Comments on: MarketingProfs Video: Are You LinkedIn?

By: Sean Carlos

Sean Carlos — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 16:30:31 +0000

In Europe, there is a strong need for face to face contact to occur before serious business can begin. In Milan we have solved this by creating an offline networking companion to LinkedIn. LinkedIn members in the greater Milan area can meet weekly, using a format which includes both open networking time and a member spotlight (see http://www.milanin.com for details).
Another aspect in Europe is the language barrier. Local business oriented networking sites are giving LinkedIn a run for its money – I’ve outlined the players and their countries in a look at this market last May: http://www.antezeta.com/blog/social-networking-services/

By: Matt Dickman

Matt Dickman — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 02:20:01 +0000

Mario — Great points! I’d love to see those too. I like to write notes about people I add to my address book so I can remember where I met them and any personal details.
Adam — Recruiters and HR departments are absolutely out in front on LinkedIn. Also, very interesting point on OpenSocial. Will be interesting to see where that goes.

By: Adam Cohen

Adam Cohen — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 20:49:07 +0000

I have been a LinkedIn user for close to 2 years. In the last 6 months I have seen a huge influx of people jumping into it and my network has exploded. I do keep 99% of my contacts restricted to who I know, but I’ve also seen referrals to mutual contacts take off. About a year ago I landed my new job through an initial contact of LinkedIn. I’m looking forward to seeing how this will evolve with OpenSocial.

By: Mario Vellandi

Mario Vellandi — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 19:25:45 +0000

I think it would be great to ‘tag’ contacts by what ‘you’ remember them for, not by the industry they’re in, etc. That’d be a usability enhancement.
Secondly, it’d be great to allow individuals to embed contacts and selected info, into web pages/elsewhere. I can see a small consultant have a webpage on his site for “Associates” that shows selected contacts, some info, and link to their public profile on LI.

By: Matt Dickman

Matt Dickman — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 17:33:55 +0000

TT — Thanks for the comment. I’ve seen a lot of that happening as well where people add friends they don’t know, but I think it’s up to the individuals. I, for one, treat the system like a networking event where I trade business cards and less like my personal business address book. It’s a personal decision on how you use it. Hopefully, when they open their API a little, developers will build on the platform and make it easier to engage and add value.
Elaine — Your story is one that I’m hearing more and more. Very impressive indeed.

By: Elaine Fogel

Elaine Fogel — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 15:45:06 +0000

I’ve met interesting people locally via LinkedIn. But, I was surprised recently when I scored a national client through a LinkedIn connection. Very impressive results.

By: Tangerine Toad

Tangerine Toad — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 15:33:56 +0000

I really like LinkedIn too, Matt. For all the reasons you mentioned.
It’s a great place to keep track of all the people I really don’t have any sort of social relationship with. And is invaluable when I’m called on to interview someone – I can immediately figure out who we know in common and possibly call them up to get more information.
One troubling trend: People have been attempting to use LinkedIn to network with people they’ve never met. And are pissed off when they’re invitations to Link are turned down because the other person has no idea who they are. I wrote about this last month:
http://tangerinetoad.blogspot.com/2007/10/sharks-zombies-and-werewolves.html
The “Answers” thing is sort of pointless too- very little of value in there, mostly written by random people who may or may not know what they’re talking about.
People seem to resist many of their features. They added profile pictures a while ago and I’d say maybe 20% of my contacts actually added them.