Archive for August 11th, 2008



LinkedIn LION – Why?

August 11th, 2008 by Gregory Silvano Posted in Developers, LinkedIn | No Comments »

Have you ever noticed a LinkedIn profile that has “LION” or “L.I.O.N” or “Open Networker” in the name?  LION stands for LinkedIn Open Networker, and I’m not going to beat around the bush here: I just don’t get it.

LinkedIn is not a popularity contest.

What good are 500+ connections if you don’t actually know any of them?  Are you suddenly more important (more popular?  more profitable?) if you have 1,500 connections on LinkedIn?  The goal of networking is to build relationships with people, not to collect their email addresses and add another notch on your Rolodex tally.

Today I have 185 contacts in my LinkedIn profile, a number that may decrease in the near future.  I’m going to remove anybody whom I am not 100% comfortable calling and just saying hello.  If I have to call you, explain who I am and where I work, then honestly I don’t think there’s much reason to include you in my professional network.  And that’s what LinkedIn is supposed to be - a professional networking resource.

Here’s my LinkedIn Network Quality Test.  To be in my LinkedIn network (not that it’s an honor), a contact must fit this criteria:

  1. I trust you.
  2. I like you.
  3. I have had more than one email or phone call with you at some point in our relationship.
  4. I want to do business with you sometime in the future, if we don’t do business together already.

 

That’s it.  These four criteria embody the exact opposite of the LION philosophy, which is simply: if you have an internet connect and can type my email address, welcome to my network.

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