connections

No Thanks the Right Way

July 25, 2008 by Sean Nelson

One of the ways that I use LinkedIn is to connect with people in my local Chamber. Many of the meetings have anywhere from 45 to 70 people. It’s simply imposible to meet everyone.

I assume that most people attending have the same goal as me…to meet and network with as many people as possible. So after each meeting I send a LinkedIn invitation to those that I am not connected to. I’ve found that most often this connection (where I don’t personally know the person and have not had a prior conversation with) usually leads to a conversation at the next event. In fact I make it a point to introduce myself personally at the next meeting. LinkedIn can be a great ice-breaker.

Yesterday I sent out about 6 invitations to people that attended the same event yesterday morning. Two people chose to not connect, but it’s how they chose to not connect that impressed me.

200 Connections…More Width than Depth?

April 14, 2008 by Sean Nelson

At some point in the next week I will pass 200 connections. There was a time when I couldn’t imagine having more than 100 connections much less 200. Many of these people I know and some are people that I crossed paths with at the chamber and would like to get to know.

The separation is simply a matter of have I sat down with each person for an hour or not. LinkedIn makes it so easy to connect that we often mistake the number of connections we have (the width) with having an effective network (the depth). It’s important to strive for both, but it will take more work to create depth in your relationships.

Guy’s Jobs Story

April 14, 2008 by Sean Nelson

This morning I received an email from Guy Havelick with a tale of two workers who were laid off. Here’s part of his email:

I work for a large corporation. They too often play the musical chairs game with far too few chairs. Recently two good friends, excellent contributors and employees, were caught when the music stopped. One had a great network and found another job immediately. The second was not properly networked and is still struggling to start his own business.

As a good employee, as secure as I can be working for a big company, how can I provide myself a safety net? (One that I would prefer not to be forced to use.) LinkedIn seems like the best social networking tool out there. How can I use LinkedIn to be that safety net? What’s the best way to sell my reputation when I’m not yet in a position to be bought?