19,645.
That
used to be the purchase price of a house.
It used to be someone’s annual salary.
It used to buy a luxury car.
But
I’m not talking dollars.
That
number reflects how many Linked In connections I possess as of December 22nd. I fell short of my goal to surpass 20,000 but
I recognize the number is somewhat impressive.
I like Linked In much more than Facebook but I under-use both. Just what does it mean to have so many
connections if you don’t fully exploit them?
Why
are you on Linked In in the first place? Is it because you:
- · Were told to be on it?
- · Are looking for a job change?
- · Hope to sell books from it?
The
main advantage of LI is that you can network with like-minded professionals and
get introduced to their connections.
It’s like having access to everyone’s resume and personal phone book.
It’s also good for researching people and staying in touch with former
colleagues, classmates, and clients.
But
it’s also a branding tool. You want to
rack up a high number of connections to impress others. Not to brag, but to position yourself as a
connected person who can help others. At a minimum you want to soar past the
500+ designation so when people look you up they believe you are a somebody.
I
use LI as a way to find authors and publishing professionals. I like to post on LI 6-8 times per work
day. I also enjoy posting to about four
dozen writings and publishing groups. My blog gets lots of hits as a result.
But
I can’t say things changed dramatically for me by hitting No. 19,645 vs. when I
hit 10,000 or even 5,000. I guess the quality of your connections, combined
with the total, plus how you use these connections is what makes all of the
difference in the world.
One
thing I like to do is once a year I email all of my connections. Many like that
I reach out and usually I offer a nice gift – my annual book marketing tool kit
– which you can access at the bottom of this post.
I imagine
one day I will need those connections in a big way. If I launch something huge
I’d lean on them very strategically and methodically. I would focus on about 60 contacts a day –
for a year – and I’d make it through all 20,000. I would directly ask them for specific help
and ask them to reach out to their connections in general, especially some big
ones. I would be prepared to offer them
help or something of perceived value.
You only get nothing for nothing.
It takes something to get something.
If
each contact was worth just $5 to me, that would be $100,000. Can they buy something or help sell something
to others that nets me at least $5? Make
it 50 bucks and now you are talking about a million dollars.
Go
get your social media numbers up and start thinking how you can cash-in. Otherwise you’ll get up to 20,000 connections
and still wonder how to monetize all of this influencer access.
All-New 2017 Book Marketing & PR Toolkit
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