Have you ever seen “I’m an open networker” and wondered “what is that?” Especially after you see it 5, 10, even 20 times on LinkedIn.

So what is the big deal with open networkers? What is an open networker?

An open network on LinkedIn or any other social network is someone that is willing to accept your invitation if you send one. Yes, even if they don’t know you and or know someone you know they will accept your invitation.

Why would anyone accept all invitation?

If you accept all invitations and are an open network you want to grow your network as fast as possible. Many people really don’t understand why you should expand your network in this way and I’ve received many emails asking “why should anyone accept people in their network if they don’t know them”.

Expanding your network is not difficult and I think not the real question. The real question is “what can you do with your network once you have 7,000 in it?”

I spoke with 5 people last week that have more than 3,000 and don’t know what to do next. This is s typical problem, it is one thing to accept all invitations and expand your network and it is another to leverage them.

If you are not super marketing savvy chances are you don’t have a funnel to point your network. You don’t have a blog, or a newsletter or a way to get people from your linkedin.com network to your own private network.

What is the key? They key is value! The key is “Unselfish Promotion”. If you add value to your network you will easily get them to subscribe to your blogs or newsletters and down the line offer you a job, or buy your products or whatever you are promoting.

Some important advice, adding value does not mean telling people about your great products or letting them know about what incredible features and benefits your products carry. That’s advertising, not unselfish promotion.

You need to create value with real, usable, free information and yes, at the end feel free to plug your website, job, product or company.

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4 comments

  1. Marilyn Barnicke Belleghem
    February 12, 2009

    Thank you Jorge for this question as it’s one that I’ve wondered about. People with open networks don’t seem to care what industry their contacts are in or if there’s even any connection to the types of business. I can’t imagine how they expect to increase their business and not just be annoying. I frequently get emails inviting me to join networks of people across the world.

  2. Brian Sheridan
    February 14, 2009

    I have to concure, as well. Whenever I see someone I don’t know (but think I do) I always try to use the introduction feature on Linkedin, which I don’t think is talked about or emphasized enough. I can’t imagine how one would even sort through a network of several thousand. Thanks for the article.

  3. Kevin Keithley
    March 7, 2009

    I think Jorge just showed us why people do open networking with the comment, “Don’t go before checking out my new book on how to promote yourself in business, in family and in life “The Unselfish Guide to Self Promotion.” With that in mind, my new iPhone biz application will be out soon…I’ll show you exactly how to take those open networking situation and increase your biz… and it’s not SHOTGUN marketing!

  4. Jorge Olson
    March 7, 2009

    Hello Kevin,

    I look forward to your application. You know you hit a good point with Shotgun Marketing. Shotgun Marketing actually means highly targeted marketing together with getting in close and making sure you don’t miss. Visit http://www.ShotGunMarketing.com for details. It is a misunderstood term!

    Jorge Olson

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