Jamaica Gleaner How to use weak ties to form a strong network Jamaica Gleaner Popular social networks like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter are all important websites to use in building a professional presence, but a more direct benefit can be...
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Barry Deutsch
onto Leveraging LinkedIn for Success December 24, 2012 8:50 PM
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Two great ideas in this article.
First the author refers to the outstanding HBS article on networking about "weak ties". In my social media consulting and coaching for sales professionals, speakers, consultants, coaches, and personal service firms, I constantly get the question of why would I engage and connect with people I don't know.
The author on this article does a much better job articulating this point and it's stupidity than I could ever explain.
The second issue the author mentions is the idea of "swarming". How to leverage your strong and weak connections to get in front of a "target". Why do so many people insist on the worthless activity of cold-calling when your existing connections can most likely put you in front of the person you want to speak with?
Here's an example from my executive search practice: Within 24-48 hours of taking on a new search, I can identify through a few tools like LinkedIn and Jigsaw over 80% of the "target" candidates on a search. The next step is leveraging my "large" network to help me get in front of those candidates.
In my 25 year executive search career, over 99% of all my business and placements have come from referrals. It's the rare event, when I closed a piece of business based on a cold call to a CEO or executive candidate.
Barry Deutsch
Social Media Coach to Vistage and TEC Chairs
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