Can you afford to ignore LinkedIn?

This is a very interesting article I had come across... by Linda Coles who is the principal at Blue Banana, and a social media trainer, speaker and search engine optimization consultant. Though the author does focus more on New Zealand, it is applicable on a more generic note also.

"I recently had a chance meeting with Craig Rispin, the American business futurist and innovation expert, and asked him how CEOs and business leaders can benefit from becoming more familiar with the business-oriented social networking site LinkedIn.



Craig said he regularly lands $10,000 speaking engagements through LinkedIn, and that his clients tell him his 370 recommendations on the site are his main selling point.


That seems impressive, but it got me questioning whether we have the same potential in New Zealand for business leaders to create commercial outcomes through the business social networking service. After all, we don’t have the scale of other OECD countries, so are overseas contacts relevant to our circumstances?

My answer would be that ignoring LinkedIn would be a poor decision for any business person. The site’s membership grew by five million in the two months to October 2009, to a total of 52 million, with most growth coming from outside the US (50% all users are non-American). If you’re not on LinkedIn and your competitors are, you are at a disadvantage (bear in mind that executives from all Fortune 500 companies in the US are LinkedIn members).


Word-of-mouth recommendations are significantly more valuable than anything we can say for our companies through general advertising – up to five times more valuable, by researchers’ estimates.

How do we get our companies to benefit from this? Start by considering who is actually on LinkedIn in New Zealand. The top five positions for local LinkedIn members are owner, director, manager, consultant and project manager.

We can build better customer relations by:


Engaging in conversation with others in the group and helping where help is needed


Participating in discussions of shared information to show your expertise in your field


Keeping someone who needs your help top of mind


Starting a conversation with anyone in any group of which you are a member – if there is someone you would really like to talk to, find out which group they are in and make contact


Listing job vacancies for free within your group/s, and asking your network to pass on details if they know someone who may be interested in the position


Smart people will treat their LinkedIn contact list as a rolling newsletter and will utilise it to better understand and communicate with their business contacts and prospects, especially during “milestone” times when these people are celebrating something or have put out a question. In addition, you can export the list to your Twitter account and follow your contacts that way.


Basic networking principles apply online, so when you connect with someone, do all the things you would normally do when networking in person – and start by asking about their business.

A key feature of LinkedIn is the Answers resource, which all 52 million users can access to help solve any problem. I recently spoke to a New Zealand business owner who was worried about a US company infringing on the copyright of his product. He wanted to sue, but didn’t have a spare $2 million or sufficient time. He spent several weeks searching Google for a US-based lawyer who would take the case on a no-pay-until-you-win basis. With the search proving fruitless, he asked the question in the Answers section. By the end of the day, he had more than 30 responses, mainly from US-based lawyers, and narrowed it down to a shortlist. With some background checking, he chose a lawyer and in less than a week, his problem was well on the way to being solved at no cost to him.

A manager of a RESULTS.com practice recently advertised a vacancy in his status update. Another LinkedIn user saw the update and made contact, the interview process followed and the vacancy was filled – all through LinkedIn and at no cost.

How can I use LinkedIn in my industry?

Recruitment: With nearly 50% of the people on LinkedIn having indicated they are open to discussing a possible new role, why not headhunt here?


Professional services: Build your contact list by contributing to discussions and networking as part of your business day. Share your expertise in your area within groups by starting discussions, not self-promoting. You are the expert.

Banking: To add even more value to your service, create a group which your clients can use as a learning and networking forum. Give banking advice and foment other business discussions about topics such as leadership and marketing.

Creative: Showcase your work with video and PowerPoint presentations or photos.


Manufacturing: Ask questions about exporting, network within groups and showcase your product using the different applications.

Writing: Add the first chapter of your new book to a BOX application, add articles you have written, and network within other groups to build your network of contacts.

Real estate: Get recommendations to build trust within your industry and encourage your new clients and prospects to check you out on LinkedIn.

General: Stay in touch with some of the alumni groups, such as Air New Zealand and Auckland University.