I started to use a social networking service called Linkedin. It is based on the idea of six degrees of separation…that anyone that we want to meet is only 6 connected people away from us (and in the end, we all kiss Kevin Bacon the joke goes). I uploaded my 5,000 outlook contacts to the database and I was surprised that 1500 of them were already members of Linkedin. The challenge of these sites is to get the critical mass – clearly Linkedin has it!
Linkedin Indeed
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About the Author: Barry
Barry Moltz has founded and run small businesses with a great deal of success and failure for more than 25 years. He is a small business expert that helps companies get unstuck. Barry is a bestselling author, in-demand keynote speaker, and dynamic radio talk show host.
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Barry: I came upon your site this evening in a very unusual way. I went to my LinkedIn account and on it was a list of people in MY network, all with name first, then so-and-so has 1 new connection. The names were all those that are members of the Angel Capital Association (as opposed to across industries) and the coincidence was more than I could ignore. I clicked on each one: John May, Bob Savage, Eve Benton, Hall Martin, and one-by-one it indicated ALL were newly minted to you! I thought they all went to a seminar and didn’t invite me! I went to your name and looked at your profile and found the link to your website. No speaking engagements, thus I gather I wasn’t left behind in the wonderful world of angel group investing! I then thought I should see what you did this week by checking your blog. There it was: your re-entry into LinkedIn and your Outlook. I am now sending your blog to several people and hope to link to it from our web site when I get a page of “entrepreneurial friendly” blogs…
It has become a credible site without fear of turning into facebook or Myspace.
In the meantime, thanks for sharing your story about Salesforce.com and their resopnse. We have that problem all the time with Comcast and Sprint: new customers get the deal, old customers don’t, someone gives a story about why, and you just know that if you hung up and called again another rep would have a different reason. That’s not crazy customer service, that’s regular customer service! However, when we called Comcast recently they quickly and easily gave us the same deal as the new customers. Now THAT is crazy customer service! Thanks for sharing!
LHG
Managing Partner
Virginia Active Angel Network
Charlottesville | Blacksburg/Roanoke | Richmond
This is a terrific example of a tipping point – I’ve been on LinkedIn since sometime last year, in a concerted effort to NOT maintain a presence on MySpace or Facebook.
Social networking is definitely the next (and current) big thing in communication, but just how many sappy songs and screaming pink wallpaper can a person look at without going utterly mad?
I landed here on your blog by looking at one of my connection’s network, and following your name to your profile, your website, and then your blog. I’m glad I did, and I’m once again glad I’m on LinkedIn – or, as I refer to it when speaking to the uninitiated, MySpace for grownups.
And, for a punchline, I’ll say I met the commenter above yesterday at a lunch here in Richmond. We truly are all connected, n’est pas?