They sometimes say that in the business world “your
network is your net worth.” There’s a lot of truth in that idea and it’s
been that way since, well, probably since commerce was invented centuries
ago. What is different now is how we network and the countless ways that we
connect. Technology has changed everything: access to your network isn’t a
stack of business cards or in a rolodex. (Remember them?) It’s on line.
Connecting with the right people is a business imperative for every
professional but for those of us in the diversity business community it’s
especially so. Companies are always interested in promoting their Supplier
Diversity Programs and finding qualified MBEs to work with, and MBE owners
are always trying to raise their profile and find opportunities to serve new
clients. Social media has expanded the choices for how we network. It’s made
it both easier, and occasionally more difficult, to connect with people.
LinkedIn has quickly become the go to online resource for business
networking, giving us access to people at our fingertips and the possibility
of an introduction or connection with someone we want to know. Its growth is
phenomenal and its potential power is impressive but how do you tap into it?
How do you make quality connections and begin to develop trusted business
relationships? How do you promote yourself and your program in a way that
increases your visibility and helps you develop new diversity supplier
relationships? It starts very simply with how you decide who to connect
with; who you send invitations to and who you will hit the accept button on.
The Pitfalls
Let’s talk about the bad stuff first. All those requests to connect! Do I
know this person? From a conference or was it school or did I used to work
with them? Are they just going to immediately bombard me with requests to
start using their product or services? (People, this is a LinkedIn NO, NO!
Build a relationship before you ever consider a business request.) Oh, it’s
an industry colleague or an MBE in our area, maybe they could be useful for
me to get to know. Maybe I should accept. How can I tell?
Seriously though, this is what goes through our minds when we see those
requests. Yes, there are the negatives but there’s also that recognition of
the potential. Luckily there are those that we recognize immediately.
However, I am sure many of you have also received that
disconnected-connection request for you to accept, the one which includes no
message, no introduction, no information on how or if you know them or why
you should connect. There are the times you connect with someone only to
find irrelevant information sent to you. There are also the instances where
someone endorses you without really knowing you, or worse, asks you to
endorse them. (People, this is another LinkedIn NO, NO! Only endorse those
you really know well and for skills you can judge. I know that’s the kind of
endorsement I want!)
All this kind of stuff makes us want to purge our connections now and then
and perhaps never hit accept again!
Why Do I Want to Connect With People I Don’t Know
So who do we want to connect with and whose invitations should we accept?
There are those who are very selective and mainly connect only with their
immediate colleagues and people they know well and there are those who
connect with everyone and anyone. In my role, and I’ll bet in yours as a
corporate professional, neither of those is the best option. You want to
take advantage of LinkedIn to network with people you don’t know precisely
so you can get to know them better and potentially discover a great new MBE
supplier. You can also learn from your contacts, sharing and receiving
valuable advice and knowledge. A very select contact list isn’t the answer,
but you also don’t want to be overwhelmed and connected to hundreds of
people who have little to do with your business and are unlikely to ever be
hired by your company.
If you don’t personally know the person, ask yourself some questions.
1. Are you in the same industry, business or have other commonalities?
2. Can you improve your understanding of your business through them?
3. Can you learn from them?
4. Is their company a supplier of something you need and buy often?
5. Might you recommend them to someone else in the future?
These are all good reasons to connect with someone you don’t know but you
still want to be discriminating in doing so. You don’t want the possible
pitfalls to prevent you from connecting with those who may be valuable to
know. How do you determine who is worth connecting with?
How to Evaluate a Potential Connection
First, you can use that initial invitation as a point of screening. If it’s
generic, that’s your first clue that this person may not be the professional
that you want to connect with. By all means bypass the generic invitation to
connect from strangers or those you barely know. If the invitation contains
a proper message, that’s a great first indicator. Hopefully they’ve included
something that indicates a good reason to connect.
The invitation messages have to be brief though, so you can only learn so
much from that. No matter how forthcoming the writer wants to be. There are
other clues that will let you know whether this is a person who may be an
influential connection and committed to developing a mutually beneficial
relationship. Reading their profile carefully is the first step in
evaluating a request to connect. First, is their profile complete? An
incomplete or sparse profile tells a certain story. Also ask yourself these
questions as you review it:
1. Is their profile picture professional and business friendly? (Selfies are
a NO NO!)
2. What are their skills and experience?
3. Who are they connected to?
4. Do they seem to be selective of who they connect with?
5. Are any of their connections professionals in your industry?
6. What are they endorsed for and by what type of professionals?
7. What professional groups are they a part of?
8. What groups on LinkedIn do they belong to?
9. Any of the same ones you do?
10. What type of community outreach are they involved
in?
The answers will help you to determine if you have enough commonalities to
make it worthwhile to connect. Remember, this advice is primarily for
evaluating people that you don’t know well or at all. Obviously if you know
someone, that alone is a reason to accept regardless of meeting any of these
criteria. But if you don’t know someone, the primary reason to connect with
them is the possibility of mutually benefitting in a business related way.
If they aren’t in the same business or industry as you are there is probably
not a good reason to connect. Be selective but be informed.
I think that appropriately sharing information with your contacts and
professional groups that you belong to is a good thing, a LinkedIn best
practice. Learning from industry colleagues is one of the benefits of being
on LinkedIn. Ask yourself these questions, both before you accept a request
and as a way to evaluate your contacts if you periodically review and cull
your contact list:
1. Does this person share good information on their company?
2. Does this person share educational business or industry content?
3. What types of events are they attending? Are they sharing the event
opportunities with their community?
4. Are they following your business? Are they making an effort to educate
themselves on your company culture and involvement?
5. Are they providing feedback on your posts if you ask for input? Are they
providing meaningful answers? Are they sharing your posts to assist you in
getting answers if that would be appropriate?
These are all great ways to evaluate whether someone is seriously committed
to developing a “virtual” relationship and wants to understand your business
and possibly move that relationship forward, or if they are simply on
LinkedIn because everyone else is and want to connect for the sake of it or
to try and make a quick sale. We’re an MBE staffing firm specializing in
placing technical professionals, so we know what it’s like to get many
requests from people we don’t really know. Anytime you connect with someone,
it is a reflection of you and your company. No one wants to needlessly risk
their reputation nor do we want to waste time with unproductive
relationships. It just makes sense to carefully evaluate people to ensure
that you are getting the most out of LinkedIn and using your professional
network to the utmost advantage.
One of the great benefits to LinkedIn is that you can expand your network
without going to a conference or cocktail reception. You can meet other
diversity professionals, MBE owners and entrepreneurs, and industry leaders
who can help you regardless of where they live and work. It’s really amazing
when you think about. It shouldn’t be the only way that you meet people and
build your network but it should have an important place in your repertoire.
So, resist the urge to immediately decline those pesky requests, or to see
them as pesky at all; evaluate them first. The gems you find will be worth
your while! I hope that this information is of value and helps you to better
assess your next request to connect. Please share your LinkedIn tips and
what you value about your network with me!
Contact:
Angelique Solorio |
ATR International Inc. |
408-328-8085 | website:
www.atrinternational.com/ |
angeliques@atr1.com |
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