Connecting on LinkedIn
As the second of three parts of my LinkedIn Basics, I address LinkedIn's most common use, connecting with others. The article describes how the reader may choose to manage their LinkedIn presence.
a. Identifying which kind of LinkedIn user you are and which kind your connections are
In addition to the marketing opportunities provided through creating your LinkedIn profile, LinkedIn provides the ability to connect to others. It is a great rolodex, especially for people with whom you are not regularly in touch. It pays to be aware that people use it differently, so the results you will get with one group or another may differ considerably. I view participants as lying on a spectrum between two extremes.
On one end of the spectrum are those who scrupulously connect with only those who they know well, perhaps ex-colleagues. This group use LinkedIn as a handy online (or cloud-based) rolodex. The rule that they adhere to is that they will provide active assistance to those who they know in the real world, rather than those they have encountered only virtually. Those using these criteria will tend to build their network slowly. Their watchword is “go deep”, perhaps know fewer people, but know them well.
On the other extreme are those who will connect with almost anyone. People pursuing this strategy will reach out to those with whom they may have connected briefly at, for instance, a networking event or simply those whose profiles look interesting to them. Their watchword is “go broad”, and have many connections to call on, even if they may not know them.
The two groups will have different expectations of their contacts. The deep networkers, in addition to connecting with people they know, will also probably only expect to answer inquiries from people they know outside LinkedIn. Contacts this group receives from those they know will be acted on in the knowledge that this is a contact from some part of their real as well as their virtual existence. Those they do not know will be questioned or perhaps ignored.
Those who connect more widely, broad networkers, will tend to honor requests from further afield, happily considering requests from outside their acquaintance. To manage their time, this group may make a quick connection and move on. It is good to remember that LinkedIn is a community of both of these extremes and, like most of us, something in between.
Another consideration about contacting others is as true inside LinkedIn as it is outside LinkedIn; why you are contacting someone can very much affect their response. If you are asking someone for something they have, they are generally happier than if you ask them for something they don't have. If you ask them for information about an organization they know, for instance, they are more likely to respond. Asking them about something they don't have, say, a job lead, is less likely to get a response. In the experience of my clients, contacts will volunteer information about a job lead even when asked solely for information.
