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LinkedIn: Beware the Bermuda Triangle!

by Paul Mullan on July 23rd, 2010
49 Comments



LinkedIn has revolutionised how we network for business and  job search. It has made networking more accessible to the masses. It has made networking less daunting by removing “the room full of strangers” scenario. As a result, larger numbers of businesses and jobseekers are embracing the power of networking.

I recently trawled my connections and I was shocked to find many had disappeared from my radar. I compared this mystery to a Bermuda Triangle on LinkedIn. Budding friendships, potential job opportunities and potential business lost to a mystical place. I decided to make an effort to find those lost souls and ensure other connections didn’t meet the same fate.

How to avoid the Bermuda Triangle Effect

The Flare Gun – LinkedIn allows you to communicate to your connections without direct engagement. This includes the network update section on the LinkedIn home page and network update emails. Increased activity on LinkedIn equates to more indirect communications with your network. I sometimes question the impact of indirect communications – Do people pay much attention to this? It’s a bit like shooting a flare and hoping someone will see it. Use this strategy but don’t rely on it 100%.

Send out an SOS – I firmly believe in the saying – “out of sight and out of mind”. I forget people who slip from my radar and I’m sure it’s the same for everyone. It is important to take direct action to ensure you stay on the radar. Changing status update regularly can help (If you use Twitter to update – please avoid overkill!!). For even greater impact, sift your connections and take the time to mail them via LinkedIn. Start at A and gradually work to Z. This takes more effort but is a worthwhile strategy.

Get in your Life Raft – I have stressed this point on many occasions. The most powerful and meaningful networking is in the flesh. LinkedIn supports real world networking but should not replace it. It is important to meet new connections but don’t forget about existing connections. I feel that there is a scramble to acquire impressive connection numbers and quality suffers as a result. Start meeting connections and don’t be afraid to meet connections more than once.

I think many people celebrate too soon when networking. They see the initial engagement as the victory and think job well done. This should be where the hard works starts. The secret to achieving effective results from networking is to build relationships and stay on the radar. Failure to do so could mean vanishing in the Bermuda Triangle on LinkedIn.

I would love to hear your views and comments on this topic…

NB: I would like to take this opportunity to tell my connections (especially those who did not get a LI email –YET!!) that contrary to rumours I am alive and well :-) I will be sailing my Life Raft to present at the Career Bootcamp 2 on Tuesday 17th August at National College of Ireland (9am-11am).

NB2: More advice for jobseekers – Networking, LinkedIn and much more @ Measurability Careers & Jobs Club on LinkedIn and Measurability on Facebook.



Category: HR and recruitment, Self- development

Tags: , , ,

The Author: Paul Mullan

Paul Mullan is an experienced career and outplacement professional with 14 years experience working within careers, outplacement and recruitment in the UK & Ireland. He is a former owner of Eden Recruitment and founder of career firm Measurability in 2006. Paul has delivered outplacement programmes for many leading organisations and ran graduate career workshops for leading third level institutions. He has worked with many individuals helping them define and achieve career goals through creative approaches to personal marketing and job hunting. Paul integrates traditional strategies with new Web 2.0 strategies to deliver optimum results. He is known for his up to date, creative and friendly approach to delivering career solutions. Paul is a recognised career professional regularly commenting on career related topics in the national media. He has acted as Career Doctor with Irish Independent and he is currently an online career expert with RecruitIreland. http://www.measurability.ie

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  • http://twitter.com/fredchannel Fred

    Great post Paul. regarding posting from Twitter to LinkedIn, it’s amazing how many people find great the fact that they can post one thing and send it to all platforms all the same time. That’s killing their personal branding. I guess they find it great based on the “I’m too busy and have no time for this. One shot does it all”
    People expect around 5 or 6 daily posts on Twitter, but only one or a couple of updates a day on LinkedIn, so you have have to make them count!
    It took a while for LinkedIn to implement the “Hide” option so you can hide from your updates those that kept sending meaningless updates to this professional platform. I bet many people disappeared from streams under that Bermuda Triangle without knowing it…

  • http://www.gwsmedia.com/ GWS Media

    Really useful post – thanks very much. Really liked the analogy, and the 3 steps. I totally agree that you can’t rest on your laurels, you’ve got to give people something to stay in touch about. We have included it in our weekly round-up of interesting things we’ve seen this week: http://onlinemarketing.gwsmedia.com/2010/07/gws-medias-weekly-round-up-linkedin.html

  • Anonymous

    I guess it is a bit like auto tweets on Twitter ….

    Yes the hide option works …. helps to declutter :-)

    Have a good weekend.

    P

  • Nialldevitt

    Hi Paul, great advice, point 3 is so important. Social media does not replace traditional networking it enhances & compliments it. Say hello online, make friends offline.

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  • Anonymous

    Thanks for the comments and including the post on your weekly round-up of the week. Some useful articles on your weekly summary.

    P

  • Anonymous

    Thanks Niall for the comments. “Say hello online, make friends offline” is a great way to put it.

  • http://www.cgonlinemarketing.com/ Christina Giliberti

    Hi Paul,

    Well put! Social media channels help you connect with ‘virtual’ friends, but value is usually achieved through a ‘real’ meet.
    Keeping in touch is a way that many companies ensure loyalty and repeat business. It’s easy to forget those you haven’t been in contact with for a while. Its very easy to send a message to them and remind them that you still exist.

    Fantastic post Paul!
    Tina

  • Anonymous

    Thanks Tina. Have a great week!!

    P

  • http://www.seefincoaching.com/blog Elaine Rogers

    Nice post Paul, analogies very apt I think!!! It’s sink or swim in this new changing world of ours. I find providing information is invaluable – people are so glad to learn little tips and tricks about Social Networking for their business at the “real event” . I find I am growing into a connector (connecting others together) which sometimes doubles up as a referral :)
    They feel good, I feel good, win/win. I may not gain from the experience but I truly believe what goes around, comes around.
    And it’s a good way to refresh your “existence” :-)

  • Anonymous

    Elaine

    Thanks for the comments ….

    The willingness to reach out and help others is a wonderful characteristic to have. I am a big believer that those who give (with no agenda) will get. I think it is about giving without expecting a return that makes it powerful. You are dead right – money can’t buy the feeling of genuinely helping someone out!!

    Paul “Robin Hood of Careers” Mullan :-)

  • http://www.seefincoaching.com/blog Elaine Rogers

    What a great sign off Paul, and you have inspired my next Bloggertone post – thanks :)

  • http://www.ivanwalsh.com Ivan Walsh

    Hi Fred, nnIu2019m seeing the same thing – Twitter got so polluted u2013 and work more closely a select few. This seems to get the best returns as those I work with have similar goals and (also important) weu2019re all learning from each other. nnI think when we look back at Social Media in 10 years, weu2019ll ask why did we do it like that?nnre: time everyday “building a stage” nnThatu2019s a good way of putting it. I try to position myself (this year for sure) as the u2018defaultu2019 resource on Social Media for specific topics. nnIn other words, try to collect, share, and influence others around a specific topic, e.g. Social Media Policies which I’ve just started. nnI like you’re approach of connecting to others as itu2019s something I need to work on, though maybe from a different slant, for example before product launches. nnAndu2026 the mistake I made in retrospect was to copy tactics that worked for a list bloggers. Theyu2019re in a different league. It really does take a bit of creativity to see what works and then, once youu2019ve got it, to refine the workflow.

  • http://twitter.com/Barros_Isabel Isabel Barros

    I totally agree with Fred.nI haven’t changed my Twitter strategy and I don’t care with numbers, but I’ve came to understand that people love to follow a ‘real’ person, someone that can share his/her life with a ‘human touch’ as Fred said.nWhat most annoys me in Twitter are the companies/people that are coming to Twitter with a view of using it as a direct Marketing tool. In the last few months I’ve been followed for an increasingly type of these profiles and I didn’t follow back any of these accounts (why should I ??).nI love the post and I see you understand what I meant above – quality is much more important than quantity. n

  • http://www.btbtraining.com/blog Niall Devitt

    Hi Ivan, This is another gem! Thanks as always for sharing your knowledge. My favourite thing about Twitter is that it is more real-time than the others; therefore I feel it works best as a conversation tool. Most of the work/engagement I do on Twitter happens offline in the form of DMs. I try to take the conversation from online to offline quickly so it helps me to start conversations with people I’d want to talk to. I used to use the phone to cold-call people but I now find where possible Twitter is a far more efficient and time saving tool. Here’s a post from Cindy King at Social Media Examiner that I think will compliment it. http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/8-simply-steps-to-growing-a-quality-twitter-following/

  • http://www.reverbstudios.ie/blog Leon Quinn

    Hootsuite is not a desktop application is it!?nnGood article. The interesting points for me where Searching for questions, Sponsored Tweets and Affiliate systems which I’m involved with a lot.nnNot sure I agree that you should have separate accounts for personal, business and affiliate. That’s a lot of time managing 3 accounts and might dilute things too much. I’m a sole trader so I AM my business really.nnI get work from Twitter more by reading tweets and jumping on people looking for web designers or advice, etc.. I also find using it to simply make friends, cheesy as it may sound, can be very effective. Someone referred a u20ac1k job to me before Xmas with nothing more than a bit of friendly banter between us over the previous months.nnI think getting your personality across ,communicating and being real is ESSENTIAL with any of these sites. Especially with growing numbers of idiots, spammers, hard sellers and one-way corporate accounts everywhere.

  • http://www.ivanwalsh.com Ivan Walsh

    Hi Leonnnu2026I think getting your personality across , communicating and being real is ESSENTIAL with any of these sites. Especially with growing numbers of idiots, spammers, hard sellers and one-way corporate accounts everywhere.nnItu2019s their loss if they use it like that. The returns are close to zero.nnThe way I use it is like this (not saying itu2019s right, btw). nnWhen someone comments like you did, I follow them on Twitter, and add them to a dedicated list for those I want to concentrate on. Thereu2019s about 50 people I really focus on of the 2k I follow. And I RT them, connect on Facebook and read their blogs. nnThis is my Inner Circle. nnUsing lists really keeps me sane, especially with the multiple accounts and also Google Reader as I catch them there as well. nnu2026Hootsuite is not a desktop application is it?nnNo, itu2019s a web based app. Thereu2019s no download. It’s the biz!

  • Anonymous

    Great post Ivan. I must say I can’t recall the last time I looked at my main Twitter stream. I’m filtering with those people who interact with me, so that I can establish a relationship with them. Really like your tip about adding the ? to a Twitter Search. I did it yesterday after reading your post with the term Mind Mapping and I was able to help someone pick a good web based Mind Mapping tool.

  • http://www.womanzworld.com/ Natalie Sisson

    I agree in that each time I go on Twitter now I aim to be more strategic and reserve play time for later. Great points here about building good will and value first before pitching your products.

  • http://socialease.wordpress.com/ Marie Ennis O’Connor

    Well Ivan, you really opened my eyes with this one! Great advice not just on how to sell via Twitter but also on how to leverage time spent on Twitter most effectively.

  • http://www.btbtraining.com/blog Niall Devitt

    Nice post Marie! Do you feel that the newsroom should be completely separate from the blog or can the two be incorporated together, also if anyone else has an opinion, please share.

  • http://socialease.wordpress.com/ Marie Ennis-O’Connor

    I would favour separate from the blog Niall.

  • http://socialease.wordpress.com/ Marie Ennis-O’Connor

    Great examples Fred!

  • http://www.tweakyourbiz.com Niall Devitt

    Thanks Marie, thought so :)

  • Anonymous

    Marie,nnThis is a helpful post. I was thinking of removing my page from my site because it doesn’t get very much traffic. Maybe reworking the page and adding your suggestions will make it more usable.nnThank you!

  • Anonymous

    I had 4 interviews in the press from a few years ago. I was trying to come up with the best way to utilize them. I was think about a “in the news” page. I like your idea.nnRob

  • http://www.garrendennylane.ie Lorna

    Yes, I agree and mine will be up very shortly I believe :-)

  • http://socialease.wordpress.com/ Marie Ennis-O’Connor

    Thanks for all the feedback everyone

  • http://www.ivanwalsh.com Ivan Walsh

    Hi Margaret, nnI can relate to this, especially the idea of looking for areas of mutual interest. nnFor example, collaboration is one area I’m working on right now with US clients and things have worked very well as we both have the same shared values.nnAnd I donu2019t mean u2018shared valuesu2019 in a superficial way but something that underpines how you run your business.nnRegards, nnIvann

  • Mags

    Thanks fpr your feedback Ivan and I’m pleased to hear your collaboration is working well. Collaboration is something we’d like more focus on ourselves in 2011.

  • Anonymous

    I like your style Niall and well done on the cigarettes, that’s one I still have to tackle, am hoping I’ll be able to manage it through my fitness drive….

  • http://www.cgonlinemarketing.com/ Christina Giliberti

    Hi Maragret,nnI like the fact that you mentioned ‘win win’. I’m a firm believer in balance and everybody gaining. Its the best relationship between business and business (or business and consumer). I don’t feel that every buiness is looking to give as much as they are getting. This blurs the rules of business; you lose focus on service and instead focus on self (money, power, control). Win win business is my top priority this year.nnCollarboration is a rolling topic from last year, and one I feel should stay in the limelight. Sharing ideas and views and allowing others to contribute is good business – the ‘two heads are better than one’ theory applies.nnA positive and influencial post!

  • Avhmarketer

    Hey, Nice Job.nI have Got New Information That I Did Not Know Before.nThank You So Much.nAnatoliy nSee Also: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YBlXJaWx8k

  • http://www.tweakyourbiz.com Niall Devitt

    Hi Helen, What an Inspiring story and interview with Lisa. “She has learned to talk independently as a result of using Grace App consistently and after 11 years I got to hear my daughter call me “Mummy.”” This is what’s beautiful about technology and Lisa is the type of leader, Ireland’s needs right now, great piece!

  • http://twitter.com/xcelbusiness Helen Cousins

    Hi Niall,
    All I can add is that Lisa, Grace and their family are amazing & kudos to Steve, the developer too :)
    ~Helen

  • http://www.ivanwalsh.com Ivan Walsh, Media Writer

    Hi Helen, 

    What a great story on so many levels, both on a personal level but also in business. Deciding not to go freemium was/is a great move as it highlights the value of the product. And the awards confirm this. 

    Ivan

  • http://twitter.com/xcelbusiness Helen Cousins

    Thanks Ivan, I agree. The product is worth paying for, and in-app advertising would be inappropriate for the users. Interesting also how the app turns an iPod into a travel version of the iPad for days out.
    As you say, a great story on many levels. ~ Helen

  • http://www.tweakyourbiz.com Niall Devitt

    I really like the point you make about the iPad only displaying one app at a time! Also, because this is a real world explanation of applying cloud, it will give it meaning for many. Well done, Elaine! :)   

  • http://twitter.com/graceapp lisa Maree Domican

    Thanks everyone and thanks Helen for sharing and making me feel like a proper grown-up business woman. xx

  • http://www.tweakyourbiz.com Niall Devitt

    Hi Lisa, On behalf of Bloggertone: thank you for doing the interview and congrats on your success so far.  

  • http://twitter.com/xcelbusiness Helen Cousins

    Hi Lisa – your story is so inspiring, I couldn’t be more impressed. As the X-factor judges often say, you have no idea how good you are!
    Thanks a million for doing the interview and for being so honest and engaging.
    You are indeed a business woman :)
     
    ~Helen

  • http://www.smartsolutions.ie/blog/ Elaine Rogers

    Thank you kindly Lorna.

    Hand Up!!! I also did the 20 tabs open – it never improved my productivity, they were left open as reminders, and sometimes meant I never shut down my laptop for days!!
    Change the system and tabs will feel like a distant past :)
    Of course I understand developers and SEO types need to have different browsers with multiple tabs open, but they wouldn’t rely on an iPad in that case anyway

  • http://www.smartsolutions.ie/blog/ Elaine Rogers

    Thank you Niall, it’s a matter of finding something that works effectively. It’s not for everyone, however I believe exploration and ability to evolve is critical

  • http://www.smartsolutions.ie/blog/ Elaine Rogers

    You said it Mona, thanks for sharing your experience. 
    One thing I didn’t mention is recording on the iPad while another app is running is not yet possible (as far as I know) so further development needs to be done to provide me with better functionality in recording training sessions on the iPad.

  • Chris Winning

    I completely agree – ipad is the way to go! With (free app!) remote access, I have access to everything I would have if I were sitting in the office working on my PC and I can enlarge the print in a flash! it’s a fright to be getting old!! Well done Elaine.

  • http://www.smartsolutions.ie/blog/ Elaine Rogers

    Chris,
    That is a hugely inspiring comment – thank you for sharing! I am pleased you have found a device and a system that works perfectly for you!

  • http://twitter.com/xcelbusiness Helen Cousins

    Tonight, (Thursday 27 October), Lisa Domican will be featured on “Life With Autism” at 8:30pm on RTÉ One. I’ll post a link to it here afterwards, as it will probaly be available to view online in Ireland for 3 weeks. http://www.rte.ie/tv/programmes/life_with.html  => Scroll down to Programme Three; “Life with Autism” for details.

    ~Helen

  • http://twitter.com/xcelbusiness Helen Cousins

    The programme in which Lisa and her family feature is available to view online in Ireland from RTE in until November 17.
    You can catch it here http://www.rte.ie/player/#!v=1119112
    Lisa and her faily also appeared in this Saturday’s “You.” magazine, which forms part of the Daily Mail on Saturday.
    Best of luck to Lisa :)

    ~Helen

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