I just wanted to drop you a note outlining some ways I’ve been utilizing to expand my LinkedIn network. This tool is very powerful if you invest a little time into it, and I would imagine it has massive potential to help you in your career or business. Having a vast network of contacts never hurts regardless of how successful you are at this moment.
Here’s the power of networking based on my own experience using this tool thus far:
I joined LinkedIn last Thursday (1/4/2007). Since then my network looks like this:
That’s a lot of potential reach in less than one week! I only wish I had discovered this tool when I was in sales. Oh well, better late than never right?
So, how would one go about expanding their network and reach rather quickly?
- Visit http://www.toplinked.com and browse over some of the top linked folks. If you see some that mesh well with your goals and objectives, send them an invitation or direct e-mail to join your network. Most people will do this if you ask politely.
- Browse over the LinkedIn answers section to see if there are people looking to expand their network and e-mail those which reply. A good example: http://www.linkedin.com/answers?viewQuestion=&questionID=7320&askerID=4140858&browseIdx=9&sik=1168456487935&goback=%2Eabq_o_n_*2
- Consider adding a link to your profile via your e-mail signature. LinkedIn can provide you a nice signature box with a lot of contact information to include in your outgoing e-mails. Go to My Profile –> E-mail signatures to set one up.
- Promote your profile on your blog or website.
- Ask a public question on LinkedIn under the answers tab and include in the question your e-mail address so people can expand their network if they’re interested. Or post a public invitation, including your e-mail address, asking for others to share theirs much like step #2.
- Include your e-mail address in your profile on LinkedIn. That way people actively searching for networking prospects can connect directly with you.
- When you post a comment or reply on message boards, blogs, or user groups, include a link to your profile. Or link back to your website or blog (this is a common search engine optimization trick).
- Lastly, be easy to access! If you want to be able to connect to a lot of people, now or in the future, think like those people would think and make it easy for them to connect with you. That’s networking 101, but it still applies.
There are some people that do not wish to expand their network because of their current job situation or fear of the Internet. I understand. Yes, it is a risk to post your public e-mail address out there because of spam and whatnot, but I haven’t run into that being an issue thus far, and the various e-mail clients are getting better and better at stripping bogus e-mails out. My contact information is readily available on my business website, blog, outgoing e-mails, and on LinkedIn. I’m not hard to find if someone is really trying. Does that scare me? A little, but I figure if I’m going to be very successful in my business, there are trade-offs and risks involved that I just have to take. Since LinkedIn is free to use, why not take full advantage of it? It’s a great tool that can really improve one’s chances at success if utilized properly.
Anyway, I hope this helps, and I hope you choose to expand your network and connect with some really interesting people out there.
If I can help you in any way, please don’t hesitate to ask.