In the world of social media, LinkedIn plays a crucial role in providing the connective network for your work life. However, times change, and where once people were focused on expanding their number of connections on LinkedIn, just like they were focused on expanding the number of “friends” on Facebook, today the opposite is more important. Your LinkedIn network is incredibly powerful, but only if your connections are real--and willing to help you and your other connections.
Just a few years ago, when Facebook was “taking off,” the focus was to have lots of friends on Facebook. Today, as we watch Facebook become less focused on social media posts from those friends--and more of a media company that delivers you content about the topics you are interested in, it’s important to realize that the volume of friends is less important. In fact, Snapchat has taken just the opposite tack, proving that “bigger isn't better” when it comes to the number of friends you’re connected with.
In the context of business, LinkedIn is the dominant player. Unfortunately, users often are stuck in using the platform like they used Facebook five years ago---” the more people I’m connected with, the better.” That ship has sailed---and you’d better adjust if you want a valuable network. LinkedIn connections are only as valuable as the relationship you have with each person.
For example, in sales we often look at a new account we want to prospect into, but discover that someone in our company is connected to someone at the target account---AKA a 2nd-degree connection. The natural next step for us, the sales rep, is to ping our colleague and ask for an introduction. I’ve done this probably 20 times over the past two years, and 75% of the time, I get a response like this: “oh, I don’t actually know that person, sorry.” The question I then ask (to myself) is: WHY THE HELL ARE YOU CONNECTED TO THEM?!!
Make it a point to have only people in your LinkedIn network who are willing to do introductions, take meetings, make referrals, etc. for you. The payoff will be amazing. Following this approach over the past year, I’ve introduced friends, colleagues, former colleagues, and clients to one another and people have found new jobs, bought new products, and expanded their knowledge by meeting each other face-to-face, based on being in my LinkedIn network. This only happened because I adopted the Snapchat model that “bigger isn’t better,” it’s the quality that counts.
As our lives and careers develop in a world that constantly shrinks because of interconnectedness, the social connections we have are incredibly important. In sales, having a warm introduction skirts what might be the hardest part of prospecting into an account. If you have LinkedIn connections whom you cannot email and get a response from within 48hrs, I suggest you utilize the friendly button titled “remove connection.” It will make you and your network more real and provide more value to you and those connected with you.