My 15-Year LinkedIn Journey!

This year, on April 18th to be precise, I have been on LinkedIn for 15 years! What a journey have I been on during this 15 years. Looking back is always a good idea when you pave the way forward!  

Time for some reflection 

Why did I join, again?

I remember exactly why I joined LinkedIn! I was a heavy user of a software called Plaxo. Plaxo was an online address book that launched in 2002 and somewhat of a networking site. Along came LinkedIn and I saw the opportunity to maybe take my networking to the next level.  It started for me on a journey that makes LinkedIn not only a source of income but is also an integral part of my job, daily routine and source of information. I have also made some great friends all over the world.

The milestones on my journey

Unlike many people, I was not invited by a contact but started my subscription from a curiosity point of view. Over the years I have reached milestone after milestone. Here are some of the more interesting ones.

Milestones:

?? 1st Connection: Zoltan Bus (Alliance manager at Gartner at that time)

?? 50th connection: Hugo Lobyn (a co-worker at Unisys)

?? 100th connection: Tim Nagels (then at our communication agency and now a big shot at Microsoft)

?? 250th connection: Hendrik Deckers (CEO of CIOnet)

?? 500th connection: Jan van de Zande (Then Oracle and now Cronos)

?? 1000th connection: Benny Peleman

?? 2500th connection: Toon Poppe

?? 5000th connection: Tom Sweetlove

??? 7500th connection: Anja Driesmans

In the meantime, I have passed 8000 and 9000 connections. The next big milestone is 10.000 connections which should happen in the course of 2019. However, I will keep holding true to my mantra for connecting with people: “ I only connect with people I have had a conversation with (face-to-face, conference call, phone call, emails, Twitter, or other digital channels)”.

The growth path

My networking landscape

As you reach various milestones, it's always good to look back and make an evaluation. It must be said that my focus has been on my home country which reflects connections.  

As we all know the 2nd degree network is key to social selling, I have outlined both the Belgian and Worldwide networks starting from my network to the 2nd degree and possibly 3rd degree

Over the course of the last year my network has shifted more towards sales and recruitment and my legacy contacts from the ICT industry are less prominent. When I slice my network by industry it is widely spread. The first 50% from these areas where my history and target audience lie.  

Finally, I looked at the functions and I am happy to say that my target audiences seems to be right on track…

 The dark side of the LinkedIn numbers

When you start looking at the numbers of LinkedIn, you will notice some serious different results on the same items. Let me explain.

1st degree connections are not really the same on every platform or app.

• Connection (web - free version): 9323
• Connections (after search for 1st degree): 9852
• Export of my connections: 9226
• Connections (Sales Navigator/search) 9525
• Connection (app/ios): 9322
• Connections (app/android) 9323

So we have different numbers for the same item which makes no sense and no one at LinkedIn can/will explain which makes me wonder if they even know. In my case the difference is of over 500 connections between the highest and the lowest number. So which one to believe? Feel free to add your 2 cents of wisdom on this one via the comment field.

What lessons did I learn?

I have made mistakes and have benefited from great advice from peers and others and after 15 years these are the lessons that come to mind as I start year 16 on LinkedIn:

? Rule #1: Continue to connect after having a conversation to create value-add relationships for both parties and maintain the conversation yourself.

? Rule #2: Connect with your target audience (and their influencers) or people that can introduce you to them keeping rule #1 in mind. If they do not accept withdraw the invite.

? Rule #3: Continue to use introductions to reach the 2nd degree connections even more

? Rule #4: Continue to share content in your network but keep the algorithm in mind. And yes, the type LinkedIn likes will change over time. (Now, it is all about video and long form articles aka blogposts like this one is no longer sexy and pushed).

? Rule #5: Never forget the objective for using LinkedIn!

It has been a roller coaster with a lot of fun. It is sometimes frustrating but mostly effective. It is a great journey! So what has journey on LinkedIn been?