New book on using LinkedIn, 'The Power in a Link,' also tells you how to stalk journalists like me

By Scott Kirsner, Globe Columnist

Just out from John Wiley & Sons, "The Power in a Link" is a 159-page guide to "changing the way you do business using LinkedIn." It covers topics like how to set up a profile that represents you well; the best way to collect recommendations from people with whom you've worked; how to conduct advanced searches if you're hunting for new employees or key business development contacts; and how to think about your status updates on the widely-used social network.

But it also offers three-and-a-half pages on how Gowel stalked me — albeit politely — to tell me about the LinkedIn training services he was offering in 2009, and get me to write a column that featured him. After Gowel started following me on Twitter, reading my blog, and scoping out our mutual LinkedIn contacts, he went to a breakfast panel I'd helped to organize. He writes:

...I arrived at the event early, thinking that if Scott was hosting, he'd be there early as well, and he was. I struck up a conversation in the least harassing way possible by talking about things he'd written, making sure to insert our mutual connections into the brief conversation: "I noticed via LinkedIn that you know Tim Rowe and Jeff Bussgang; how do you know them?"

Truthfully, it's not bad advice for connecting with any journalist: we remember face-to-face meetings much better than e-mails or phone calls, and it sure doesn't hurt to have read some of our recent writing so you know what we cover. (As opposed to asking, "What kind of stories do you write?")

Here's a 2009 column I wrote after meeting Gowel, "Make better introductions." It offers ten pieces of advice for using LinkedIn effectively.