You’ve heard of the 6 degrees of separation I’m sure. It relates to an experiment during the 60s and 70s in the US where Stanley Milgram set about to prove that anyone was literally only 6 people away from contact.  The experiment had some success but only mildly. But let’s not let the facts get in the way of my story.  After all, the web and LinkedIn didn’t exist then.

Two weeks ago my husband and I were watching a movie on TV and the lead guy reminded me of Clint Eastwood. I wondered if it might be his son.  I googled the guy to find out information about him and wasn’t able to ascertain if he is related or not (different name and no mention of his parentage) however one of the google links led to a LinkedIn profile of the guy. And would you believe he was connected to me – 3 levels down!  I immediately sent a request to connect to him direct and introduced myself to him and why I was writing. He accepted 2 days later!  Amazing.  Who knows if it will lead to anywhere but now I’m connected to a Hollywood movie star.  woo hoo!

All this social media stuff can certainly get you tied in a knot or going round and round in circles. Especially once you start adopting other methods for posting or linking various tools.

I had my blogfeeds set up to update at my Facebook profile regularly.

Then I joined Twitter and found I could use Twitterfeed to feed my Twitter account from my blogs.  So I linked those and then discovered Facebook had a Twitter application which I added.  Which is both good and bad.  My Facebook profile was now getting duplicates of my blog feeds – direct from the blogs and direct from Twitter.  So I disabled the blog feeds at Facebook as it only needs the information once.  But Twitter wasn’t updating my LinkedIn account so I needed to look at that.

Enter ping.fm – easy enough to set up but wouldn’t allow multiple custom URLs (my blogs) but that turned out to be a blessing in disguise.  Ping.fm will feed all these places but doesn’t pick up the feeds.  Which meant I had to physically enter posts at ping.fm and I didn’t want to have to log into yet another place – defeats the purpose if you’re spending all day just posting and nothing else.

So, what did I do to untangle this mess I’d gotten myself back into?

I revisited Twitterfeed and discovered it would feed ping.fm. I’d not noticed that before but perhaps that was because I wasn’t looking at the time – or perhaps it wasn’t available.  Whatever, it is now and I have noticed it. So, to me it made sense to set things up like this:

All blogfeeds > Twitterfeed which in turn fed Ping.fm.  That then fed Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin which kept my status updated at each place without duplicating information.  Mind you, I will keep revisiting and updating as there is always new tools being developed!

A recent conversation with a client set me thinking.  They wanted accounts set up at various social networking tools such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, etc and have everything automated (rss feed from blogs, automatic responses, etc) so that they could literally ‘set and forget’ the tools. This isn’t the first client who has requested this – I’ve had others ask for it too, thinking that engaging a Virtual Assistant to set things up for them and do occasional maintenance was all that is needed.  I don’t agree.

It made me realise that they didn’t understand the reason why these tools exist.  They’re not for automatic promotion of business services and products to generate quick sales, but rather to facilitate networking, relationship building and over time, may generate business. In fact I know they do because I’ve seen it happen for me and know others personally who have had that experience too.

In this day and age of instant gratification and quick responses, people tend to forget that some things need to have a seed planted, nurtured, watered and carefully grown over time.  And networking is one of those things, irrespective of what vehicle or tool is used. What do you think?

As most readers know, I’m an active member of LinkedIn.com and have made many connections there and lots of friends – old and new.

I recently received yet another invitation to connect from someone I don’t know and who obviously hasn’t read my profile.  It amazes me that people won’t look to find out a bit about the person they’re sending an invitation too, and in most cases, the invitation is one of those generic, unedited invitations that blatantly show the sender is more into collecting numbers rather than true connections.  Although, in some cases, particularly when I see their network is less than 20, it can indicate they’re brand new and are still learning, in which case I often give them some pointers and suggest they come to this blog to read the LinkedIn category for tips.

The latest inviter responded to my question of why he wanted to connect with:

Networking is getting connected with people whom you don’t already know which is the point of linkedin. Whats the point of networking with people you already know…

I asked him if he had read the rules? LinkedIn actually tells people they should only be connecting with people they know personally and besides, networking is all about relationships – it’s not about numbers, it never has been.

It did make me wonder who he had been listening to though, before he sent a blanket invitation to someone he doesn’t know.  And without even reading my profile (which might have saved him some trouble if he had read it).  There is a school of thought to connect first and get to know later, and then there are others like me, who like to be wooed just a bit, simply by letting me know they’d read my profile, or had seen me somewhere and was interested in knowing more about what I do and could we connect?  And in that invitation they should also tell me something of themselves.

The majority of people I’ve connected with have been those I’ve gotten to know through LinkedIn discussion forums, or via Answers, when they have seen my response to something, or I have seen their’s.  Perhaps they answered a question I asked and they helped me. Perhaps we were involved in something else together.  Or perhaps someone they know also knows me and have forwarded an introduction.

If people are more interested in growing numbers rather than growing relationships, you have to wonder why they’re in the networking game in the first place.  I mean, how does it benefit them?

I’d much rather a smaller number of true connections, people I’ve gotten to know, rather than a large number of people I know nothing about and most likely never will.  How about you?

I get quite a number of invitations these days from people I don’t really know.  I don’t mind connecting with them however I do ask first where they found me and why they want to connect?  Obviously they haven’t read my profile before sending the invitation otherwise they would know that’s a requirement for me to connect.

Why do I do this?  Well, I want to feel there’s some kind of personal connection first.  I also don’t want to be counted as a number as I know that many, particularly LIONS, are prone to do.  Quality not quantity is something I’m seeking in the way of connections – will there be a mutual benefit for us both to connect?

If I know and recognise the name as someone I’ve chatted with before I will accept and then I’ll give them suggestions on how to do an invitation and send them here to my blog to check out the LinkedIn category.  But if I don’t recognise their name I wait for their response and often those responses can be funny or even indignant.  Some don’t respond at all.

Why would a response be indignant?  They seem to expect that because we had a minor connection via an email about 3 or 4 months ago I would remember who they are.  Perhaps they don’t get much email but I get 2-300 on a daily basis because of the nature of my business and also the groups I belong to online.  Why would I remember someone who might have answered a question at LinkedIn or responded to a forum message?  It would be different if we actually did business together in some way but usually it’s one of the former.

So, if you’re new to LinkedIn I encourage you to look at personalising your invitations (you can click on edit and change the text of what’s being sent) and make sure you read through the profile of the person you wish to invite first.   You can get penalised by LinkedIn if you get too many “I Don’t Knows” against your name.

Oh, and if you have copied someone else’s email that says something about ‘please do not mark IDK’ then I suggest you don’t do that.  It’s almost as bad as a blanket invite being sent.  If you can copy and paste someone else’s message, you are also capable of writing your own personal message.

LinkedIn is a marvellous way to grow your online business network and get to know people from all over the world. But there are also very quick ways to annoy people as well. And one of those ways is right at the beginning of the process – inviting others to connect with you.

LinkedIn encourages you on your homepage to connect with others you know but they don’t really give you much information on the ‘how-to’ process in doing this. So I want to save you some angst and help improve things for you.

When you put in someone’s email address and name and click on that button to invite them, what happens? Well, if you’ve not actually explored what the invitation says (and many don’t in the early stages) you might be surprised to find that this is all it is:

Kathie,

I’d like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn.

-Steve

Nothing else. Now, when I receive that invitation it doesn’t tell me much. I can go to that person’s profile because it is linked to the invitation but if I don’t know that person, or don’t remember them, it’s not going to tell me why they want to connect. And even if I do know them, I still don’t know the reason. Having received one of these invitations proves to me very quickly that the sender hasn’t read my profile.

I do have a request on my profile that I don’t accept ‘canned’ or ‘blanket’ invitations (of which the above is definitely an example) and prefer to receive an introduction and reason for connecting. I don’t want to become just another number to people.

It’s amazing but one of two things happen when I reply to a blanket invitation, asking them the reason for their interest:

1. They ignore me and don’t respond. Their loss – they have a limited supply of invitations and have just wasted one because they didn’t want to really get to know me.

2. They come back with this amazing story of having heard about me from somewhere, or seen me at a conference, or via a forum, or perhaps they’d just been learning about the VA industry and wanted to know more. How am I supposed to read all that in the invitation they had just sent? I always accept after receiving further info – I just like to know what the interest is so that the networking process can truly begin.

So, if you’re new to LinkedIn, or just been in the habit of sending out heaps of invitations but haven’t personalised them, I encourage you to take the time to explore the process further. Building relationships are always worth spending time on.

Oh, and one other suggestion. If you see a really well-worded invitation that comes your way, don’t copy and paste it and start using it for your own – I’ve seen that happen a lot too. Once makes it special, twice makes you wonder, three times makes you realise that some people just don’t have any originality of their own!

The week of 24th March marked a number of milestones for me. 14 years in business, I reached the 1,000 mark in LinkedIn connections (thanks Mike) and had published my 300th post on my VA blog.

Those of you who read my VA blog will know I had a week of giveaways for new subscribers to the blog and it produced a whole lot of interest and fun.

What have I learnt in those 14 years? Lots – like don’t hold back on an idea but surge forward with it and action it if you believe in it. I did and ended up pioneering a new industry in my country even though I didn’t know that’s what I was doing at the time. Hindsight is such a great thing, isn’t it?

Networking is another valuable thing I’ve learnt. You never know who is going to be able to lead you to whom or where so it’s important to treat everyone as you would like to be treated yourself. You never know when you might need those contacts. I’ve been able to introduce my daughters to some interesting people for their own life plans as a result of being in the right place at the right time – so leaving the office and actually going out and meeting people is a good idea.

Be prepared to learn new skills and don’t knock back opportunities. Much of what I do today for clients is as a result of saying ‘yes’ when a client asked me to explore something on their behalf. Otherwise I’d still be doing just typing and data entry and nothing else.

Finally, have fun. If you’re not enjoying what you’re doing on a daily basis, then perhaps you need to reassess what’s happening in your life. If it’s for the short-term and you have a definite goal in mind, then that’s fine. But if it’s long-term and you have no goals, then something is adrift – time to find out what and why.

I get lots of people saying they don’t know how to use LinkedIn but know I’m a member so they ask to connect with me, or agree to join but don’t know how to proceed. I wrote the message below and sent it by email to many to help them on their way, but thought I should really share it here for all.

Granted, LinkedIn has changed how the home page looks now but the components are still the same, so the information below should help you move in the right direction and get some value out of your membership.

______________________________________

There are many components to LinkedIn and I’m not going to try and cover it all in one email but just want to give you an outline this time round.

When you log into LinkedIn you will see the above on your login page.

First of all Account & Settings is where you can set various items for your account – if you use more than one email address during your workday, then I suggest you list all your email addresses so that if someone sends you an invite via any of them, you will receive it into this account and not accidentally set up a second account – something I see a number of people doing and having challenges with.

There are 4 areas here you will probably use more than the others and they are:

1. Home (to view your updates and inbox and total number of connections),
2. My Profile (which you should get set up as soon as possible if you haven’t already),
3. My Contacts (where you will see an alphabetical list of all your first level contacts)
4. and the one that I’ve found most beneficial for networking – Answers.

Answers is worth checking out. You can read through Questions that people have placed and read the answers of others. Here you get to learn who has experience and knowledge in various areas and go and view their profiles. As you do so you’ll probably get more ideas for adding to your profile. If you know the answer to a question asked, don’t be shy – go ahead and give an answer. If your answer is listed as ‘good’ or ‘best’ you will start to see that in your Answers stats (My Q&A). Once you’ve gotten a ‘best’ answer you will then go on the Experts list – these are also worth checking out.

You are allowed to ask 10 questions a month and can ask questions about almost anything. But do have a look at the others first because sometimes the same questions are asked over and over again, mainly about how LinkedIn works. But that is only one category and there are many others relating to all sorts of things such as Technology, Staffing, Administration and so on.

Do be careful not to place something in Answers that comes across as blatant advertising. I did post something that was intended to be informative and to give others an opportunity in relation to a competition and it was flagged as an advertisement and closed. I wasn’t aware of this till I was checking my stats and wondered what had happened to that question. So I’m learning to be careful how I word things so that I’m not viewed as blatantly advertising something. Too many of these and you get your Q&A privileges suspended by Customer Service.

Be aware too, when you are sending invitations to people to connect with them, it is important you introduce yourself and explain why you want to connect – particularly with people who might not know you very well (but are on your database) or people you’ve seen at LinkedIn and want to get to know better. If they say they don’t know you and you get 5 of these, then your invitations are suspended for a period of time, so it is taken seriously.

Finally, if you want to get true networking value out of LinkedIn, then make sure you join some of the chat forums associated with members there. LinkedIn does not have an actual chat forum, nor the facility for sending emails to members so many members host forums via Yahoogroups and Google groups, amongst other mediums. You can check some of them out at my profile at http://www.linkedin.com/in/kathiethomas or simply shoot me an email and I’ll send you addresses to those I find most particularly beneficial.

As many of you know I’m a member of LinkedIn.com, along with several other forums. Lately there seems to be a trend for people, particularly from LinkedIn, to start sending their entire connection list their newsletter. I do not believe this to be a good practice, apart from it not being in line with their user agreement.

Imagine you have a connection count in excess of 1,000 people and every single one of them added you to their newsletter list. What would happen to the number of emails you receive every day?

I know that people think it’s ‘only once a month’ but when you times that by 1,000, 2,000 or more each month, it gets beyond a joke.

When people agree to connect with you via a networking forum I believe they should still be asked, or given the opportunity to subscribe of their own accord.

I did email my connections list and let them know about various things I was doing at the beginning of this year but it was a once-off email – even then I got people asking to unsubscribe even though I explained they weren’t on any list in the email.

We all get inundated with more email than we ask for so be fair and kind to your networking connections and don’t add them to lists they didn’t ask to be on. Connecting via a networking forum was specifically for networking purposes. If you participate in discussions and give people the opportunity to get to know you, then over time they may well subscribe to your lists and even do business with you. Developing a good signature block for participation in these forums will go a long way towards attracting interested people to your lists.

I believe the building of relationships is an important part of networking and putting people on lists before they even know you is not a good practice and will put people off for the most part, rather than endear them to you.

newsletter list, LinkedIn, networking,

Welcome to the very first LinkedIn Blog Carnival – I hope it’s the first of many! The idea behind this carnival is for members of LinkedIn to showcase their writing talents via their blog entries, and in particular with posts about networking, blogging or the use of LinkedIn.

If you’re like me, a member of LinkedIn, you would have made many connections, new friends and done some business and I’ve found LinkedIn to be one of the most valuable networking tools I’ve experienced in the almost 14 years of my business ownership life.

Vikram Deo presents rAnDoM AnD rEstLeSS !!!!: Rafting, Trekking and Leeches!!!!! posted at rAnDoM AnD rEstLeSS !!!!.

Olga Kellen presents Online Networking posted at How I started on LinkedIn.

Sheila Scarborough presents 6 ways travelers can use social media posted at Perceptive Travel Blog, saying, “From the familiar blog to the lesser-known Twitter and even Second Life, here are some social media apps that travelers can use to improve their journeys.”

Charnell presents Join me at the Blog World & New Media Expo in Vegas! posted at Charnell Pugsley’s Weblog, saying, “I am really looking forward to going to the Blog World & New Media Expo in Las Vegas this year. I’ve recently moved into a new role at work that includes the task of blogging, so I hope to learn and experience a lot at the conference. Happy blogging!”

Michael@TSM presents Fall TSM Travel Writing Contest: Win $125! posted at Traveling Stories Magazine.

David Kam presents A Generous Leader, A Great Figure posted at MarketingDeviant.com.

isabella mori presents quit smoking posted at change therapy, saying, “great to have a new carnival! i’m a LinkedIn member but don’t have the LinkedIn badge on my blog right now – am changing my blog layout right now. hope that’s alright.”

Carol Sill presents Alphablogs – Musical Reminiscences posted at Alphablogs, saying, “Both princials at Alphablogs, Carol Sill and Isabella J. Mori, are LinkedIn members.”

Larry Russell presents Avoiding financial advisor and investment counselor frauds and scams – Overview posted at THE SKILLED INVESTOR Blog, saying, “The best way to avoid being defrauded or scammed by a financial or investment advisor is to investigate carefully several different advisers before hiring one of them. If you carefully choose a financial adviser or investment counselor, you have a far greater chance of finding one who is objective, competent, and ethical. This could help you to avoid significant problems in the future.”

Robinson Go presents Report Paid Links to Google posted at The Robinson Go Blog, saying, “Make the most out of your Google ranking for your blog.”

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of linkedin using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Technorati tags: linkedin, blog carnival.