convince their top bosses that there is important business to be done between Scott’s bank and Cory’s marketing firm.

A (big) deal is quickly sealed.

That happened in Des Moines, Iowa, last fall.

And that’s how people are using LinkedIn, which currently boasts more than 10 million members — and 13 more signing up every minute.

The site has been dubbed “MySpace for grown-ups,” steering clear of online social matters and zeroing in on helping professionals connect with each other. It’s used by job seekers and corporate recruiters, investment bankers and venture capitalists and, to a lesser extent, people simply wanting to reconnect with past colleagues or college pals.

“That’s what networking should be: an exchange in value,” company spokeswoman Kay Luo said.

Art Dinkin, the financial planner in West Des Moines who made the initial introduction for Jarvis and Garrison, said he joined the exploding LinkedIn network a little more than a year ago but didn’t do much with it for the first six months. After he repeatedly heard about the site from others, Dinkin, 41, said he finally decided to take a closer look.

“That’s when I realized how powerful it could be,” he said.

Responding to workers’ growing need to build networks, several similar sites have popped up in recent years. And to court the ever-increasing market of Web users, those sites offer a direct connection to a person, instead of a company.

For example, Jigsaw.com offers visitors an online directory of more than 5 million business cards. Members can gain points for entering more business cards and can purchase contacts with those points.

But LinkedIn separates itself from other networking sites by behaving like a professional gated community, free of spam and unwanted solicitations, because introductions must first be made in order to contact a fellow user.

Professionals enter their employment and education histories on a profile page, and LinkedIn begins to scour its network for other users — former colleagues, perhaps, or people in similar industries.

The site then builds personal networks for each member, who can view all of their contacts’ networks, and their contacts’ contacts’ networks, and so forth.

“It’s amazing to see how many people you have in your network one day,” said Garrison, who has used LinkedIn to help connect with business owners who may want to learn more about his marketing firm, REL Productions, in Des Moines. “That’s the kind of power this thing has. It allows you, in a very trusting and non-threatening way, to meet people that you don’t normally have the opportunity to meet.”

Recruiters, too, have been joining the LinkedIn community in droves, searching for talent they might otherwise miss. Luo, the company spokeswoman, said about 200,000 recruiters are members of LinkedIn.

In addition, about 350 companies pay for corporate subscriptions, ranging from $10,000 to $250,000 a year. A subscription gives them “upgraded” privileges for viewing profiles and contacting users.

For example, Wells Fargo has more than 450 members in Iowa on LinkedIn, with several listing themselves as hiring and development employees or national recruiters looking for talent. Wells Fargo officials wouldn’t comment on how they are using LinkedIn.

Other recruiters said they’ve had limited success finding senior-level executives through the site.

Karen Novak, vice president of the Des Moines executive recruiting firm Francis & Associates, said so far, she has found the process of working through different networks to tap someone to be cumbersome.

But Novak said she plans to keep watching LinkedIn because of its growing popularity.

Make the most of online network

Users should look for the networking site that fits their needs, such as finding a job, a sales lead or a business opportunity. Some sites to check out include linkedin.com, spoke.com, jigsaw.com and ryze.com.

LinkedIn offers these tips on how to get the most out of the site:

• Ask to connect with people you know and trust, or with people who will add value to your network.

• Don’t agree to give an introduction if you don’t feel comfortable or if you are not familiar enough with the contact asking to be introduced.

• Get recommendations from others about your work and post them on your profile.

• Start building your network before you really need it. If you build relationships and provide value to others, it will be much easier to ask someone for help when the time comes.

• Give recommendations for others, too. Networking is a two-way street.