Tag: linkedin

LinkedIn Groups

Linked In groups has a new policy- maximum number of groups you can join is 50. .As a relief they created a leave group button which enables many LI groupies (like myself with 184 groups) to pare down the list. This closed down a loophole by which many open networkers used to send bulk requests.

In addition to that group moderators can message individual members with more ease due to changes in the user interface. You can message people who have requested to apply for membership and you now have a block member button as well. All very convenient for moderators. There is however one feature that Continue reading “LinkedIn Groups”

The Great Connector ,Stan Relihan

Note from Ajay-

Stan Relihan is the 40th most connected person list on LinkedIn out of 25 million people.His podcast: http://connections.thepodcastnetwork.com gets more than 12,000 downloads a month and he has leveraged social networking to maximum advantage for building great assets as well as increasing his own business value. Here he shares some insights  on using social networking networks.

1) What’s the latest trend you see in community sites over the next year and next three to five years.

I see more and more emphasis on the need to focus on Business outcomes -not just idle chit-chat or frivolous questions. Social Networking sites will also need to truly embrace the Web 2.0 ethos – where what the users want is ultimately more important that what the site owner / operators think it should be.  This means more responsiveness to requests for new features and more transparency & intercommunication from management with their users. In the end, just like with Search Engines & Operating Systems, many will cease to exist – and only a few dominant players will continue.

Continue reading “The Great Connector ,Stan Relihan”

Free Software is Dying Out

When nearly everyone offers products for free (besides Microsoft) or just as downloads, for ad revenue.Linked In has been a pioneer not just in professional social networking , but in its pricing strategy. This has enable it to keep it a very loyal base, beat off lots of challengers , and command a 1 Billion valuation.

I find that sometimes people who charge you a transparent fixed fee , are better than people who sell your identity to lots of advertising companies but charge nothing. Both free pricing (with zero privacy) and expensive monopolistic /early bird premium pricing are bad pricing strategies for retaining customers . Here is much more renowned blog that argues that google analytics is much more expensive despite being free (http://www.mymotech.com/google-analytics-can-be-more-expensive-than-webtrends/)

Monetizing my Linked In network

This are the stats of my linked in network.

Now having 3219 contacts is clearly more valuable than 32 contacts. But the quality of contacts is important as well.I manage two groups on Linkedin ,Decision Stats and Creative Destruction, have got 1 job , lots of CXO level contacts , got ideas for two websites (including this one), been interviewed once for a website (www.analyticbrdige.com) and get increasing numbers of recruiter calls everyday. But how do I convert this value into a number.

So whats the true economic value of my Linked In network.

1) Lets assume each contact has a minimum value of 10 cents. This is to remove duplication and negate the effect of Linkedin Open Networkers or LIONs.

2) Lets assume each CXO level contact is worth 5 dollars.Thats about 300 CXO networkers.

3)Lets assume each recruiter is worth 1 $. Thats about 500 recruiters.

4) Going forward regional contacts – Lets put the value of a Bay Area contact at 2$ while New York Contact at 1.1 $. New York contacts are less helpful when it comes to technology.

Well, doing the maths I come to a value of 6500 USD or a utility value of around 2 $ per contact. Now compare this with Linkedin ‘s valuation which is at 1 billion for 25 million people. Thats 40 USD per unique contact.

So my calculation assumes a duplication of 40/2 =20 times atleast. Which is reasonable. This assumes of course that LI gets the same value for each contact that I do, which may or may not be true.

So whats the value of your Linkedin Network today. 🙂

Linked In Maths

Linked In maths says that out of 10.008 million professionals now connected with me (thanks to my 3023 connections), most of them  9.358951million professionals came in my network since June 28 th. Today is June 30 th. I am thus adding 4.6 million professionals /day (or there is something wrong with this 🙂 )

-I am about to join myspace.com who needs this traffic to catch up with facebook.com…..

but only if they pay me .

Virtual Networking- Linkedin as a Case Study

I am Ajay Ohri,from Delhi ,India and I have been on Linkedin for almost a year now. I got an invite from an American client of mine who became friends with me. LinkedIn seemed a great way to keep in touch. As a data mining and analytics specialist , I was part of the SAS , SPSS and R groups (technical email groups in data mining). But something was missing. Thats right..the interactive touch that Linkedin increasingly provided. I have now 2580 contacts, get atleast 8 invitations every day , have 11 recommendations from professional collegues and have best answers in 2 questions .( ok, I am bad at the questions). These are some of the things I found help me grow my network and gain a lot by devoting 15 minutes of my time to online networking everyday.

1) Put up a nice professional photo – It helps people who have stumbled on your profile with a good impression.

2) Put all the companies and schools you have been to. Complete your profile. Then use the search feature to build up initial contacts.

3)  Ask and get atleast 1 recommendation per company. That should not be hard if you are a good  worker whom people remember.People with more recommendations are trusted and get more invites.Give honest and credible recommendations yourself.

4) Answer atleast one question a day belonging to your domain. Or Atleast ask 1 question. Ask atleast 1 question a week. That helps build up your noticeability.

5) Be an open networker- If you are open to sharing your email address (which is any ways available with a lot of people) you can be an open networker and join the Open Networkers and Linked In Open Networkers (LIONs)

6) Publicise your profile using the public profile feature. Use the link as an email signature.

7) Try and learn more about your area of work by going through questions. It helps build up skills. Accept all recruiters invites. They and your enhanced skills will help you in a rainy day in a tough economy.

8) Be humourous in your profile message (eg Ajay Shrugged …or Ajay is changing the world one mega byte a time). People love to network with humourous people.

9)Be sensitive to cultural differences when answering questions. Eastern and Western cultures think differently about what is private, public and what is rude.

10) Have fun doing this. Otherwise if it becomes a chore , like mowing the grass, it will remain unattented to and you will miss out on the free benefits of Linkedin.

11) Pass on forwards to help other people get jobs or get in contact. This will establish you as a good person to stay linked in too.

12) Join as many groups and associations that you find interesting. Start from your school alumni groups, then with groups of your friends and so on.Found a group. I founded two Decision Stats for data mining and statisticians and Creative Destruction for lateral thinkers.

Linked In help me get a contract for my firm, numerous inetrviews,domain specialists for technical help, and friends , and fortunately Linkedin allowed me access to fabulous people who did that.It helped me learn a language called R , which is open source and helped me give ideas to make two websites www.iwannacrib.com and www.decisionstats.com. Above all it gave me 2580 acquaintances whom I can fall back on in tougher times. Collectively they do help make a difference.

All the best for your online social networking. If Bill Gates can be on Linked In after retirement, then why can’t you ?