It’s not the size of your LinkedIn network that counts it’s what you do with it that matters

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It's not the size of your LinkedIn network that counts it's what you do with it that counts

Social networks, like Linked In, are becoming a great way of building networks and can be our ‘window’ into who we are as business people, who we know and why people would want to do business with us.

If that is so, and Linked In could be an important source of networking and business for you, then consider this:

  • If you have a complete and active Linked In profile, what impression does that give?
  • If you have an incomplete and non-active Linked In profile, what impression does that give?
  • If you have no Linked In profile, what impression does that give?

However, you might work hard to get the:

Linked In 100% complete

….badge and think that you are now done and that you have to just sit back and wait for the work and connections to roll in.

Nope. Sorry to disappoint.

I thought that a while ago but what I quickly realised was that, at that stage, the work is just starting.

To get the biggest return on investment from any social media you actually have to be social!

Doh! Seems simple and obvious, right? Took me ages to realise this.

But, soon I realised, in business it’s not the size of your contact book that counts, it’s the relationships that you have that are everything.

So, over the last few months, I’ve been trying to spend more time on Linked In answering questions, joining groups and getting involved in discussions, connecting with new people and starting conversations, updating my profile and ……..I’m still learning how to get the most of the network.

However, since I started to get more active on Linked In, here’s a few stories of what has happened as a result:

  • One blog post that I have been able to bring to the attention of the right people has started a conversation with the Head of Customer Service at a major High Street Retailer about some consulting and training.
  • Another blog post has allowed me to connect to another major brand with an offline networking conversation to follow
  • Directly due to my presence and activity on Linked In, I have been approached to speak at the Customer Service Training Association.
  • Finally, as a result of my activity on the forums and answers sections I have received direct enquiries for speaking and consulting.

I’m pretty pleased with what has happened so far but know that I have only scratched the surface of what the network can offer and I can offer it.

Are you on LinkedIn? What are you doing that is working for you? I’d be keen to learn from you.

My LinkedIn profile is here.

Thanks to Coletivo Mambembe for the image.

Republished with author's permission from original post.

Adrian Swinscoe
Adrian Swinscoe brings over 25 years experience to focusing on helping companies large and small develop and implement customer focused, sustainable growth strategies.

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