Linkedin is more than Facebook for business

When Chris and I run business training sessions networking is always a hot topic for discussion along with how we use linkedin. When we review the profiles of our delegates we always find that their networks are

made up of

1.Similarity: people that do similar things to themselves so e.g. salesperson’s networks are full of other salespeople or

2. Proximity: people who you are currently working with or have previously worked with.

These connections are not as potentially valuable to you as you first think when it comes to making a new business contact or getting a new job. This is supported by Mark Granovetter’s most famous work, "The Strength of Weak Ties", which is considered to be one of the most influential sociology papers ever written. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Granovetter

Linkedin can provide you with a wealth of information to expand your network capabilities, and generate business. 

Whenever you go on a new appointment, as part of your preparation and research, look to see if the client has a linkedin profile. If they do you can learn so much about them, which will provide you with vital information to prepare well for the meeting. At the start of the meeting it can provide you with an empathetic subject to start building rapport with the client. At the end of the meeting request that you connect up, this will avoid mislaying their business card. It also will provide you the added advantage that providing they update their profile you can follow their career path, which may provide further opportunities.

What is key to understand about linkedin is that this direct connection would be at 1st level. The people that your contacts know would be 2nd level contacts to you and their connections would be 3rd level to you; we jointly have in excess of 10 million connections at this level, which offers huge potential in simple introductions. This means that with some applied connecting you can get an introduction into almost any organisation you wish to do business with. When I started LinkedIn I never realised that potential when I first used it, I had the typical number of connection which were about 35, and never contacted them. I believe that as we introduce the younger generation to senior management positions Networking/Linkedin will be second nature to them. It will truly change the way we do business in the future.