I have worked with Will Kintish for two and a half years now, promoting his networking wisdom in publications ranging from The Manchester Evening News to Legal Week to The Scotsman.

Will’s enthusiasm for his subject as well as his skill in delivering talks has resulted in a client list that includes HSBC, Deloittes, KPMG and The Bank of England.

Will is known for presenting on those key fundamental face-to-face skills that are essential to business success although increasingly his time is being used to train professionals on how to get more out of LinkedIn.

I interviewed Will recently to find out why we should all be on LinkedIn and how to use it better-  click here to listen.

I must confess I have neglected to do much with my LinkedIn profile.

I signed up and then essentially accepted invitations to be on my network.  I mean how much time is there to spend on it?

I had been looking to update and smarten my profile for passing traffic (contacts that had time to look), just to look professional.  Perhaps I was starting to awaken to its potential.  Well on Friday I got a little shove to do a lot more when I attended the first seminar on LinkedIn by networking authority and trainer Will Kintish.

Will has been showing thousands of professionals how to network face to face.  But like me he initially had his doubts about LinkedIn, can social media really give you the same contact and interaction as meeting someone in person?

Will realised that you do not have to compare like with like.  You can use LinkedIn as a highly targeted networking and lead generation tool in its own right, as well as a place to advertise your services and substance.

Will made key points about LinkedIn showing off the power of testimonials, its ability to reach hard to contact professionals (who possibly do not network so much offline) and the huge numbers of contacts you would want to make – far more than you could possibly achieve, the potential being so great.

What I think I came away with is that LinkedIn is easy to use, has good functionality and tremendous business development potential.  You could find much, possibly all your business, through LinkedIn if you really wanted.  It takes enthusiasm and time, but it can pay off big style.

I think I took away the view that it is time to take another look at LinkedIn and what it can do – a testament to Will’s enthusiasm and training.

More information on Will’s LinkedIn course.