LinkedIn: A Survivor's Guide

Over the past few days, quite a few people want to know about this thing called LinkedIn. Here's an attempt to help. These are really a bunch of my own experiences, so feel free to add your own in the comments.

(This page is also mirrored at http://lastparadox.blogspot.com/2007/01/linkedin-survivors-guide.html)
LinkedIn is a nice way to connect, simply because:

• It already has a lot of people registered (especially business & tech people, mostly in North America, but now increasingly in India too)
• These people make it a point to update their profile frequently, so you know when someone changes their contact addresses, or jobs etc.
• You get to meet a lot of new people through your existing connections

Using LinkedIn efficiently
Adding existing Connections

In order to meet new people, you need to let LinkedIn know who you know already.

So you need to add connections. You can Search for the person you wish to add, and then Click "I know..." below "Contact Directly", on the profile view.
In order to add any connection directly, you need to know the contact's email address. (This of course needn't be their login email address. LinkedIn will simply mail in to any address you give.)

The far easier way to add connections is to import your existing address book (from Outlook, gmail, yahoo etc). Go to Contacts>Other Contacts>Add More Contacts to do this.
Once your address book is imported, you can see which of your contacts are already on LinkedIn. It's a great idea to ask them all to join your network. Once they have, you can benefit from their connections.

You can also invite directly people from your alma mater (if you are part of the alumni assoc's group on LinkedIn), and classmates, to join your network.

Now, for the interesting part: making new contacts.

Making New Contacts

When you look at a profile, you see a link "Connections". Click that to see that person's friends. Find someone interesting? Click on that person's name to see his profile; and then click "Get Introduced" to get introduced through your common friend. If you have more than one person you know in common, you could choose any as an introduction.

In my experience, it helps if the person you choose knows the target very well. That way, he'll not mind introducing you.

Also, avoid asking for introductions beyond the 1st degree. That is do not look at A>B>C>D if you know A and want to know D. Lots of folks (including me) refuse such requests right away.

Also, a word of caution: The free version of LinkedIn allows at most 5 open introductions at any time. So be careful when you make such requests. Of course, you can withdraw invitations, but what could be ruder?

What next? Contacting connections, of course.

Contacting Connections

LinkedIn is different from a lot of "social networking" sites in the sense that it doesn't have a way to contact users through the Web (not really. It does, and it's called "InMail", but it ain't free, and I haven't used it).

Instead, you simply mail (email) your contact. This is quick, easy (since we're used to it), and most importantly, private.

Other Issues
Dealing with Invitations

Let's say someone sends you a request to join his network. In my opinion, you should accept it only if

• You know the person in real life
• Or, someone you know has introduced him

Keep in mind that someday, someone might ask you to introduce them to this person. Are you sure you know this guy well enough to do so? (And it's very very rude to "disconnect" later!)

Updating Profiles
The more up-to-date your profile is, the better it is. It is worthwhile to spend some time working out the headline (the description just below your name). Remember, this is the only thing that people see when you are listed as a connection on someone's profile. Would you like to connect to someone with a headline like yours? If yes, you're good.

Getting visibilty/credibilty

1. Opt for a public profile. This is indexed by Google, hence highly visible. It should, like a bikini, hide more than it reveals. Just enough to make the right kind of people want to connect.
2. Also put this profile link (like http://www.linkedin.com/in/chinmayk) on your email signature for a few days, to announce you're on LinkedIn.
3. Write, and request recommendations: these are like live ads on your friend's profiles. Warning: Use judiciously. You don't want to "recommend" all 50 of your connections!(And it's very very rude to delete them!)
4. Write blog entries like this one, with your public profile ( http://www.linkedin.com/in/chinmayk)! (I know, sad joke)

That's All Folks!

I will update this post if I think of anything else. Want to know anything specific? Drop in a comment, or mail to chinmay007 AT gMail dot com.