I have not had much luck with Linked in as a resource for potential clients but I think its a good thing to have because it gets you out there. When I was first starting as a VA my mentor had me do this exercise where I had to try and get my name or business name in 10 hits on google. In other words, type in your name OR biz name. How many things come up in google? When I started the exercise I had 3 and none of them had anything to do with my biz but they did make me look good because they were community service related. As I started posting in blogs, got my own website, joined more forums, I noticed my name had more and more hits. I think it gives credibility and makes people see that you are doing something real. Just a thought.