Why Does A Large LinkedIn Network Help You Be Successful?

Welcome to another article in the Success Story series.  The Success Stories series provides answers to  some of the questions about what it takes to become successful. While each of us is unique in our goals and aspirations, we have things in common with others. By consulting my LinkedIn network of over  9,000,000 people, I believe I can find ideas and solutions that may help you achieve some of your goals. While I may not agree with all of the comments below, I include each and everyone that is presented coherently and may help one of my readers.

If you want the opportunity to contribute to these questions as they are posted on LinkedIn – Click here to join Zale’s LinkedIn Success Questions Group.

The questions have been slightly edited for grammar and presentation. Comments and Kudos, while appreciated, have been edited out.

When ever people online speak about Social Networks, the discussion will always come around to Quantity vs. Quality discussion.

The people (Steve Cox below for example) in favour of Quality suggest a smaller network is better so that a real relationship can be created with each of the people. And that a large network mean that you cannot have a relationship with each of the people involved. Essentially they are asking the the question "How many friends can a person have?"

I am a strong strong believer in a large LinkedIn network. (Click here to see what a connection to Zale Is worth to you)

There are  a whole number of articles on www.ZaleTabakman.ca that discuss why a large LinkedIn network is useful – here is a summary of the points:

1. I post questions on LinkedIn Answers asking people for success stories. My large network ensure many people see the questions and have the opportunity to answer them. A small network limits my ability to reach out to those people.
2. I work with a company in Toronto to create kitchen table conversations which attract 60 to 80 C-level executives in Toronto. Each of these kitchen table conversations addresses specific issues in a vertical market. A large network means I effectively research the topic.
3. A large network helps people to look for jobs or find employees.
4. I work with CATA who facilitates investment, acquisition, or license technology. Every opportunity – I can share that among my network.
5. I am a marathon runner. When you go to a marathon in a strange city – a large network enables you to find somebody that can help out.
6. I run 6 different sites, each catering to a different community. LinkedIn enables me to introduce these communities to people.
7. Many of the Success Stories would not have happened if there wasn’t a large network connecting people up.
8. For a small and intimate network – I use Facebook. I only connect there with friends and family. I am sure very few LinkedIn people want or care to see my vacation pictures.

I went out to ask other LinkedIn Members their thoughts – and this is what they came back with. Click here to find the original question and answer on LinkedIn Answers

Success Stories are part of my Success Through Balance approach to life. I believe that Success comes from living a balanced life. You can read more about being successful and the skills required here.

Depending upon your business/networking objectives, a large network can be a huge asset. One never knows who knows the person that can help them land their next big business opportunity.

 The world is ‘flat’ and your competitors are out there diligently searching and they just might get to that opportunity before you do. I’ve been able to make many valuable connections… not necessarily financial, but find people with information that was critical to what I was trying to do.

In my humble opinion, I don’t even like the word "network" because many people assume there’s an agenda; however, my answer would be this.

Having a large network is like the surface area of a piece of charcoal. Set a match to it and it will eventually burn. Increase the surface area by cutting it up and the match will cause an explosion. The match is the same. The charcoal is the same. What is different? Exposure.

It may not be the person that you meet that helps, but more than likely it’s "I know a guy…" or "my sister had a friend…"

That being said, never discount anybody that crosses your path because they may not reveal all and they could be the one that solves your problem(s) later.

I use LinkedIn as one of my most important ‘windows’ onto the world now, I have worked diligently on developing my network and it has increased my exposure to other members. While my own website at http://www.tradeprofessional.netis focused on International Trade, it’s through my wide network on LinkedIn that I can best achieve the best and most targeted traffic to that website.

 If you can add value to your large network as well as develop it diligently, then I believe its the best policy! LinkedIn is by far the biggest Business Oriented network I am aware of, but if anyone has others I would be delighted to know!

 I have set up a group for Trade Professionals such as ourselves on linkedIn which is supported by http://www.tradeprofessional.net.

 The LinkedIn group is at http://www.linkedin.com/e/gis/35409/74C68E59B5B8

Another useful aspect of a larger network is that you can get greater responses for research questions.

I’m in the recruiting/talent acquisition business. My business requires me to find some people that are needles in a haystack of needles (hence the term purple squirrel).

I believe that quantity can help my quality. I’m just starting the LinkedIn process, but I feel it will help me to better target the right people for my clients.

I do know that several of my competitors find the majority of their candidates via LinkedIn (I don’t know if this limits them?), but I do know that they appreciate this networking site as an efficient tool for them.

Currently, I am using LI to probe some issues in my profession. I am relatively new to LI, so my network isn’t huge; I have 135 connections and about 1.6 million in the 3rd degree.

Initially I was being selective (quality vs. quantity) as to who I invited or accepted invitations from, but now I see the value of having a network 10 or 100x larger. Because my questions are less of general interest, I am getting about 5 answers per question. If my network was 10X larger, I would expect to get 50 answers and I could make some statistical sense. I am working on growing my network through inviting LIONS and other networkers before I ask my next burning question. I realize now that quantity is equally as important as the quality.

I have a slightly different take on this. I’ve removed contacts with recruiters and head-hunters. I keep in contact with them outside of LinkedIn.

 Why? There is only one type of contact in LinkedIn while we personally have many kinds of contacts in our lives. Let me take a stab at a taxonomy:

1. Immediate Family: Spouses and Children.
2. Close, Long time friends.
3. Extended Family
4. Colleagues
5. 5) New friends
6. Personal Acquaintances
7. Business Acquaintances
8. One time Acquaintances

I may meet a recruiter online, maybe exchange an email about a job possibility. It comes to naught. They’re a contact? They can recommend me for anything? No.

Not unlike a friend that I’ve known for 20 years and have worked with at more than one company or on a dozen projects, gotten up at 3am to help them out of a jam (or vice-versa).

How many real friends do you have? People that are knowledgeable about your strengths and weaknesses, who can testify on your behalf? If you’re lucky, you have maybe a handful. Can you really expect more than a couple?

LinkedIn makes no distinction between someone that you’ve been through the ‘project from hell’ with and the person that you’ve exchanged email addresses with in a convention hall.

So, if I’m looking at a job or business opportunity and want some sort of inside person to help, someone linked to me through a recruiter that has 1500+ connections, who barely knows me and barely knows the other person, doesn’t count.

I’m sure this varies from person to person, but for me, it’s not a numbers game.

I believe that having a large group help you connect a larger pool of people but at the same time it loses the personal touch.

 My network is not that big, I have most of my friends who were with me in my undergrad days and it’s a nice way to connect to them as and when you feel like.

 So it varies from person to person and what you want/expect out of your large network.

It its current avatar, LinkedIn is a great name generator, not much else. There is no way you can build a relationship consistently (yes, you will be able to develop a few here and there, not a consistent sales strategy). So keep a LARGE network to generate names, not just to build relationships.

I now clearly understand that there is a strong contingent who simply wants access to the LinkedIn database at all costs (as long as its not monetary cost, that is) – after all, there’s information there that you can’t find anywhere else – especially information about people that you don’t know, and have no quality referral path to.

After careful consideration and deliberation, I still assert that quality is better than quantity, and heavy linking between people who don’t know each other will only serve to turn LinkedIn into the phone book. As this continues, the value of LinkedIn will diminish to the point that no-one will care to join it, nor care to respond to any of the requests that come from it. Ultimately, people will start withdrawing from it altogether (i.e. "unlisted number" syndrome)

In my ideal world, with only quality links between people who can truly recommend each other, any referrals, answers, etc. that make it through the network come with an inherent aura of quality. People will see things in their in-box from LinkedIn and think "I’m going to read this first".

On the other hand, when all LinkedIn members are Linked to each other (the limit of what will happen as the LION-effect continues), then everyone, including me, will add LinkedIn to their spam filter. It will become just another way to allow people who don’t know you to contact you. Just like junk-mail and spam. The effect of this rampant connecting will basically ruin (for everyone, LION and non-LION, alike) what was once a promising resource.

If there’s truly a large group that simply want to connect for the virtue of being connected, then they should all just belong to one large group – LION or otherwise, and leave the links out of it. That way, it’s really easy for everyone of a like mind (the LIONs) to simply aggregate, without gumming up the quality network of connections. I recommend that you start such a group with LinkedIn’s group feature!

For me it is quite simple – LinkedIn helped towards a great new job early this year. Not only did it enable me to get in contact with the right company, but I also was easily able to make comparisons and have a quick view about the company and the linked employees.

Nowadays it is a great platform for remaking contacts and look for opportunities.

In my past sales experiences a lack of networking concentration hurt me in some areas. My decision to not participate in certain available networking opportunities cost me valuable contacts for sales, as well as potential contacts for my new current job search.

I feel that, for me, a network of quality contacts will broaden my potential job opportunities.

I believe this network is much more valuable due to the nature and scope that could not be obtained by simple word-of-mouth or personal interaction.

I think that social media and networks are the next generation of doing business. I hope that large network could help me with new opportunities and with finding quality leads to my SEO company.

Simple question – simple answer:

Opportunities! Your friend’s, friend of a friend might be looking for the next big marketing specialist – and if you have a large network, and you are a marketing specialist, then you just landed yourself a great opportunity. Easy as pie.

Personally, I am not explicitly using LI for recruitment, although I am not adverse to the right situation. I am using it to identify three sets of people:

1. Work colleagues whom I have known for a long time, with whom I have fought various fires, and become friends and not acquaintances;
2. Professional colleagues outside of my employer with whom I enjoyed working on one or more projects; and
3. Good friends from my personal life.

That’s it. Now, if LI had a differentiated level of contact, where I could differentiate and treat them as arms-length "associate contacts," I’d use that heavily. But it would be difficult for me to include somebody as a first-level contact if I have not spent a significant amount of time around them.

Will a small LI network prevent me from becoming successful?? Perhaps if I was trying to do sales off of the network. But for my definition of "success" – ideas and the occasional introduction – my 3rd level network of 42,000 contacts should give me enough data points to gain insights about my industry, my interests, and my eventual intentions.

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