With Neil Godin (@neilgodin on Twitter)
What? I did it. I became a LION (a ‘LinkedIn Open Networker’) on LinkedIn. And today I want to tell you what I’ve done (and learned) so far. First, the group I joined is called ‘The True LIONs Open Networking/Open Networkers.’ You can join them by doing the following:
- Sign in to LinkedIn.
- Click on Groups and choose Groups Directory.
- Type “True Lions” in the search box.
- Sign up.
- And that’s it!
Why? As I said in a previous article, LinkedIn is all business and for that reason needs special attention as we try to answer the question, ‘Can social media work for business?’ In my case, I want to dramatically expand my LinkedIn network with the goal of attracting new subscribers to our f*r-e-e Marketing Dangerously newsletter/blog – which in turn will (presumably) lead to increased sales of my business training products and speaking engagements.
How? First, I studied the flow of incoming email messages that I immediately started to receive from True LIONs members. I noticed that most writers are just like me – they want to expand the size of their networks – quickly and dramatically. To do that they send messages like this: “Dear all, I’m trying to build up my network & would like to connect. I accept all invitations and I never IDK or SPAM.” IDK (as you probably know) means “I don’t know,” a response you get if you invite someone ‘who you don’t know’ to connect with you. The problem with IDK’s is that LinkedIn doesn’t like them, and if you get too many, your membership may be cancelled. However, inviting open networkers who state that they won’t IDK your invitation gets you around the problem.
Tipzntrix: After responding to about a dozen requests like the one above – and expanding my network by at least 20,000 in the process – I finally took the plunge and posted an invite of my own. Here’s what I wrote: “Greetings from Vancouver, Canada. I’m a speaker, writer, coach and consultant in marketing and sales. I accept all invitations and I never IDK or SPAM. ndgodin@shaw.ca. All the best! Neil Godin.
” You can do the same. Simply click “Comment” on someone’s request to connect, and post your invite message. (By the way, to connect with someone you don’t know – when you’re on LinkenIn, and on the True LIONs page – you hover your mouse over their photo, and then click on “invite to connect” when their profile appears. Then choose “other” when asked how you know the person. And then paste their email address in the window that appears. The person’s email address is usually included in their message asking you to invite them). Got it? (It took me a while).
Questions: Send them to ndgodin@shaw.ca, and I’ll do my best.
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