November 5, 2008

LinkedIn Experiement: 2 week update

So it's been roughly two weeks since I began my LinkedIn Experiment. Not really scientific but the point is to prove the power of LinkedIn. I had 317 contacts at the time when this journey first began. My contact now has now grown to 735 at last count, yes 735. My network is now over 9 millon linking me to recruiters, professionals, job seekers, and everyone in between. All for FREE!!

To recap, first I joined a group called Toplinked and used their new contact list to send invites to over 100 people. About 4-5 days later, someone in my network sent me a message recommending I join another open network group called All Invites Accepted. This group sends out a monthly member list using a csv file and this is where my network really took off. In just one day, my contacts grew by over 150. The awesome thing about this group is that they send a new member list monthly allowing for you to continue to grow your network by 150-200 contacts each month. Amazing!

A couple things:
  • My blog traffic to this site (Bloggingforjobs) increased as a result of LinkedIn. I'm noticing on average 5-7 more visitors a day who link to my site as a result of LinkedIn.
  • Direct messages and requests to be linked have increased to 1-2 per day. Either someone has read my blog, met someone at the place of business where I work, or is interested in reaching out.
  • My profile views have increased to 25 per day increasing the probability of someone reaching out to me. And I've noticed that my profile views are not limited to one geographic area. Just yesterday, I had someone from Italy view my profile.

As you can see I'm not only increasing my online visibility but developing my personal brand as well. And once again, it was completely free except for about 20 minutes of my time each day to down the member lists and answer any invitation requests or messages. I highly recommend this method for anyone who is looking at increasing their online presence or those in the job hunt.