Every small business needs to connect with other professionals in some fashion. Whether you’re doing market research, trying to publicize your product or even looking to hire someone for a job you need filled, you need a place to go to help fulfill all these needs. LinkedIn is one of these resources.

With over 39 million members located in more than 200 countries around the world, LinkedIn is arguably the largest social networking resource for professionals. According to LinkedIn, a new member joins every second and executives from every Fortune-500 corporation are represented on LinkedIn. The April 21 #smbiz Small Business Twitter chat will feature two LinkedIn experts, Steven Burda and Neal Schaffer, who will help answer questions on how to use LinkedIn effectively.

Here’s a list of 20 ways you can use LinkedIn for your business:

1. Market Research: Connect with other professionals directly to learn about new product opportunities and to also see what other companies are doing.
2. PR Connections: Lots of media are also on LinkedIn, so you can establish relationships and pitch ideas for stories when you connect with them.
3. Jobs: The best time to find a job is when you’re not looking for one. So connect with other professionals and someone may approach you with a job opportunity.
4. Company Research: You can learn lots of information about specific companies on LinkedIn, connect with employees within that company or even connect with past employees of a certain company.
5. Promote Others: The best networkers are those that selflessly help promote others, or connect others.
6. Re-Connect: Here you can find people you’ve fallen out of touch with and get reacquainted with them.
7. Personal Brand: Fill out your profile with lots of good information to help shape your own personal brand.
8. Credibility: Use LinkedIn to establish yourself as an “expert” on a specific topic.
9. Control Information: You can find out what other people are saying, updating or contributing on a certain topic within a LinkedIn Group. You can then control how often you receive these updates.
10. Interviews: Learn more about the person who will be interviewing you by checking out their LinkedIn profile.
11. Connections: Tap into your personal Gmail and Yahoo connections to see if any of these people are on LinkedIn. Even if they’re not, you can invite them to join to build your network.
12. Profile: Think outside the box when dressing up your profile. Check out what others do with their profile and include information that brings value to the reader.
13. Resources: Need people to serve as a resource for a project or article you’re working on? Search for these people and connect with them to help out on your project.
14. Resume: If you are looking for a job, consider building your profile into your very own digital resume you can share with others.
15. Answers: LinkedIn has a thorough FAQ section with lots of answers to make your user experience a great one.
16. References: Check out the background of people you are interviewing for a job. See where they’ve been, what they’ve accomplished and who they’re connected with.
17. Google: When you have a LinkedIn page, you are searchable on Google, which can be good for your page rankings.
18. Be A Bigger Business: Leverage LinkedIn to score a deal or partnership with a bigger company.
19. Get Leads: Invite possible customers to connect with you and join your network and create a group focused on your industry and invite others to join.
20. Freelancing: Are you out on your own and looking for freelance opportunities? LinkedIn is a great resource for freelancers that are looking for opportunities.

Here’s a great place for more insight from Neal Schaffer on using LinkedIn. Like other social networing sites, the only way you’ll ever get anything out of LinkedIn is if you jump in and start using it. Sign up and check out the #smbiz Twitter chat April 21 to learn all kinds of tips.