How many LinkedIn users?

As we know by now, LinkedIn is a free networking site that links professionals together to share ideas in a business setting. It's only aimed at business users and in Q2, 2011, LinkedIn reported that membership has grown to 115.8 million (an increase of 61% from the second quarter of 2010), unique visitors have increased to 81.8 million per month (an increase of 83% from the second quarter of 2010) and page views have increased to 7.1 billion (an increase of 80% from the second quarter of 2010). Approximately one million new members join LinkedIn every 12 days.

When new users have got their head around the basic steps of setting up their profile, adding applications, importing contacts and inviting people they know to connect with them, a burning question remains: 'How should I respond to invitations to connect with people I don't know?'

What do LinkedIn users want?

First of all, it might be a good idea to understand what people want out of LinkedIn and what their objectives are. Then understand what you want so that you can pro-actively get out there and build meaningful relationships. Although I don't have any statistics to prove it, I think most would agree that many LinkedIn users don't know what they want because they don't know what they can have, and even if they do know, they're not sure how to go about it. 

Hence the high level of 'spamming' in the form of strangers inviting people to join them as 'Friends' or 'Colleagues' without much else ever happening. This practice of 'cold connecting' is rife despite LinkedIn's User Agreement which states that you must not 'Invite people you do not know to join your network.'  I think we can safely say that most users' intentions are honorable, although people who are gainfully inviting and adding contacts without doing much else are missing a trick or two. 

Always follow up

If I do accept a request to connect with someone I don't know, I like to 'test' their goodwill by following up with a personal message to make it clear why I have connected with them and to ask them if they would like to join my group on LinkedIn. It's a kind of pro-quo I've built in. People who reply to my replies are the best networking people and we like getting to know each other and introducing each other to our businesses, colleagues and networking groups.  

You can get good mileage out of connecting with strangers (or friends of friends) in this way and by taking the lead to engage with them properly. You never know, the invite could have been legitimate if you were in their address book when they imported it and they automatically invited you from there. If they are not sure about what they are doing, you could provide some help and make a firm friend and future referrer. Don't forget you can dis-connect with people if they start spamming you with offers or ignoring your messages.

Review your connections' connections

The important thing to remember about LinkedIn, is that when you connect with people you know (or not) you gain access to their connections and the connections of their connections. LinkedIn uses the word ‘degree’ to explain levels of  first degree, second degree and third degree connections in your network. Its worth bearing in mind that a network of around 800 direct connections will give you an overall network of up to approximately 10 million individuals. You can see the number of your extended second and third degree connections from your 'Connections' tab under 'Network Statistics'.

Think of your first degree connections as your key network beneath which the larger number of contacts reside just out of reach. Each connection you make increases your proximity to hundreds of new potential business partners - the effect is exponential. You can then contact second and third degree connections via 'Get Introduced through a connection' on their profile, or 'Add to your Network' (not recommended unless you have their email and a good reason to believe they won't hit the 'Report as Spam' button). Alternatively, you can get to know second and third degree connections by joining a group they are a member of although do get to know them first and do not send invitiations to the whole group - this will be treated as spamming.

If you don't want invitations from strangers, turn off your InMail 

To send an InMail you have to pay for an upgrade. Talent Basic gives you 10 InMails, Talent Finder gives you 25 InMails and Talent Pro gives you 50 InMails. LinkedIn say InMail messages are more successful because they’re less of a cold, spam email. The person to whom you’re sending it instantly knows that you’re part of the LinkedIn community and the receiver can simply click on your name and check you out very quickly. If they like what they see, they may even respond favourably.

To request NOT to receive Inmails, you have to select not to receive them. Very cleverly, LinkedIn doesn't include this in your Privacy Settings (above). I am sure this is the reason the system works so well for LinkedIn (ie, Response guaranteed or your money back) because most users aren't aware of the fact they can block InMails.

If you want to do this, you have to scroll down to the bottom of your profile page in 'Edit' mode, click on 'Change Contact Settings' and select 'I'll accept Introductions and InMail' or 'I'll accept only Introductions'.

You can watch the LinkedIn InMail video here.

Join the open networkers (or not)

An Open Networker (eg, LION, Top LinkedIn In, Open Networker) is a LinkedIn user who positively encourages connections from any other user, whether or not they have had a previous business relationship. Open Networkers use professional networking sites not just to keep in touch with contacts they already know, but to create new contacts, connections and business opportunities. Open Networkers therefore gravitate towards professional networking sites like LinkedIn to take advantage of the speed and efficiency the internet has enabled them to make new business connections.

You can join any of the Open Networker Groups by searching for them in the LinkedIn Groups Directory. Membership will give you access to discussion boards where people post what type of people they'd like to connect with, specific business projects they might be working on or questions for the Open Networker community.

In the meantime ...

It would be good to know what you think - are you a strictly 'who you know' LinkedIn user or a fulll blown 'open networker'?

And, when a stranger calls you their 'friend', would you give them the benefit of the doubt and accept their invitation? It's worth remembering that LinkedIn, like any other system or tool, requires a level of understanding on functionality and protocol to work effectively, and that takes time when you are trying to run a business.

Let me help you

I would of course, be delighted to help you. Either through my strategic, phased consultancy programmes, one to one coaching sessions, in-house training or my new LinkedIn Executive Workshop - How to Join the LinkedIn Set, in association with Events with the Edge which you can find out about here.