Guest Post By David Meerman Scott from: webinknow.com
Today I have a special guest post from David Meerman Scott. Just as a reminder to my new readers, once a week or so, I get a special guest post from individuals that are very successful in the field of online entrepreneurship, and making real money online.
I enjoy connecting with these individuals and having them hop on board as a special guest post on my blog, as I embark on my own entrepreneurial journey with success.
David Meerman Scott is marketing strategist, keynote speaker, and bestselling author of The New Rules of Marketing & PR and the new book Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead.
You can find more of David’s awesome work on webinknow.com.
I decided to request a guest post from David on the topic of the Social Network Linkedln, and why he doesn’t have a Linkedln account.
I personally don’t use LinkedIn myself, and as I read this post written by David, I found myself nodding my head to a lot of the points he describes on this excellent guest post. Linkedln to me just personally, felt very restricted and limited. The social network doesn’t really fit my personality or brand.
The Baker can easily be found on sites that to me feel more open and engaging, via my Facebook Fan Page or My Twitter, these social network platforms feel more open and more aligned with my personal brand at the moment. Enjoy the guest post below by David Meerman Scott.
Why I Am Not On LInkedn.
By: David Meerman Scott
I receive a handful of email invitations each week from people saying: “I’d like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn.”
And to each person I send a polite note saying more or less: “Sorry, but I don’t do LinkedIn. You can find me at my primary hangouts including my site and my blog and Facebook and Twitter, and you’ll see me pop up at several dozen other social networking sites from time to time.”
Some people email me back and are either surprised: “Wait! You don’t do LinkedIn?” or seem a bit offended: “Why the heck don’t you do LinkedIn? Do tell.”
Why I am not on LinkedIn
The LinkedIn site says: “Over 30 million professionals use LinkedIn to exchange information, ideas and opportunities. When you join, you create a profile that summarizes your professional accomplishments. Your profile helps you find and be found by former colleagues, clients, and partners. You can add more connections by inviting trusted contacts to join LinkedIn and connect to you.” On the LinkedIn about page, there is a laundry list of things you can do with LinkedIn, such as find potential clients, search for jobs, land deals, and get introductions.
Well, all of the things that LinkedIn says it can help me with, I am already doing with the other social networking services that I use, so I don’t need that specific help. And if people want to find me, they can Google David Meerman Scott.
I hope I’m not offending anyone when I say that I’ve found that the majority of people who email me to ask me to be a part of their LinkedIn network fall into one or more of these three categories: 1) I do not know them 2) They are salespeople or 3) They are looking for a new job.
I meet people every single day on my blog, on others’ blogs and on Twitter, and at this stage I am not looking for another way to connect. Regular readers of this blog know that I try really hard to help those who are looking for work by providing ideas for them that are more helpful than linking in to people who I know.
If you want to connect to me, just do it. If you want to know who I know, look at the people who follow me on Twitter or who comment on my blog. Or who write about my ideas on their blogs.
You can’t go to every party, so why even try?
Of course, it’s not just LinkedIn that I don’t do. I’m not on Second Life either. I tried it a few times two years ago and just didn’t like it. I don’t have a MySpace page because I’ve found that it is best for artists and musicians, not for me. There are thousands of other social media and social networking sites that I am not on such as Nexopia, Bebo, Hi5, Tagged, Xing, Skyrock, Orkut, Friendster, Orkut, Xiaonei and Cyworld.
We can’t possibly be a part of every conversation. It sort of reminds me of a terrific cocktail party with a few hundred people. You know there are tons of great conversations going on and you know that you can’t be a part of them all. What do you do at a party? Some people do the look over the shoulder of the person you’re talking to thing to always be on the lookout for a better conversation. Some flit from one person to another every few minutes all night. Some may think you’re rude when you spread yourself thin, but hey, you don’t miss as much. What I like to do at parties is have a few great conversations and be happy that I’m at a wonderful event. I know I can’t be with everyone, so I have fun with the people I’m with. What more could I want?
Chris Brogan said it well in a post called Do You Have To Touch Every Conversation. Chris says: “There are gazillions of other conversations that I’m not touching, that Seth isn’t touching, that Scoble or Kawasaki or whoever the heck you want to put in the *.person.who.should.join.the.conversation should be touching. But is that really the goal? Or is the goal to fish where your fish are, to do what you plan to do, and to do it well?”
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