Working the Linkedin Networking Tools
If you have been following my posts on the Linkedin networking tools, you have loaded up your contact lists from Outlook and other email services like G-Mail or Hotmail, etc. The strategy I suggested was to find on those lists, people who are already on Linkedin and send them an invite to connect with you. They already are familiar with Linkedin and are more likely to accept your invitation.
When I did my first batch of Outlook Contacts (I have been using Outlook as a contact manager for about five years), I identified 37 people who were already on Linkedin. While I knew many of these people, I have not had contact with most of them in the past year.
I composed the semi-private invitation you saw in an earlier post. I sent invitations to 37 people in one click. I was very pleased that within the first hour, I had twelve responses accepting my invitation. Over the course of the next several days, that number grew to 18 people. A 50% response rate is good for less than 30 minutes of work. It helped give me more Linkedin connections in very quick fashion. You may get better response rates with from your uploaded contacts.
Colleagues, Company and Class Mates
Linkedin also provides you with tools to find connections from colleagues, companies where you have worked or people who attended school with you. Start again with the Green Button Add Connections on the left side of any Linkedin page. Click on Colleagues and Classmates. If you have listed specific companies in your profile or identified specific schools in your profile, Linkedin will search its data base to find matches for your companies and schools who are already on Linkedin. You will be given a list of names and you can decide whether they are people you want to invite as connections on your Linkedin program.
To be continued, your comments are welcomed…
Al Hanzal
Tags: Linkedin Networking