How to Avoiding LinkedIn Pitfalls
Of all the major social networks, it seems to me that LinkedIn has been
the freest from privacy controversies, culture clashes, scammers, and para-
sites. There are a couple of reasons for this:
• LinkedIn is clearly and consciously a business platform, so your net-
work is likely to be better defi ned, tighter, and more self-policing than
on the general social sites, where business is just part (and a very small
part) of the conversation.
• Requests for connections, though looser now than they once were,
still expect requestors to know their invitees personally and to specify
whether they know them as a colleague, business partner, fellow mem-
ber of a LinkedIn group, or friend—and LinkedIn requires you to name
the company or group specifi cally. Invitees are cautioned by LinkedIn
not to connect to people they don ’ t know.
Still, although LinkedIn is a less wild place than the mainstream social
networks, there are potential pitfalls. Here are fi ve lovely ways you can
screw up on LinkedIn:
1. Using LinkedIn to cold-call on business prospects . This is a huge
turn-off. When LinkedIn goes to the length it does to discourage con-
necting to strangers, a cold-call invite demonstrates that the person is
selfi sh, socially clueless, and just plain doesn ’ t follow directions. I
never invite anyone to my network whom I have not either met in per-
son, know through another friend, or have engaged in some back-and-
forth communication by phone or e-mail.
2. Oversharing of non-business info . It ’ s doubtful anyone on Twitter or
Facebook really cares if you just ate a tuna sandwich. It ’ s 100 percent
guaranteed no one cares about it on LinkedIn.
3. Oversharing of business or proprietary info . Especially pronounced
on LinkedIn is the risk of sharing proprietary information, tipping off
competitors about your plans or whereabouts, being caught in a lie,
leaking a sensitive press release, saying something disparaging about
clients, vendors, conferences, job applicants, etc. Imagine tweeting that
you fl ew into Pittsburgh to pitch yourself as a new vendor to a sporting
goods company. It wouldn ’ t take Dick ’ s Sporting Goods current.
vendors much to fi gure out that their account is in play—a fact that the
client company has every right and reason to keep secret until a deci-
sion is made. On LinkedIn as on any social network, you need to be
honest and straightforward. But you need also to recognize that
Linked In posts become public in a fl ash. Think twice about that post. I
can ’ t tell you how many times I was on the verge of making a post
when I took a moment and realized that it could have some negative
repercussions or broadcast the wrong image or message. It is better to
be safe than sorry.
4. Being a connection whore . LinkedIn has tried to slow individual net-
work growth to keep connections strong and meaningful, discouraging
users from asking for or accepting connections from users they don ’ t
personally know. But the unsanctioned group of mega-connectors
known as LinkedIn LIONs pretty much go their own way. Unlike Face-
book, Twitter, and other platforms, LinkedIn stops at “500+” when dis-
playing your number of connections to the general public. Nonetheless,
connection whores still make a point of bragging “over 10,500 connec-
tions” and so on, on their profi les. Big deal. Such pronouncements
betray that you ’ re after quantity, not quality. Especially on LinkedIn,
I ’ m a huge believer that a smaller, well-focused network, where the
members tend to share similar job descriptions or industry, is the best
network to build. If you can ’ t make a clear elevator pitch about the type
of folks most commonly found in your network, your network is too
big for its own good.
5. Neglecting your profi le . LinkedIn is a pretty basic platform. The
Q&A features, groups, status posts, and add-on applications like
TripIt are nice touches, but they ’ re window dressing to the main rai-
son d ’ etre of the site: the professional profi le. Your profi le is your
resume and business card, and it ’ s not just for hiring managers and
recruiters. It serves industry media, prospective customers, job appli-
cants to your fi rm—everybody in your professional world. If your
profi le is a bare-bones recital of a few of your jobs, it hasn ’ t been
updated in three years, and you ’ ve got just a paltry few connections,
it conveys the wrong message about you. Rather than describing the
active, well-regarded, and well-connected professional you, it ’ s a sad
ghost town that makes you seem rather isolated, behind the times, and
bad in the follow-through department. Better not to do LinkedIn at all
than to do it lethargically.
YOU MAY KNOW OTHER BUSINESS NETWORKS
LinkedIn is the biggest business network by far, but there are a number
of other worthwhile sites to look into, some of them with a niche focus on
entrepreneurship:
• Biznik : Online community of entrepreneurs and small businesses.
• cmypitch.com : A UK-focused business Web site for entrepreneurs to
exchange RFPs, quotes, and advice.
• Cofoundr : A global network of entrepreneurs, programmers, designers,
investors, and others involved with start-ups.
• eFactor : At just under a million members, bills itself as the world ’ s larg-
est network of entrepreneurs and investors.
• Ecademy : A business and knowledge-sharing network with the motto
“Community, Conversations, Commerce.”
• Entrepreneur Connect : The online community sponsored by Entrepre-
neur.com .
• Fast Pitch : Business network oriented somewhat toward smaller busi-
nesses with an emphasis on sales, marketing, and lead generation.
• Focus : Oriented toward Q and A, to help marketing, IT, and other pro-
fessionals make business decisions.
• PartnerUp : Small-business network with an emphasis on online forums.
• Plaxo : An in-the-cloud business address book tool that can sync with
your Outlook contacts.
• Ryze : Business networking community and classifi ed ad network with
500,000 members from 200 countries.
• Spoke : Uses spiders to build its database of 60 million businesspeople—
one of whom could be you.
• StartupNation : Social network focused on start-up businesses, funding,
and marketing.
• Xing : Global business networking and job search site with 9 million
members.
• Zoominfo : Like Spoke, Zoominfo ’ s profi les are initially built by spider-
ing the Web for articles about people.
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