Get More Business Show – LinkedIn Expert, Viveka von Rosen
Posted by Melody Campbell on March 17, 2009 · 11 Comments
Viveka von Rosen, LinkedIn Expert
Honestly, I never really liked LinkedIn, to me it never felt very “social”. It felt stiff and unfriendly. I have a LinkedIn Profile – but until recently, never really cared. But all that is about to change!
Friday, March 20, 2009, my very special guest is LinkedIn Expert, Viveka von Rosen. I sought her out on Twitter because I didn’t want to ignore LinkedIn any longer. I decided I needed to understand LI better so I could advise my clients how to incorporate LI into their over all Social Media strategy.
I found the following post over at Viveka’s blog which intrigued and excited me to learn about LinkedIn. This post made LinkedIn sound a lot more social – right up my alley!
After you read this post, leave me a comment with your burning question about LinkedIn so Viveka and I can discuss Your question live on Get More Business Show this Friday, March 20th.
Enjoy this post by Viveka, @LinkedInExpert.
Is it the size of your network or what you do with it?
by Viveka von Rosen
I am what you might call a promiscuous networker. In fact, I never say “no” to anyone (on LinkedIn that is.)
Folks like me are known in LinkedIn as LIONS (LinkedIn Open Networkers). LinkedIn’s take is that you should only invite people you know (although Scott Roberts, Senior Director of Business Development at LinkedIn sings a different tune – and we love him for it). Nonetheless, since I am in the field of social media strategy and marketing – working with both corporations and individuals – I find I need a giant network as a service to my clients. The larger the network, the bigger the portal into the LinkedIn world, and the more likely you are to find the diamond amongst the gravel. A large network is very useful for people in Sales and Recruiting, JobSeeking and Marketing of any kind – where it is a numbers game. It’s awfully hard to connect to someone who is not a first or second connection. Never mind those not in your network at all.
Scott Roberts, Senior Director of Business Development of LinkedIn was recently quoted in a Right Management Press release as saying “LinkedIn’s research has found that the quality of an individual’s profile and the number of connections dramatically impacts response rates to job opportunities.”
“C” level folks might want to remain “LaMBs”(“Look at My Buds” – coined by Laurie Macomber Of Blue Skies Marketing.) LaMBs know everyone in their network, and if you are lucky enough to connect to one, you will find their network much more useful than a LION network. LIONs love LaMBs. I can contact Laurie and I know she knows everyone in her network and could, should she choose to, give me a very warm written, perhaps even verbal recommendation. (LaMBs had better have someone in their company who is a LION if they are selling product or services.)
For those wanting top grow a LION network, let me throw out a few caveats. Firstly, LinkedIn only allows you 3000 invitations, so don’t go inviting everyone in your 8000 person database. (You can accept as many invitations as you want). When you do invite someone, make sure you let them know how they know you and why you want to connect.
Be aware of the IDK. (I Don’t Know). Get even one IDK now and LinkedIn will limit the functionality of your profile. When inviting someone to connect with you, ask them to archive your invitation if they do not want to accept it. Most people are not aware the penalties LinkedIn enforces as a result of an IDK.
For most people, the ideal network lies between the LION and the LaMB. If you want to strategically grow your network beyond people you know, but don’t want to be completely promiscuous, I suggest going to TopLinked.com’s top 50 list and inviting all of those folks. (You can now download that list as a CSV file) They will say yes, open your network to about 10 million, while keeping your first connections close at hand.
For more strageies on how to grow your LinkedIn Network, attend one of Integrated Alliances Network Building Webinars.
And of course, invite me (Viveka von Rosen) to Link In with you!
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Viveka and I want to create an hour long show on exactly what you want to know. So, leave a comment with you question – what do YOU want to know about LinkedIn?
Great teaser! Just enough to pique my interest in how you can help me make my LinkedIn experience more effective!
Viveka, what might you suggest are best practices for a small business wishing to establish a corporate presence on LinkedIn? What additional LinkedIn or third party applications do you find particularly appealing for showcasing a company on LinkedIn? If I hired a full time technical recruiter, what paid LinkedIn packages should I purchase?
I have a fairly significant LinkedIn Network, but have never utilized it. The company I work with is a non-profit company. We aren't looking for employees or employers. We would like to know how to use LinkedIn to grow our non-profit membership organization.
Great insight on why people do these things like connect to lots of people they don't know. I find the LAMBS part especially interesting as well. Seems like a phrase that could become famous.
Is there anything you can do to remedy an IDK? … I had a couple of people hit IDK who actually do know me but didn't know what they were doing … frustrating.
What do you think of Linkedin's attempts to become more social and less sterile?
Great tips and interested in hearing more.
How do you find out who the top 50 people are and would they really accept unknown invites?
Ditto the question of people unintentionally hitting the IDK.
Thanks.
How does one effectively "connect" with an audience to provide a product or service? What is needed in terms of a "design" to get this done? I do not really have time to get to know every person who connects with me on LinkedIn or other networks.
Hi Viv,
I always enjoy your perspective, even when I re-read it, as in the case of this gem that Melody “reprinted”.
I have several questions:
What do you think is the most over-looked or under-utilized feature of LinkedIn? Most of us, I think, tend to fall into patterns of how we use LinkedIn and every other tool. Sometimes it takes a creative genius (or just a friend) like yourself to point out the obvious to us. So, do you think a lot of LinkedIn users tend to fall into a “rut” of only using it in certain ways, when they could be taking advantage of other opportunities?
Next, what do you think of the new group features just released last night? As a group manager, I’m excited about them but didn’t have a clue they were coming. I can now add RSS feeds to my group’s news, for example, and I can send one announcement per week to the whole group. Can this announcement feature help small organizations get started with e-marketing while initially avoiding the cost of a separate email marketing tool?
Lastly, which of the widgets do you personally use most often? (This might be related to your answer to my first question, but I don’t know that yet!)
Best regards,
Jim