My Approach To LinkedIn
LinkedIn is probably one of the most useful tools for
networking and contacting others - provided that you use it “properly”. By this, I mean that you should treat it the
same way that you would if meeting people face-to-face.
My approach to LinkedIn goes like this:
I Don’t Accept Any Request
to Become Part of Someone’s Network:
I don’t walk up to a complete stranger and ask them to be my
friend. They want to know who I am and
why it’s a good idea to link up. I try
to get introduced by a mutual contact or write a message saying why I’d like to
hook up.
If Someone Knows One
of My Contacts, I Do My Research:
It’s interesting to see how many of my network don’t
actually know who’s on theirs. The conversation
goes something like this.
Me: “Hi Brian. X has
asked me to join his/her LinkedIn network and I see that they know you. What can you tell me about them?”
Brian: “Err, I think they asked me to LinkIn so I did. Don’t really know them…”
My Contacts Have a
Right To My Protection:
Once someone is on my LinkedIn network, he/she has access to
all my contacts. I don’t want these
precious contacts being disturbed by importunate or irrelevant appeals.
I Don’t LinkIn With
“Headhunters”:
I’m happy to correspond by email, but I don’t give them
access to my contacts so that they can make money out of them. This goes back to protecting my contacts
above.
I Accept That Things
Change:
As I move along my career path, people will come into and go
out of my life. The same happens on
LinkedIn.
Networking is about mutual benefit (sorry if this sounds
mercenary). I accept that, if people feel they’re getting nothing out of our
relationship, they will unlink.
Lots of Contacts
Doesn’t Mean Anything:
You don’t have the time to add value to anything except a
small number of contacts.
posted by William Martin @ 07:57
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