People you KNOW (invite people to join LinkedIn)People in your industry, profession or local area.People who are complete strangers but are well connected (Add diversity)Hello Everyone,
It is my intention to write a short newletter each month
If you have fewer than 50 connections, one of the most useful things you can do is grow your network. Try to grow your network in three ways:
People you KNOW (invite people to join LinkedIn)People in your industry, profession or local area.People who are complete strangers but are well connected (Add diversity)If you have 100 plus connections your most productive work is then in developing a conversation with three or four selected people. (People you've chosen for some reason.)
Use the Answers section of LinkedIn to enlarge your knowledge about things that interest you. If in the process you discover that you have strong ideas of your own, write your own reply to the question.
Here is an excellent question that has provoked some wonderful responses.
Warning: The useful common is seductive. Once you discover it's delights you can soon drown in paper. Discipline is needed, you can't drink the whole ocean. Nor do you need to try.
When I'm asked what networks people should join I always begin by offering LinkedIn. I have a help page for new LinkedIn members here. You can send people there too if you choose. Do your real friends a favour and invite them to use LinkedIn.
I do recommend that you also participate in at least ONE other network. Look for something that has active forums. You need to read what other people are writing and you need also to develop the skill to write yourself. On a social network you can practise. There are now hundreds of networks to choose from.
I don't really know how many NZ members of LinkedIn there are, at least 4,000, perhaps as many as 8,000, but where are they? Most have zero, one or two connections, have no idea why they joined and never participte. If you know someone like that, give them the objective of finding 10 connections, and get them to join this group.
On Monday I spent almost 2 hours with the delightful Ifor Ffowcs-Williams, of Cluster Navigators Ltd. Ifor travels the world promoting economic development, and he's invited almost 3000 people to join him on LinkedIn, most of those people non-linkedin members. There's been a cost of such enthusiasm. Ifor's used up most of his 3000 (lifetime) invitations. I've got a similar problem, but not so severly. YOU can help, Ifor and me and everyone in New Zealand. Encourage your business connections to join LinkedIn. Help them to become effective users.
In NZ CEO's and senior staff of companies outside the IT and related industries are under-represented. Compared with the general business community, public servants, and university staff are very badly under-represented on LinkedIn. To get the best out of the network, we need to target such people. If you need help, ask me.
It was in discussion with Ifor that I decided to begin producing this newsletter. That's what happens when we enter into conversation with other people. They inspire us. Yes I know, conversations take time, but they also produce results.
Best wishes to you all,
John
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