LinkedIn works for those who work it.

The value received from LinkedIn is directly proportional to the effort I put in.

Opinions are a dime a dozen on how to get the maximum business value out of LinkedIn. The LI of today is such a different beast then when I first subscribed in 2005. Once Microsoft purchased the platform, everyone knew changes were on the horizon. As it turns out some have been good, others have been irksome, but one thing is for sure, CEO Satya Nadella and his LI business unit are not standing still. Its reasonable there will be more integration with other products and platforms taking place.  

Recently I’ve noticed this new phenomenon taking place that see people amassing contacts like grains of sand, hoping to build a castle. It’s a race for quantity of Followers over Quality of business contacts. We used to call these types of users LIONs (LinkedIn Open Networkers), but this new practice takes Open Networking to a whole new scale. I like to call these collectors GigaLIONs. It’s the practice of gathering followers to insanely high numbers, then leveraging their individual brand messages to these masses. It’s clever, I get it, and don’t disagree with the strategy, it’s just not suited to my style. It’s LinkedIn Optimisation on steroids, a form of networking I'm sure LI didn't plan on keeping track of.

I still receive my LinkedIn value the old-fashioned way, through one on one conversations. Starts with a reach out, usually followed by an exchange of notes. If there looks like mutual benefit, we jump on a call. Skype, Zoom, GoToMeeting or mobile…. doesn’t matter, they all work for me. I look for those conversations that can lead to long-term business relationships with an added bonus of becoming friends eventually. To follow this strategy it takes time, discipline, transparency and a whole bunch of patience. Quick business wins are rare using this approach. No different than meeting people face to face, takes time to build trust, years sometimes.

Which brings me full circle to the picture posted with this article, it was taken at Heathrow Airport in London England a couple of weeks ago. I am standing with Mark de Rijk, a LinkedIn contact I met quite some time ago. He is from the Netherlands, living in the UK as an Infosec expert long on cybersecurity experience. Like many people in this profession Mark is reserved and thoughtful with answers. I can't exactly recall how our discussions began in earnest but somewhere along the line we got on the topic of career pivots. I had made one, leaving high tech hardware and moving over to the cybersecurity space. Mark was looking for guidance on how best to start his own cyber consultancy. Thus began this daily, weekly and monthly set of Skype calls. Mark kept setting new goals, stretching himself and all that was required by me was to share my experience. Long story shortened, Mark transitioned over time to a podcasting, outgoing, Cyber consultant who can deliver important security value to board room directors....and wait for it, as if his pivot plate was not full enough he is also writing a book to which I am thrilled to be writing the foreword too.

This illustrates how LinkedIn works for me. Meeting a new business contact through LI, discovering where our interests overlap, and building off these assets. Up until two weeks ago, when this picture was taken, we had never met in person, which makes our friendship all the cooler now. I have colleagues scattered around the globe in much the same situation, one day I would like to meet each of them face to face, but for now, I need to stay patience and use the communication tools that make all this stuff possible.

My cautionary tale about LinkedIn is this, if you are looking for business homeruns by becoming a GigaLION just appreciate the odds are not good. Do yourself a favor and leave this strategy to others. Value is still found at the basic people level, one person at a time, one conversation at a time. Work it hard enough and pretty soon you have a posse of people who trust you.

#LCs2Cents