September 8, 2005
LinkedIn - what're people doing with it?
In my thoughts on getting started with LinkedIn I suggested that you include something in your invitation to create interaction beyond accepting the invitation. My experience with that tactic has been good - here's what I learned:
I sent invitations to about 70 people, almost all of whom were already registered on LinkedIn. So far, about 40 have accepted the invitation, approximately 60%.
Of the 40 that accepted, about half (21) went out of their way to send me an answer to the question I posed as part of the invitation. My question was generally phrased something like ""have you actively used the site?" Their answers are summarized here:
- Only 1 expressed any positive feedback about using LinkedIn, and his comment was generally neutral (peaks and valleys were his exact words)
- 1 person said it was completely useless to him
- 1 uses it as a web-based rolodex
- 1 uses it as a search tool to find contacts and then uses other web searches to find direct contact information rather than going through a referral request on LinkedIn
- 2 people said that they'd tried to use the service but were not happy with the results.
- 5 said they hadn't really tapped into it (I fall into this category too)
- 10 had signed up in response to a previous invitation and hadn't used the site since until my invitation came in
Given that feedback, I'm trying to figure out how to use LinkedIn successfully. Any thoughts?
Posted by kenking at September 8, 2005 7:49 AM
Comments
The most common/basic uses we've found are:
-Re-connecting with former colleagues
-Self-updating Web-based Rolodex
-Browse who your connections know
-Place to park/show off professional accomplishments/reputation (with an eye to making sure opportunity finds them)
-Look up people before a meeting (learn about their background, if you share connections, etc.)
-Gain social capital by helping friends in a way that doesn't take a lot of time
Other uses depend very much on your purpose. I think it's pretty clear how job seekers and recruiters use it. Entreprenuers look for collaborators, investors and to conduct competitive research. Investors use it for due diligence. Service providers tend to use it to be found and to build relationship credits with their connections. Marketing people use it to find recommended service providers. Sales people search for people they know who've worked with people in an organization they are targeting. Market researchers look for experts or people to recruit for a panel or focus group. Reporters look for interesting sources. Hiring managers look for independent references for potential candidates. It really all depends on your specific needs.
Many users either don't have a specific high-value use case or have not made the mental leap to use LinkedIn instead of the usual way (whatever people tried before).
-Konstantin
www.linkedin.com/p/kguericke
Posted by: Konstantin Guericke at September 10, 2005 2:42 AM
A lot of benefit and satisfaction for me has come from connecting with people through the associated groups, such as Linkedin Bloggers which I moderate. I'm conscious that I've not done as much as I'd intended to help others in my Linkedin network, nor have I utilised it nearly as much as I could, for my own aims.
Posted by: Des Walsh at October 6, 2005 3:46 AM
