With well over 65 million members, no longer can anyone say that LinkedIn is just a fad. While most people agree that LinkedIn is an effective platform to use for business networking they seem to be in two camps on how best to use it.
In one camp are those we shall call Mega Connectors who use Linked in like a virtual business card exchange and will connect with just about anyone who sends them an invitation. In the other camp are those we shall call Selective Connectors who use LinkedIn in like a holiday greeting card list and connect only with those they have met in person or with whom they have had substantial dealings.
There are plenty of arguments Selective Connectors use to validate their approach to online networking. If you Google this issue, you will find lengthy articles enumerating the potential horrors that await people who connect with others indiscriminately on LinkedIn. I wonder if these are the same people that won’t use online banking or bill pay even though their life would be much more convenient.
There are also plenty of arguments Mega Connectors use to validate their approach to online networking. You will also find plenty of articles enumerating the potential benefits of connecting with as many people as possible on LinkedIn (“open networking”). These people generally brag about their number of connections and include the number (and their email address) in their name or title.
A Look at the Different Philosophies
I will start by presenting the philosophy of those in the Selective Connector camp. These folks worry about the dangers of connecting to people they don’t know and trust. Here are a list of their concerns:
- They feel they have an obligation to protect the people they know and trust from being bothered (spammed) by unscrupulous, “self-serving” individuals who try to “fake” relationships with approaches like, “I got your name from…”.
- They fear these impostors will say or do something that will damage their reputation and/or relationship with people they know and trust. They feel indiscriminate connecting is akin to inviting random people to your cocktail party. While these “strangers” could become the life of the party, they could just as easily be “that guy” or “that girl” with a lamp shade on their head.
- They feel it is wrong to share confidential information about people they know. Their fear is that if they connect with someone they don’t know, they will be asked to compromise the privacy of people they do know; like giving away their email addresses without permission.
- They are uncomfortable connecting with anyone until they have an established relationship and feel they can trust them. In this way, their LinkedIn network is like an exclusive club; where members who have been vetted trade not just business cards and referrals, but career advice, job leads, product and service recommendations, and personal information. But if this is your philosophy, do you really need LinkedIn?
- They feel a smaller network of people with strong relationships is better than a larger network with weaker relationships. They don’t want to have to manage the communication burden associated with of a large group of people. The fewer people they have bothering them, the better.
Now, let me share the philosophy held by the Mega Connectors. These folks feel that a larger network offers more opportunities than a smaller network. Here is why they don’t have the same concerns as the Selective Connectors:
- They don’t worry about protecting the people they know from unscrupulous, “self-serving” individuals who “fake” relationships with approaches like, “I got your name from…”. They know that if an individual wants to meet someone in their network, the proper protocol is to ask for an introduction. They know they have the right to make the introduction or not. Or, they can forward the introduction with a message “I don’t know this person and cannot vouch for them.” They also know that if someone they don’t know asks for a recommendation, they can choose not to recommend them.
- They are not overly concerned about impostors saying or doing things that will damage their reputation and/or relationship with people they know and trust. Because they use proper etiquette, they expect the same of others. They are confident that the people they know and trust will let them know about any unprofessional behavior. If someone they don’t know “comes to their party” and ends up putting a lamp shade on their head, they will simply show them the door and sever ties (disconnect from them).
- They don’t feel it is wrong to share information that is readily available on an individual’s LinkedIn profile. Each member of LinkedIn has a choice of hiding their connections as well as their contact information. They can also limit the amount of information they want their connections to see.
- They are not uncomfortable connecting with people they don’t know because they are hoping to get to know them. They feel this is the first step to developing a relationship, not the other way around. Refusing to connect with people you don’t know is like staying out of the water until you learn how to swim. How can you learn to swim if you don’t get in the water?
- They don’t feel it is necessary to choose between a smaller network with stronger relationships and a larger network with weaker relationships. They can have a tight knit group of contacts within a larger group, using LinkedIn to maintain their smaller network while expanding it into a larger network.
So, what camp am I in with regard to LinkedIn connections? Well, I am somewhere in the middle. In little more than a year, my LinkedIn connections have grown from six to about 2,000. Sure, there are those who brag about their number of connections (how tacky!). If I had wanted to make this my major objective, I could have had two or three times as many connections by now. However, my objective is to build relationships with as many people as I can and connecting on LinkedIn is just the first step (not the last step).
My goal is to try and connect with peers, other executives and small business owners, but I will accept invitations from almost anyone after I have considered their profile. I am suspicious of people with incomplete names or profiles. Are they just lazy or are they hiding something?
To me, a person’s LinkedIn profile is the key. It amazes me when I see a profile of a company without a person’s name in it. People don’t network and build relationships with companies, they network and build relationships with people. That is why I advise everyone to complete their profile.
The following examples illustrate why I accept invitations from people I may not know. I connected with a person in Cincinnati whom I didn’t know. He, in turn, introduced me to someone local whom I didn’t know but who lives just a few blocks from me. Since then, we met for coffee and have become very good friends and business associates. Had I not connected with the person in Cincinnati whom I didn’t know, I would have never met my new friend. I also connected with a person in London whom I didn’t know who introduced me to a person in Minneapolis that has been very beneficial to me financially. Had I not connected with the person in London whom I didn’t know, I wouldn’t have enjoyed the financial benefit from meeting the person I was introduced to in Minneapolis.
Quite frankly, I don’t understand why there is so much angst about being asked for introductions and recommendations by people you don’t know. Out of 2,000 connections, I have received no more than a half dozen requests for introductions and recommendations from people I didn’t know. This is an indication that the vast majority of professional networkers on LinkedIn use proper etiquette.
If someone I don’t know asks for an introduction to someone I do know, I don’t think it is my place to keep them from meeting. I simply acknowledge to the person I know that I don’t know the person I am introducing and leave the decision to connect up to them. If someone I don’t know asks me for a recommendation, I simply explain that I cannot give a recommendation to someone I don’t know.
It is a mystery to me why anyone who wants to use LinkedIn for business would want to limit the number of their connections. The notion of not wanting to connect with people until you have a relationship with them doesn’t even make sense to me. People have always done business by “pressing the flesh” so they can meet new people. What happens when people connect on LinkedIn is the same thing that happens when they go to Chamber meetings and networking events. They’re just doing it electronically.
To me, connecting on LinkedIn is like exchanging business cards, only better. With a person’s LinkedIn profile you can learn a lot more about them than just what’s on a business card. I haven’t built a strong relationship with everyone with whom I have exchanged business cards. But, I have with many of them. And the same holds true for LinkedIn. I have developed many great relationships worldwide that started by connecting on LinkedIn.
In fact, readers who would like to connect with me on LinkedIn can send me an invitation and I will accept, unless you haven’t completed your profile or you have bizarre or unprofessional information in it. You will find the link to my profile at the bottom of this article.
Of course, the beauty of LinkedIn is that you get to decide how you are going to use it. To me, LinkedIn is a worldwide vault of priceless information on companies and people. And, I want to get into that vault!
I’d like to know what you think about connecting with people you don’t know or with whom you don’t have an existing relationship. Please share your thoughts in a comment.
And, if by chance you are not one of the 65 million people already on LinkedIn and you wonder what it is, you might enjoy this video:
If you would like to contact me, you can do so by visiting my LinkedIn page or emailing me at mike.clough@bestbizpractices.org.
Posted by: Mike Clough
