How do you get to 500+ LinkedIn connections? (Without being a LION?)

If you're a recruiter or otherwise have an opportunity for me then the "If you’d like to connect with me..." portion below doesn't apply... just say so! (updated 10/20/09)

I was recently asked how I reached “500+” connections. Interesting question, since I'm not an "open" networker (LION = LinkedIn Open Networker).

I've been on for only a couple years (since July 2007, Discover your LinkedIn Start Date… ) but kept good track of my contacts prior.

See below on how to initially populate your LinkedIn Contacts.

Where do you find Contacts?
I worked as a consultant for a number of years, so was always working with different colleagues and customers. And for the last number of years I worked for a few divisions within a very large company so I met many people. I met quite a few people while pursuing my MBA. I’ve been involved in various online and in-person organizations.

I've been going to, on average, a couple networking events a week since I was laid off the end of January. Here's my list of SoCal networking events, updated weekly.

So, here’s a by-no-means-complete  list of where to find your Contacts:

• Fellow Employees (past & present)
• Customers & Clients
• Vendors
• Networking events & Seminars
• Any online group, social networking (like Facebook), or organization
• In person organizations (charities, religious, social, etc)
• Friends, Family & Neighbors

Who do you Connect with?
LIONS will connect with anyone, and while some have made good cases for it, it seems unless you are in general direct sales, this isn’t the best approach. For some, it seems to be nothing more than the challenge of being in the Top 50/10/whatever.

With few exceptions, each connection and I have engaged in conversation. Sometimes it’s in person, or over the phone, or even completely virtual. I feel if the person can’t recall who you are, even if you need to prompt them a bit, and put a few good words together about you or what you do, the value of the connection is questionable. In simple terms, having a “relationship” is more valuable than just a “connection”.

Honestly, perhaps the most important part is actually sending the LinkedIn request, and then following up on it a week or so later if you haven't heard back. People seem to think “the other guy” will put in the request, and then nothing happens. It’s important that you “add a personal note” to the invitation. Now, this doesn’t need to be customized specifically for each person, and it certainly doesn’t need to be longer than a sentence or two. What I do is tack something in front of the text they provide, such as:

We met the Tues 9/28 at the Pink Slip Mixer’s event in Santa Monica. I’m the IT Leader with a background in Financial Services. I'd like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn.

If it’s not as recent, or you feel they may not remember you or what you talked about, and/or you want to increase your chance that they will respond, try something like this to them specifically:

We met the Tues 9/28 at the Pink Slip Mixer’s event in Santa Monica. I’m the IT Leader with a background in Financial Services. We discussed Macs and knowing everything you can about the company you’re interviewing at. I'd like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn.

What do you do after Connecting?
Once the connection is made, I always make a note of when and where I met them, and perhaps another piece of info, on their LinkedIn page "note". This is personal to you.

Now is also the time to follow up on anything that was discussed, any takeaways, connections you’d make for them, or prompt them for any they mentioned.

How do you maintain Connections?
This is a bit trickier, but for now, here are some simply tips that works with active LinkedIn users check LinkedIn every other day or so in the following areas:

• From your Home page, look at the “Network Updates” (don’t forget the various “show more”) – comment or email them on their activity.
• Find shared Groups - engage them in conversation in the Discussions, News, or Jobs tabs
• Enable the “Blog Link” Application - engage them on their Blog/Twitter posts
• In the Events – engage with them in person at a shared event

Good luck with your LinkedIn Connections!

PS. If you’d like to connect with me, try engaging me in conversation in any of my more public venues:

• In the LinkedIn groups
• At an Event I’ve RSVP’d to on LinkedIn.
• On my Twitter
• On my Blog

How to initially populate your LinkedIn Contacts?
The first thing you’re going to want to do (after at least partially completely your profile), is import your contacts. Click on the “Add Connections” button in the left panel. Under “See Who You Already Know on LinkedIn” you can enter an email address and password, or upload a file. Currently you can add Contacts from:

• Hotmail.com
• Gmail.com
• Yahoo.com
• Aol.com
• CSV (comma-separated value) files exported from Outlook, Palm Desktop, or ACT!
• TXT (Tab-separated) files from the Palm Desktop
• VCF (vCard) files from Palm Desktop, Mac OS X Address Book, and probably others

Once the data has been processed, you’ll be presented with an “Imported Contacts” page. Click “Invite Connections” to return to the previous screen and continue to add contacts from all the sources you have.

Once complete, at the “Imported Contacts” page, look for those that have a small blue “in” box on the right. These people have LinkedIn accounts, and select those you’d like to send an invitation. You may also select those without the LinkedIn “in” logo, but they will receive an email and would then have to create a LinkedIn account. This is less likely.

Create a “personal” note as I suggested above and click “invite selected contacts”. Then repeat for the next contact group.