Theory Into Practice: Nice Things Happen By Joining LinkedIn
Yesterday I decided to join the professional social networking site LinkedIn because I had come across an old acquaintance who belongs and I couldn’t view his complete profile unless I joined. That was a motivator though I still haven’t contacting him because he was a friend in another lifetime of mine. I still have to build up the nerve to contact him… However, nice things have happened to me today because I took the plunge and joined.
First off, if you aren’t familiar with Linked it is a social networking site aimed at connecting professional people with each other through known connections. This is not one of those social sites where everyone under the sun can claim you as their “friend.” Instead LinkedIn connects you with people beginning with those you know who in turn know you and then works off of degrees of separation. The easiest way to explain it to you is for me to tell you the process I went through to join yesterday and how today I have over 51,000 people in my network.
Starting Off
First off, signing up for LinkedIn was easy. The hard part was putting together a list my profile. It’s been a long time since I have looked at my work history and for the life of me I couldn’t find an old resume (I think I have one on a floppy disk but I don’t have a computer that has a floppy disk anymore). Dates weren’t a problem but the wording of my responsibilities for the different positions I’ve held eluded me. But, I muddled through and I can go back and edit things later. So, I filled in my work experience, a summary and then moved on to the next step.
Finding Connections
LinkedIn then looked at my educational institutions and employers to see if there were any members I either attended school with or had worked with in the past. There were a lot of members from Bentley College but none I knew and no one from past employers. Oh well, I wasn’t defeated, just a little concerned.
Next, I needed to make some direct connections. LinkedIn offered two ways to do this. Either I entered contacts in individually with emails or upload my contacts from my mail client. I opted to have my contacts uploaded from Outlook. Linked in went through and checked to see if any of my contacts were already members and there were four people I knew. So, I followed the prompts and had requests sent out asking to be added as a connection. Within a few minutes I had a direct connection (Thanks Liz). Yippee!
That direct connection has 100 connections of her own and they have become my 2nd degree of connections. Those 2nd degree connections’ connections are my 3rd degree. It becomes like a game of six degrees of separation.
Then, I selected those I would like to have as connections on LinkedIn and sent them an invite to join and become a connection. I sent out about twenty invites and have had three sign up and connect with me. That’s not bad in the field of direct marketing. No wonder LinkedIn has over 10 million members.
What Does It All Mean?
Today, I have 6 direct connections, 100 2nd degree connections and 51,300 3rd degree connections. Not bad at all considering that once I completed my profile I really didn’t do much at all. Does that mean that 51,300 people can now contact me and flood me with email, vying for my time? The answer is a big NO. Whew! In order for someone who is not a direct connection to contact me they need an introduction from one of my direct connections. The same is true if I want to contact a 2nd degree connection, I need an introduction from from our mutual connection.
Now that I belong to LinkedIn what does that give me? I am able to
- find potential clients, service providers and partners who come recommended by someone I trust or some one I trust trusts.
- be found by those looking for services I offer.
- create a network of connections in my industry.
- post and search job listings.
- get introduced to other professionals through people I know.
LinkedIn offers both free and paid accounts. For now I’ll stick with the free account though the paid accounts give you access to the whole kit and caboodle of 10 million users.
And, Good News!
Now, the really great news of the day. This morning I reconnected with someone I did work with in the past though they didn’t fill their profile in completely enough for LinkedIn to catch them as a colleague. We exchanged a couple of emails back and forth and it has garnished me an opportunity to work with some talented people who are developing a web 2.0 gaming site. Then, this afternoon I got an email from my father’s accountant who belongs to LinkedIn but didn’t know how he had joined or what LinkedIn was all about. After giving him a brief description talked turned to having a website so his clients could have access to information and professionals he recommends. Well, I am meeting with him in a couple of weeks with my ideas for a website and how to go about it.
Two possible job opportunities and I wasn’t even looking. See, good things happen when you join LinkedIn. Have good things happen to you and opportunities come your way because of joining a social networking site? I’d love to hear about it.
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