LinkedIn Users: Bruce Carlisle, CEO of Digital Axle

For the thousands who read last week's blog post on LinkedIn user Andy Cohen (Caring.com's CEO) and the others who watched the video, we've got more. Check out our most recent interview with Bruce Carlisle, CEO of "one of the fastest growing private companies in the San Francisco Bay Area" - Digital Axle. (San Francisco Business Times)

Bruce who's been on LinkedIn "since the beginning of time", talks about how the service has helped him reconnect with classmates he has lost connection with for the past 15 to 20 years. He also uses LinkedIn to stay in touch with his colleagues (past and present). Finally he talks about how he uses LinkedIn to collaborate with partners, associations he's a part of as well (such as SF Interactive) as well as with CEOs of other agencies within the interactive industry.

Check out the video interview we shot with Bruce (see below) followed by a few tips-and-tricks that we gleaned from that discussion (after the jump). Check out the Digital Axle blog here.

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3 LinkedIn Tips from Bruce

1. Reconnecting with former colleagues or classmates

Reconnecting with former colleagues or classmates is as easy as importing your webmail contacts. Here are the steps to make that happen:

* Click on Connections

* Click through the "Add Connections" tab

* Click on either colleagues or the classmates tab to reconnect with lost connections

Please Note: This functionality is only as good as the depth of information you've added to your profile. Fill in the blanks about your past work experience here.

2. People You May Know

Jonathan Goldman recently blogged about the "People You May Know" feature, which has been around for a while. If you haven't seen it yet, check it out now.

3. Company Profiles & LinkedIn Answers

As Bruce mentioned, collaborating with other companies is a key need for him & other entrepreneurs that LinkedIn helps fulfill. Finding partners. CEOs in the marketing services business or in any other industries is a breeze. If I were to recommend two features that enable this interaction, one would have to be Company Profiles, which we launched recently.

The best way to access your companies' profiles would be to go to your profile and check out your work experience.

And of course, another possible way to collaborate with your peers in your industry would  be through LinkedIn Answers. Let's say you have a question within the "Advertising and Promotion" vertical, you know where to turn to!