I spent some time this week going through my modest amount of LinkedIn connections (I have 326 connections, which is good for me but minuscule when compared to some of the heavy-hitters with thousands of connections.) My re-visit was sparked by an idea. I wanted to know how well I was acquainted with my contacts on LinkedIn. I suspected there would be an equal distribution of my contacts across 3 areas – Very Familiar, Somewhat Acquainted, Don’t Know Them From Adam.
Here is how I defined the 3 areas:
Very familiar – If I saw this person in a bar, I would have no problem pulling up a seat beside them.
Somewhat Acquainted – If I sent this person an email or called them, I would expect a reply sooner, rather than later.
Don’t Know Them From Adam – I only know their name from their LinkedIn profile.
As I went through my contacts, I was surprised to learn they fell into 2 groups, rather than 3. The distribution skewed towards the ends, meaning those who I’ve barely met and those who I know well. So, rather than an even distribution, I ended up with a distribution that looks like an hourglass turned on it’s side.
In an attempt to remedy that situation, I’m trying a little experiment. I’m combing my entire list of LinkedIn contacts – currently at 326 – and spending a few minutes on each person. Then, I’m going to send 5 relevant links to items on the web that I think they might appreciate.
The idea is to reach out and try to reduce the gap between my online relationships. We’re connected digitally, but not humanly. I’m going to use an alphabetical algorithm, starting at A and ending at Zed. If a new connection comes in after I’ve already passed that letter, then I’ll come back around later and visit them.
Initially, I’m going to try and complete 5 – 10 contacts a day. That should allow me to complete this in about 1 month. To simplify things, I’m skipping the people I know very well. If I know you that well, we are probably already talking too much anyway.
I’m not sure what type of response I’ll get. Hopefully I’ll find new information and discover some interesting personalities that I missed the first time around.
If you’d like to connect:http://www.linkedin.com/in/kylecraig
