Well I broke 4.5 million in network reach at LinkedIn.
“Yeah OK Shally, big deal... but why should I care?”
It means that just over half of the 8.5 million people on LinkedIn are at least 3 degrees away from me, which in turn means I can see their full profiles. It’s a significant number but only for lead generation and research. It doesn’t necessarily mean I have a strong network.
Or do I?
You may not know this because I don’t talk much about it, but I am the 27th most LinkedIn person. But I'm not alone. There’s about a dozen or so recruiters on the top 100 most connected list, which honestly is not that many considering that networking is in large part what we do (or should do) every day as recruiters. Bill Vick and Russ Moon may be some familiar names on that list, in case you were wondering. Those listed among the top 100 are the recruiters who have truly cracked the code on both quality as well as quantity… so far.
Won’t you join us?
There’s a list called TopLinked where you can see the names and links to profiles of the most networked, and if you visit the site on the left hand side you will see a “short list” of the Top 50 in groups of ten. Another site about top networked people is MiLinkWiki where you can find us by groups of how many first degree connections we have (in denominations like 10,000+ - 5,000-10,000 - 2,500-5,000 - 1,000-2,500). All of us on those lists can see a vast part of the network, but network depth and network quality are two completely different things. They can co-exists, yet they are not mutually guaranteed, nor mutually exclusive.
What is Quality on LinkedIn?
In part, quality has to do with how many first degree contacts on your network are people who would pick up the phone if you called them, and consider granting you a favor if appropriate. It also has to do with how many of those first degree contacts in your network are super-connectors who can in turn extend their first degree contacts to you in a way that would also yield some kind of mutual opportunity.
Volume is to Quality like Popularity is to Value
You could have 20,000 first degree contacts, but if they all have small networks themselves then your reach may be even less than that of someone who has only 3,000 first degree contacts that are deeply networked. This paradigm exists because of the network multiplier effect. If you connect directly with 10 people that have a network reach in the millions, your network will be deepened because it will now contain a subgroup of their millions of contacts. But on the other hand you could connect with 10,000 people that have only a few first degree contacts each, and your LinkedIn network will have little depth in comparison. Lets call this the Promiscuity Ratio in honor of a recent CNN Money (Business 2.0) mention where Glenn Gutmacher was singled out as being one among a category of LinkedIn members referred to in the article as “promiscuous linkers.”
The Promiscuity Ratio could be measured as your first degree contacts divided by the total number of contacts you can reach. In the article the author quotes Glenn as having 3,500 first degree contacts and 3.5 million total contacts. So in Glenn’s case his Promiscuity Ratio would be .1%. In comparison, I currently have 8,600 first degree connections and 4.5 million total contacts so at .2% I am just about twice as promiscuous as Glenn. Having more than twice as many first degree contacts as Glenn my network depth is only one million contacts larger than his. I interpret this to mean that while I have access to a greater total sum of contacts, Glenn’s network is twice as "efficient" because with less than half my number of first degree contacts he can reach 3.5 million people. Given that we both use LinkedIn as a data mining tool, a larger total number of contacts is more effective for research purposes, yet less efficient in terms of true business network value.
What is Value?
One of my goals is to grow my network reach and hence increase the value of my network in sheer size, for my own use, but also for the benefit of my first degree contacts. Maybe some day I could be able to reach almost everyone on LinkedIn, but that is a tall order, particularly as it grows faster than I can keep up. Instead, over the last two years I have been focusing on adding value by strengthening my network and working towards making it more efficient. I do this in three key ways:
1) Helping first degree contacts grow their network in both volume and quality
This has been a largely manual process via mentoring individuals one-on-one and through my training classes, and also through media like my CheatSheet and the NPR interview I recently did. The payoff has been that an influential number of my first degree contacts have picked up the baton and are paying it forward with their networks so the cumulative effect is significant. But mostly this is about enrolling key people in my network to do more of #2 and #3 below.
2) Building rapport with first degree connections
A great way to strengthen your existing network and subsequently its value is to keep track of key contacts and acknowledge their recent promotion, job change, or any other significant alteration to their profile. From your LinkedIn Home, right below your Inbox, you can see a list of Network updates since your last login. Check this list for names of people you want to get to know better. If a name appears on this list it means their profile has recently experienced some kind of change. By the way, if you have the Outlook toolbar you can also see this list from your LinkedIn Dashboard in Outlook, and depending on your email preferences you may also be receiving updates via email. In either case, there is something new. Now you can very clearly look at a changed profile and tell what is new because LinkedIn will have added a “New” or “Updated” button to the sections on your contacts profile that have been added or modified.
So, drop your new found friend a message congratulating them on a promotion and you have just made a giant stride towards becoming part of their trusted contacts network.
3) Connecting to supper-connectors who bring with them access to large clouds of LinkedIn contacts that your first degree network currently can not see.
Another way is to spend a few minutes per month time ferreting out other super-connectors and inviting them to your network. By doing this, you are brining their second degree contacts into view from within your network not just for yourself but also for your first degree contacts. You should find super-connectors in the industries where you operate but its also a great idea to connect with fellow recruiters.
If you are not already connected to me I recommend you send me an invite. All you have to do is go to this page and enter this address: shally (AT) jobmachine (DOT) net in the “Shally’s email address” box then click on the “Send Invitation” button. I’ll accept your connection request and then you’ll have access to any of my 785,000 second degree contacts you don't already see.
Promiscuity isn’t so bad.
In my opinion folks like Ron Bates or Christian Mayaud who have both held the title of Top Linked are most likely flattered and not offended at all by being called promiscuous linkers. Why? Well, because recruiters like Glenn and other practitioners of the LinkedIn CyberSleuthing methods I teach are using the network to its fullest advantage for both quantity as well as quality. So, while you are at it, why not extend Glenn and Dave an invitation to your network as well? And why not connect with a few more practitioners of my "promiscuos linking" techniques? I’m willing to bet fellow CyberSleuths like:
among many others too numerous to fit in this page would be happy to accept your invitations as recruiters, bloggers, blog readers, ERE members, and generous people.
What else can you do about it?
You can reach out to even more people.
- Connect with the most networked Recruiters
- And with 120 well connected Recruiters who have chosen to be part of the OpenLink program and openly receive invitations
- Connect with interesting people from MyLinkWiki:
- MyLink10000
- MyLink5000
- MyLink2500
- Check out this Map of Top LinkedIn people and connect with the ones in your geography
- Read this book by Bill Vick
- Use my LinkedIn CheatSheet daily
- Join these groups:
- MyLinkedIn Power Forum (click Accept to join)
- LinkedInnovators
- linkedinlions
- LinkedinRecruiting
- My LinkedIn group: CyberSleuths (click Accept to join)
You could also become an open networker like some of the folks above. To go that route consider adding yourself to TopLinked.com, MyLinkWiki, and selecting to be an Open Link member of LinkedIn. You can often recognize others who are into open networking because sometimes they list their number of connections in the 5,000+ format, or they list have TopLinked and/or MyLinkWiki in their summary, or the include their email address in their name.
Won’t you join us?
Happy Holidays!
Shally 
