When I first started speaking and blogging about social media, I focused on LinkedIn. But the platform has changed so much since the beginning, and of course our interactions and recommended use of it have evolved too. Today, I’m talking about pruning your LinkedIn connections. Not only is it important to comb through your current connections to edit out people who may not be relevant for you, but it’s also good to have some guidelines for accepting new requests. You want your LinkedIn to be curated so it’s productive, fun, and adds value to your life and business.
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In This Episode:
- I started out speaking and blogging about LinkedIn, but I never wanted to become the “LinkedIn Guy”
- New free ebook coming out called Maximizing LinkedIn for Business will be coming out in conjunction with the launch of the Social Media Center of Excellence
- There are questions I always get when I speak about LinkedIn
- One of those questions is what to do about random connection requests, and I say, you never know where those random requests can lead, so why not say yes?
- You don’t have to be an open networker, but if there are a few people in your target market, industry, or geography, it might help you gain visibility and connections to connect with them
- It’s time for all of us to prune our LinkedIn connections! Or at least to be more aware about who we are connecting with.
- I have three pieces of advice for deciding whether you should connect with someone or not
- If you get an invite from someone you’ve never met but they work at the same company, a partner, or in the same industry
- If they’re in your circle with a decent number of mutual connections
- Is there an ROI from your perspective
- The biggest power of LinkedIn is in the discoverability of hidden connections
- The real value is, if you ask them for an introduction, are they going to step up and do that for you
- If you don’t have anything in common and can’t see the ROI, don’t be afraid to ask someone why they wanted to connect
- For example, when I get a request from a non-English speaking country, especially if there’s no personal message and we don’t have any mutual connections, I will often decline
- It’s also important to go into your current connections and look at the value they’re adding – if they haven’t done anything for you or added any value for you in the last however many years, disconnect
Resources & Links:
- Wondering what to do with those LinkedIn connections? Find out here.
- So you’ve connected on LinkedIn. Now what?
- Get your profile in good shape with these 17 tips.
- 8 creative ways to maximize your LinkedIn presence.
- If you’re looking to connect with people outside your network, start with these tips.
Check Out All of My Podcasts!
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[…] so far are cutting edge. He talks recently, in a post on his curated marketing strategy, about how carefully choosing your LinkedIn network can benefit you in a big […]