Linkedin is huge, but this isn’t why I like it. I like Linkedin because it is useful. I’ve noticed, however, that people are not making use of it. Here is the second of three simple ways you can get so much more out of Linkedin, and your network will thank you for it.
2 – Connect, because you will see more
Many people join Linkedin and are only connected to the person who invited them. But they are missing out. Here’s how connecting works.
Once you’ve made your Linkedin profile searchable and filled it with useful content, Linkedin lets you upload your email addresses from googlemail, outlook or other sources, and will tell you who you already know, is already using Linkedin. You will be surprised.
If you invite these people to connect to you, and they accept, you can all see each other’s full profiles. And your contacts will be able to see the public profiles of each other, because they have you in common. These people may not even know you know them both.
Just as your contacts can see your connections, you’ll be able to see theirs; in fact you’ll be able to see their contacts contacts – three levels of separation. Beyond your immediate contacts full profiles, you’ll be able to see the public profiles of dozens of people, and who you know, knows them. Linkedin makes these connections visible, which is extremely powerful.
For example, in my network, in the UK only, and only through direct contact with the people I know, I can get in touch with 12 construction journalists, 44 property developers, 70 quantity surveyors, 178 Construction Managing Directors and 182 Estate Agents. And that’s only the trusted immediate contacts of my trusted immediate contacts. If I want to find a particular type of Quantity Surveyor, I know I only have to ask Wendy Jacob, because she knows dozens through her work. Linkedin can tell me that, and it can tell me something about every contact too. It acts as an efficient filtering system to help you find the people you want to know.
So connect on Linkedin, because you can see more, and do more, for the people in your network.
Next time we’ll talk about asking for help.
This article is one part of a presentation I gave yesterday at #be2campeast, Property and the Internet, at Essex County Cricket Ground. You can see the slides here: Getting Started using Linkedin Properly
Image: Try to Connect with Each Other by Radar Communications
[…] Next time I’ll talk about connections. […]