Jump Starting Your LinkedIn Network

At our Sister Company - - The RIO Group - - they like to have friendly competitions to bring fun/play to the work place (think FISH Philosophy!) and find/hire more quality people! :)

One contest they had recently was around “Growing your LinkedIn network”. Of course the value of growing your network is to gain access to the 120 million + (and growing) community.

During a recent meeting they were discussing how it was progressing and . . . one of RIO’s finest (Nicole) mentioned she had just jumped her network by over 800 contacts!

For most folks, this is a phenomenal ‘net growth’ in LI contacts in a short period of time. This spurred a ‘best practices’ discussion on growing your network.

Mike McLean (http://www.linkedin.com/in/mikepmclean), thanks for taking the time to consolidate the ideas you and the team had around this topic (see below)!

I hope everyone has a Perfect Day!
___________________________________________________________________

David -


Here are some of the top suggestions that were shared (thanks Nicole, Karen and Yvonne!).

If you have any questions – let me know. Mike

1. If you don’t know what a LinkedIn LION is . . . read the Wikipedia link for LION. This explains what a LinkedIn Open Networker (LION) is.
1. Anytime you see a profile with the following in their title - - LION, EMAIL ADRESS, A NUMBER SUCH AS 14,000+, A LION as a profile picture, etc - - -or on their page I would link with them! They are open networkers!
2. Here are some groups you can join that are loaded with Super Users!! All these folks “are open networkers”…
   
   1. Members (123,300) TopLinked.com – I recommend signing up both within LinkedIn and also on their website. If you go to the website you can gain access for FREE to spreadsheets that have the contact information to close to 2000 Open Networkers. From these spreadsheets you can upload and send requests to link in. You can also pay a nominal fee to be added to the list.
   2. Members (60,000+) OpenNetworker.com: part of TopLinked.com.
   3. There are other groups that may also be more relevant to your industry so make sure to do a search under the Groups directory section and join.
3. When you have a candidate whether from Monster or LinkedIn or other sources, check to see if they have a Linkedin profile and have them connect with you. This does two things:
   
   1. It keeps the candidate as part of your connections and if they leave their current firm or post they are now looking you know they are open game.
   2. It connects you with co-workers of their past and present employers (easy to see the value in that!).
4. On your home page, in the upper right side, you’ll see an area called “people you might know.” Click on the See More. Linkedin provides an endless list of people related to you by keywords in your profile and their profiles. You can request to connect with people right from there.
5. Remember to diversify your group. Look for at least 1 person from every target company you have or link into a special Group that is for that skill set to get a good mix of professionals. The Open networkers group will always help put someone above the mark.

This is by no means an exhaustive list but it is a great starting point if you are looking to grow your network quickly with Super Users and/or folks within your industry disciplines.

If you would like to start growing your network feel free to LinkIn with me :) (Mike M).