Like most of you I am on the social networking bandwagon. Yes I post on a blog, tweet, use Facebook and LinkedIn. Last week I noticed I got my 800th connection. First of all I am really excited about that! Here are a few reasons that I am excited:
- Industry contacts are changing/losing jobs at a record pace and with LinkedIn I find out about it really fast
- I can see what conferences people are attending in the future
- I find that contacts in social networking communities respond faster than regular email. I actually tested this last month and sent out the same email to 20 people in LinkedIn and 20 regular emails. I was amazed that everyone responded on LinkedIn while only 55% responded through regular email.
- In a fast and changing economy I find speed really important right now and I use LinkedIn to contact people about what is going on in the industry and the economy.
- It’s a great prospecting tool for new business
- It’s a great resource to find contacts you have lost touch with
Now your turn:
- Do you use LinkedIn?
- Do you like the community?
- What changes or enhancements would you like to see them make?
- How many connections do you have?
I look forward to reading your comments.
P.S. In case you were wondering, LinkedIn is not a CLIENT OF OURS AND DIDN’T PAY ME TO WRITE THIS BLOG.
Sharon Gautschy says:
I have 19 connections on LinkedIn – I must admit I don’t really understand LinkedIn and don’t use it very often. I am not sure my profile is even totally finished. I have accepted people on LinkedIn that I don’t really know because they were recommended from someone else (okay, maybe one person).
On facebook I only have friends I know, I don’t accept people if I don’t know them and they just want to be my friend through another friend. So maybe I am not using social media correctly. AAST just got on facebook and twitter within the last three weeks and we post maybe once every one-two weeks on either site.
While I think LinkedIn could be a good tool I don’t know all it has to offer and I think I am too busy with everything else to learn it. I have another friend/colleague who uses LinkedIn as a discussion group for her association and that looks pretty cool. She keeps it private so only members can use it. I can see the need for that.
Good for you that you have 800 connections.
Paul Kirch says:
I love LinkedIn as a tool to connect. People seem very responsive and open to dialogue that wouldn’t otherwise happen. I have over 800 contacts as well, and have recently been trying to stay in touch with them more. I think many of us have the contacts sitting there and don’t leverage them. I’ve decided to try and engage more, while hopefully being respectful of their time.
For a business connection tool, I don’t think there are any better than LinkedIn. The only frustration is connecting with people you may not know directly. It becomes expensive to be a subscriber to connect to more than 10 people you don’t know. Yes, you can connect through other people, but I’ve found that less effective. I always forward on legitimate requests, but I know others who won’t. Also, I used to hide my connections, but I realized that it might benefit someone to see who I’m connected with. Do you really think your competitors are going to steal your contacts? In reality, its far too cumbersome to see someone’s contacts if they have a large address book. And, those people could be found through any means. It goes against the idea of being resource, in my opinion. If I’m connected to someone and you want an introduction, with few exceptions, I’m likely to help out.
Merrill Dubrow says:
Paul,
I really like your point about leveraging your contacts more and I agree that most people (including myself) can do a better job engaging them and not just letting them sit there.
good comments.
Merrill
Fee Sepahi says:
WOW. 800!!!!!
I must admit, I don’t use either Twitter(15 following, 25 followers), LinkedIn (218 connections) or Facebook (222 connections) as effectively as I should. I do love the community aspect of it, but I also follow the Tipping Point mantra of 150 being the magic number of connections, any one individual can maintain, respectively.
I do need to learn how to use LinkedIn more effectively and as I now have many MR industry connections in my Facebook, I think I use it more on building relationships and getting to know people more, than conducting business, as I try to do that through strictly through LinkedIn.
Thank you, Merrill!
Fee
Merrill Dubrow says:
fee,
i would gladly help you with a 15 minute tutorial on how to use LinkedIn better.
I love the tool and enjoy helping people out us well. let e know what might be a good time.
Merrill
Jeff Adler says:
I have “only” 543 connections on LinkedIn, so it is a good think I am not competing with Merrill or Paul!
Like Merrill, I find LI valuable for:
*Promoting events and seeing what conferences people are attending in the future
*Prospecting for new business
*Finding contacts I have lost touch with
In ADDITION, I find it valuable for researching the backgrounds of people I don’t know or know well before I speak or meet with them.
UNLIKE Merrill, I have not found LI to be speedier in terms of response. In fact, I have found the exact opposite. In large part, I think this is a function of the people on the other end of the contact (i.e. not myself or Merrill). I find if someone’s LI profile is out of date and they don’t have many connections — odds are they won’t be responding very rapidly through LI. I suspect the converse is also true, although I have not formally tested it as Merrill did.
Merrill Dubrow says:
Jeff,
543 connections is awesome! I really like your point about using the tool to review people’s background – in fact I did that last week with a new client and it helped us connect during the conversation much easier than in the past.
Nice contribution.
Merrill
Karen Bills says:
Glad to hear you’re using and loving the LinkedIn site!
I’ve used LinkedIn to reconnect and/or stay in touch with past colleagues and keep up with who is doing what, what is going on in the industry and coming up with industry events. The ‘groups’ really help because you can pick on up on what is going on easily with the newsletters and then go to the site when you have time to read into topics of interest to you.
I’ve definitely found that the more detailed I keep my profile, which is really my online professional identity, the more useful the tool has become. People in need of market research services have reached out to me because they found my profile on LinkedIn.
Additionally, I think it is a great tool for those looking for a new job or trying to find qualified candidates for a position they are hiring for. The ability have have recommendations shown in your profile really helps give validity to the credentials of a candidate – I know that helped me get a better job!
Ken Troupe says:
I found this to be a great topic and in my case a very timely one too. I have just collected my 400 connection this week and have really enjoyed linkedin for the past year or so. It has really taken off. I think that linkedin is a tremendous place to reconnect with past colleagues and share ideas. I really like the the groups and the free flowing sharing of ideas (in most cases).
I do agree that is it tough to leverage new business out of linkedin most of the times. I think many big decision makers don’t like to share their contact info in such a public manor.
Which is why this topic is such a timely one for me. Just this week I have accepted a position to head up sales at WhoDoYouKnowAt. They have developed software that will allow companies and individuals to share all their outlook contact and keep them anonymous. Very cool and the response has been great so far. Check it out if want. whodoyouknowat.com
Ken
Karen Dawson says:
Glad to see you jumped on the bandwagon Merrill….I think you
were a little skeptical in the beginning of how/why you would use it as I remember. It’s also a great tool for businesses to ask recommendations from your clients right after you have just completed a recent job for them. So when NEW prospects call you about XYZ project, you can steer them to your Linked In page and have them read what other customers have written about you…very powerful stuff. I just need to devote more time to working it…
Merrill Dubrow says:
Quick update:
I just presented at the Philly/NY MRA event on strategies to move your business forward and I included LinkedIn as a must use business tool!
I now have over 1200 contacts and still growing!
Merrill
Merrill Dubrow says:
Quick update. I just got my 1500 connection on LinkedIn and last week presented a number of strategies to help MRA chapters increase membership and involvement at the MRA national conference.
I am so excited about using this tool!
Merrill
Merrill Dubrow says:
About 2 months after my last update and I am now over 1700 connections.
Great management tool and love the follow me which is a new option to follow companies.
Merrill
Merrill Dubrow says:
I just crossed the 2,000 barrier on LinkedIn – WOW! I can’t say enough about this tool and hope that everyone finds as much value as I do.
Merrill
Merrill Dubrow says:
This tool still impresses me everyday – just got connection number 2327! And in case you missed it their IPO has been off the charts the last few days!
Merrill Dubrow says:
In the last 10 days I have added a bunch of new connections. I currently have 2403 connections on LinkedIn and the total is growing everyday!
Great tool!
Merrill
Merrill Dubrow says:
wow – nine days later and I just exceeded 2500 connections!