My LinkedIn 10K

Today marks a major milestone on my LinkedIn journey that began back in May 2008 whilst employed by IKON Office Solutions as a Professional Services Manager. Having amassed a network of 10,000 plus connections from all over the world, I decided to reflect upon the last ten years both from a personal and business life perspective.

My introduction to LinkedIn began as most things do in the networking community through engaging with and communicating with people, in my case this was a couple of work colleagues. LinkedIn was very much in its infancy in 2008 and throughout my time using the platform, the technology and the numerous ways of interacting with other members has grown and flourished, and now includes many other social media platform features such as hash tagging and mentions.

So I set to work upon creating my profile and trying to make it stand out from the crowd to try and promote myself in the networking community. I studied and learnt from what other people had done to create successful profiles that would draw an audience which included a decent mugshot, a punchy title or headline. Initially it seemed a somewhat foreign idea of networking outside of your industry or field of expertise, so like many others I grew my network within my own business sector to start with.

Quite early on I spotted a fantastic opportunity to build rapport with my customers and fellow work colleagues, and to market my skills and expertise in the wider marketplace. Working in numerous roles as a technical consultant or trusted advisor in the print industry I not only had a platform to keep in touch with my network, but also a plethora of online resources, groups and materials that could aid my development, help me to help my customers and my fellow work colleagues.

As in life we often face high and low points in our careers. I have found that some of the hardest times can present our greatest opportunities to learn and to develop. My career has definitely had some highs and lows, but during these low points its LinkedIn that has ultimately enabled me to ascend once again. How I hear you ask?

From a job seeking and employment point of view LinkedIn has been priceless. Having secured three previous roles and my current position through using LinkedIn I can pretty much endorse its job seeking capabilities. Ironically though its not through the inbuilt Job Seeking tools I have found most success, but rather through good old fashioned one to one communication. In this I mean contacting my connections directly and creating personable and meaningful interactions. I am not knocking the inbuilt tools as I have used them as well, but there is a lot to be said in my opinion for making direct contact with would be employers and decision makers in a business, especially if you have had a previous working relationship with them in some capacity.

Having secured four positions through LinkedIn I would excuse you for thinking its all been really easy, especially when you have 10,000 LinkedIn connections. However, I recall a time when my network only included some 2000 connections and the employment marketplace especially in the print sector was very difficult and challenging. I remember going through a period of time when I could not secure employment in the print industry as I was often told I was over qualified, this might sound great for your ego, but it certainly does not pay your bills. Being called Jon I have had my fair share of dear Jon letters, and after so many rejections they certainly became somewhat tedious. When you keep on knocking on doors and having them closed in your face you sometimes must sit back, collect yourself and try a new approach. So that’s what I did.

In March of 2013 I wrote and published my first EBook “"Web to Print Making Internet Sales" based upon my skills and experience working with Web To Print software solutions, which empowered Commercial Print businesses to enable their customers to submit and pay for print jobs online. My recipe was very purposeful. By publishing an Ebook on an industry topic I hoped that I could better sell myself to my network and potential employers than, a standard resume or LinkedIn profile career history could. Afterall I needed something that would help me stand out, I had to try and find a unique selling point that would make me appealing to a potential employer. What I never foresaw were all the other benefits this endeavour would bring.  My LinkedIN connections exploded exponentially overnight as I provided the EBook free of charge on the premise that the requester joined my LinkedIn network. This was at a time before the LION(LinkedIn Open Networker) methodology surfaced, so in some ways you could say I was an early pioneer of the LION approach of connecting with people outside of my industry sector.

Connect I certainly did, my phone notifications were continual for weeks with messages from people all over the world requesting a copy of my EBook. I felt a great sense of personal satisfaction and achievement when receiving requests from places including Japan and Europe. When you can’t secure employment and you are continually rejected it takes it toll on your confidence and self-worth, the EBook helped protect me from this onslaught and helped me to keep a positive mental attitude. At interview it also provided an interesting topic of conversation with the interviewer, whom in many cases had downloaded and printed a copy of my EBook. In an interview just as in sales I believe stories sell. The Ebook provided a platform for discussion and a starting block for me to sell my skills and experience in an interview setting.

In addition to helping me secure new employment my EBook has also found some other uses amongst many of these, being used as a training aid in Web To Print training courses held in Europe where it was translated in to French and Italian.

So I learnt through some creativity that LinkedIn could provide a platform for developing new skills, I never believed I could write an EBook or write Blog articles that anyone would bother to read, I was certainly very wrong. Whilst riding the wave of success from my EBook I found a new level of confidence to interact in many social settings. I found a new confidence to talk with anyone, which included a chance encounter in a Warrington coffee shop with Anthony Snagg, who is still to this day one of my earliest LinkedIn connections outside of the print industry.

In 2013 Anthony worked for a magazine called the Sales Initiate Magazine, and he asked me to write an article upon my software solution selling experiences. This resulted in the “Simple Sells” article which was subsequently published. Through a trying time seeking employment I had developed a raft of new skills, published my first EBook, had an article published in a magazine and secured new employment.

Writing blogs and articles is something I continue to do to this day and I can thank a combination of difficult times and LinkedIn for this. What has changed I suppose is the subject matter I choose to write about. Sharing the same principles of LinkedIn I started with writing about my own industry sector, however I now like to write about many other subjects outside of work and business. My life experiences have moulded me in to someone who no longer just thinks of my own personal development and empowerment, but someone who revels in helping others to fulfil their potential in and outside of the business setting. I have often asked myself apart from vanity what is the real purpose and value of having so many LinkedIn connections?

I believe this now depends on how I choose to use my network? For me the answer is now glaringly obvious and simple. I will use my network to simply help and empower others both inside and outside of business life. My LinkedIn journey to date has been fruitful and at times the backbone to my own personal survival, helping me to secure employment and to put food on the table in its simplest form.

I hope that in 2019 I can give something back. Maybe this article will inspire you the reader to come to your own personal realizations, or trigger some deeper thinking and reflection upon your career and or personal goals, and how LinkedIn can help you?