8,500 First Level contacts
posed to a diversity of interests and backgrounds. I answer
Q: How do you invite people?
questions that are relevant to my industry to raise awareness Kasekas: Do not send out one of those “generic” boilerplate
of my subject matter expertise, and end every answer with invitations, “I’d like to add you to my professional network on
an invitation to send me an invitation. LinkedIn only allows LinkedIn” because it depersonalizes an already impersonal
you to send out 3,000 invitations to connect, a ceiling I hit medium. And when you get an invitation, whatever you de-
over a year ago, so such creative ways are necessary to main- cide to do, always try and respond to every personalized in-
tain my steady network growth on the site. vitation with an email “thanks for sending me the invitation”.
This helps differentiate you as a LinkedIn member who GETS
Q: What are its principal limitations?
it. And will help you stand out.
Kasekas: A common misconception is that LinkedIn is the For a more thorough list check out my blog entry On
new alternative to networking. The belief is that by sitting in LinkedIn Size Does Matter.
front of your computer all day, you can build a solid network
of strong relationships that will replace traditional networking.
Q: Is there a saturation point where the flow of
As a LinkedIn-addict I am the first to yell out that this is not information through LinkedIn becomes so heavy
the case. LinkedIn is not, and will never be a replacement to that it overwhelms?
traditional networking. It is a tool to help facilitate networking,
Kasekas: Oh, absolutely. I hit that point about two years
but nothing more.
ago, when I hit the 2,000 1st contacts mark. I have turned all
Trust does not come cheap, and building trust via inmails
my email notifications off. If I were to get an email notification
and emails, is extremely difficult. I could do more to build
for everything that occurred within my network I would have
trust over a ten minute telephone conversation, or a fifteen-
crashed my email server a long time ago. This is a key prob-
minute coffee than I can do through months or even years of
lem when you are a communication hub in such a large net-
email correspondence. So, our perception of LinkedIn as an
work; how do you differentiate meaningful communication
end, versus a means is a key limitation of the site.
from noise? It takes time, that’s all I can say. To be candid, it
Once we overcome this perception, the tool, itself, does
is more of an art than a science. There is at least one near
have another major limitation. While it is an excellent tool for
miss, I can recall, when a potential client sent me an inmail,
identifying key decision makers, the effectiveness of the site
asking us to participate in a global RFP. It was a completely
is limited to the size of your network. LinkedIn only allows
unsolicited contact and the message was almost lost in the
you to “see” the names of the people within your network
hundreds of inmails that sit on my LinkedIn mailbox. The
and their contacts twice removed (your first contacts, their
good news is that I did find it in time and was able to garner
friends/contacts and their contacts’ friends). So, for example,
some valuable conversations from the message. Have other
if your 1st (level) contacts, or their friends were not connected
such messages fallen through the cracks? Probably, but it is
to Barack Obama directly, you would not be able to find the
the price I pay for being at the center of the network.
name of the President of the United States, via LinkedIn. So,
Long term, this has implications for all users. It’s like ban-
on LinkedIn size does matter.
ner ads. At first they had a big impact, now people block
A super user grows his LinkedIn network exponentially as
them out as visual noise. The discussions and news portions
a means of building your total contact list, and then picking
of groups are becoming irrelevant, except for questions in
and choosing whom connect with, within that larger group
key groups.
later on.
Q: What are coming advances we might expect as
Q: Are there any tricks of the trade for using
LinkedIn develops?
LinkedIn you would care to share?
Kasekas: They are trying to integrate better communica-
Kasekas: If someone sees the merit of maintaining a larger,
tions like Twitter and notes function. People have realized
looser network, versus a smaller, trusted network, I would
that LinkedIn has advantages, so active participation is going
recommend they also loosen the criteria determining who
up. Profiles are becoming more developed, so content is im-
they add to their network. Personally, before I ran out of invi-
proving.
tations, I would invite everyone to join my group. My friends,
I think there is a risk that it is becoming too much of every-
colleagues, contacts, people I would interview, people I
thing for everybody. That risks alienating users. Then it might
would have a passing conversation with – everyone. Please
be leapfrogged. Super users find paid services less valuable.
note that inviting people you don’t know is a violation of the
LinkedIn user agreement, so you should stop short of that.
You can read (and contribute) comments at
Ford Harding’s blog, http://www.hardingco.com/blog
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