How Many Linkedin Connections Do You Really Need

How Many LinkedIn Connections Do You REALLY Need? Back in the day, when LinkedIn’s colors where child blue, you would see the variety of third-diploma connections you had in an analytics report. When I had 880 first-diploma connections, I additionally had eleven.5 million third-degree connections. Now that I even have 1000's of first-degree connections and LinkedIn’s user base has more than tripled, I can solely guess that my third-degree record would now be in the excessive tens of hundreds of thousands. That’s tens of millions of people available for me to contact and community with. Tens of hundreds of thousands of people keen and in a position to information me, refer me, purchase from me, speak to me, etc. These numbers aren’t one thing to take frivolously. There’s an old adage on the planet of professional networking: “It’s not your connections that matter; it’s your connections’ connections.” Experienced networkers, like those who frequently attend BNI and other local networking meetings, know that referra ls usually happen from another person’s associates. It’s not unusual to listen to, “Oh, I met someone the other day who you need to meet” within the halls of skilled referral golf equipment. So stop playing coy together with your LinkedIn community.Oh, I don’t know this individual, I’m not going to attach with them. Naive! It’s Called Social Networking for a Reason It doesn’t matter if you understand your new connection well or not, or if they could instantly relate to your trade or immediate career direction. What matters is who that new connection will make obtainable to you in your second- and third-degree network â€" who they know, and who those individuals know. Heck, I’m second-degree related to Michael Dell, which implies I can InMail him any time I want! (Although likelihood is his admin will just delete my message, but nonetheless…) Look, the name of this game is social networking, not “nice profile beauty contest.” Social media-savvy professionals move beyondprofile tweaks and hacks and leverage their profile as a platform to grow their network, make connections and share their voice. If you have fewer than 250 LinkedIn connections, then you simply don’t have the volume of second- or third-degree connections to make LinkedIn worthwhile.(Like this thought? Tweet it!) This is the quantity I’ve found to be the tipping level . Once you crack that quantity, you’ll discover you’re way more likely to be second-degree linked to those individuals you should be speaking to â€" and, due to this fact, in a position to InMail them without understanding their email handle. Getting to 250 If you’re having trouble getting over this hump, here are some ideas that will help you grow your community fast: How have you ever grown your LinkedIn network? Share your ideas and techniques in the feedback! This post originally appeared on Career Enlightenment. Image: Flickr