"Nationally recognized"...definition please

Just a comment about [quote] : << "what the LinkedIn community refers to as a "Lion" or a "LinkedIn Open Networker"." >>. Some of my contacts ("first level" connections) on LinkedIn are in that category. I realize that this is sorta peripheral to the main point of your post. I myself tend to receive more "invitations to be linked" than perhaps the "typical" plain vanilla ["non" LION] LinkedIn member... perhaps because I included my e-mail address as PART OF my NAME on LinkedIn. My reason for doing that was simply that I wanted people to be able to send me a message, even if they did not [already] have my e-mail address. (It is a "business card" e-mail address. It actually "forwards" to whatever e-mail address I am using during a given year. The "forwarding" works the same as, for some other "forwarding" e-mail addresses that I have ...such as this one from my alma mater: [email protected] ...which is one that I usually use only for "Rice"-related messages. If and when my "real" e-mail address [the "destination"] ever changes, then all I have to do is to change the "forwarding" set-up. I do NOT have to re-print any business cards... which is another way of saying that there is *nothing* that has to be done for (or by) EACH of my contacts. However, that (changing the "forwarding" set-up) may not happen very often. During the 1990s, it happened a few times. But now, the last time it happened was when I switched to using gmail -- which was over 9 years ago.) PS: Since I am not really [what the LinkedIn community refers to as] << a "Lion" or a "LinkedIn Open Networker" >>, I do not accept "all" invitations to be linked. I tend to accept those that are from someone I have met, or at least talked to (including, over the phone). Nowadays I probably would count (most) e-mail conversations towards that requirement. Occasionally I get an invitation from someone who seems to want to convert every second-level contact into a first-level contact. In those cases, I still "might" accept... especially if at least one of our mutual contacts is someone I know well, or have known for a long time. However, some of my first-level contacts (connections) are people I do "not" know very well. I usually do not write to them very often. :-) !

Thank you, Mike, for this excellent article. Because of my TV appearances from Boston to DC this past year, they did raise my level of recognition with people all over the country who search the internet for people like me. I'm in a niche market, so if you don't have a child going to college soon, it's not likely you're searching for someone like me (read: no profile). I am also peeved at people who are using logos who never appeared on TV, and at one time I had placed a line of text in an ad that read, "I actually appear on TV." In fact, you can view some on my 22 TV appearances on my LinkedIn page. The reason you do not see the ABC logo beneath my photo is because I have never appeared on an ABC affiliate. Not yet, at least. It's conspicuous by its absence, but I'm ok with that.

It's actually a gimmick sold by an outfit to raise your profile views on LinkedIn. I have often rejected connection requests on that basis alone, especially if the thing that they are supposed to be known for is LinkedIn.

It is illegal to use these networks and publications unless you have actually been published, which I have. I am considered an expert in my field, but I can certainly see where you are coming from. Relatively speaking, Local and Digital Marketing has not been around for that long. I have invested many hours of hard work and study to gain this status.

I have noticed exactly the same thing and think about it as you, Michael; I attribute it most likely to some people buying a LinkedIn training course or courses that encouraged them to do this. LinkedIn is becoming more useless by the day for professionals like me. It is all noise and no signal.