Summary

The article emphasizes the importance of focusing on meaningful connections over quantity on LinkedIn for professional networking and growth.

Abstract

The article "Don’t Fall Into the LinkedIn Vanity Trap" advises professionals to prioritize the quality of their LinkedIn connections rather than the number of notifications, messages, or connection requests. It suggests that a targeted approach to networking, with a clear and beneficial headline and a relevant 'About' section, is more effective than accumulating a large number of indiscriminate connections. The author, Garry Lee, highlights that LinkedIn should be used to connect with individuals who can either help or be helped by you, or those who can introduce you to such people. He argues that engaging with the right audience through comments and likes can lead to more productive connections than simply increasing the count of one's LinkedIn network. The article concludes by encouraging readers to focus on generating actual business through LinkedIn rather than falling into the trap of valuing the platform's metrics as an end in themselves.

Opinions

The author admits to previously being caught up in the allure of a high number of notifications and connection requests, which he now views as a "vanity trap."
LinkedIn connections should be relevant to one's professional goals; random connections from unrelated fields are not indicative of success.
A LinkedIn profile should clearly communicate the value one can provide to potential connections, rather than just listing job titles or employers.
The 'About' section of a LinkedIn profile should focus on how one can assist others, not on self-praise.
It is more effective to be approached by potential connections than to reach out cold, which underscores the importance of being active and visible in one's network.
The author expresses frustration with generic sales messages that do not take into account the recipient's current role or business needs.
Building a large list of connections is seen as a vanity metric; meaningful interactions and conversations are more valuable.
Networking on LinkedIn should ultimately lead to tangible business outcomes, not just an increase in connection numbers.

Don’t Fall Into the LinkedIn Vanity Trap

Focus on the connections that actually matter

I genuinely had times when I put off checking LinkedIn for days so the numbers of notifications, messages and connection requests would be higher when did eventually look! It makes me laugh thinking about it now but it also got me thinking about how others fall into this and other LinkedIn vanity traps.

Anyone that’s used LinkedIn for any period of time will probably know the feeling. You log in and see you have 14 notifications, 3 messages and 4 connection requests since you last logged in. You give yourself an internal high five. I’m rocking this LinkedIn thing, people want to work with me and more jobs are just around the corner — maybe, but probably not.

Why? Because the numbers are meaningless. Don’t get me wrong, building up a network of good connections is important, but…

LinkedIn is definitely a place where quality is as important, if not more so, than quantity.

Let’s say you are Europe based and use LinkedIn to connect with good businesses, potentially looking to work with them as a consultant or board advisor, specialising in business growth, transformation and data governance. Getting requests to connect from an accountant in Texas, a hairdresser in Toronto and someone specialising in office space in Sydney (all happened to me in the early days) does not show you are succeeding. In fact, it might indicate you are getting things badly wrong!

Get Your Headline Right

Your profile and activity should be encouraging the right connection requests. As with any form of marketing, it's about both attracting the right customers and repelling the wrong ones! Therefore, your headline should immediately say what you do. That’s NOT your job title. It is not who you work for. It’s who you could work for. Your headline should say what you can do for someone, what benefit you bring. It should say why people should connect with you. It is fine to put off people that you couldn’t help. Don’t waste their time or yours.

Whilst we are talking about your profile, The About Section is not the place to tell the world about how great you are. It’s about explaining to people how you can help them. It’s not helping anyone to say “I’m a great salesman”, what you need to do is explain that you help people that need to drive growth and you are someone that can identify prospect needs and tailor a solution for them. One is vanity, the other is focused on delivering an output.

Who You Should Be Connecting With and How?

So who are the people you should be linking with?

Ones that you could help
People who can help you
Anyone that could connect you with 1. or 2.

Simple but true. The real trick/skill is both finding those people and trying to get them to connect with you. Why is that so important? Because you are far more likely to get a response and engage in a conversation with someone that reaches out to you, rather than approaching them directly.

When you identify someone that fits the criteria above, learn about them. Have a look at what they have been doing, the things they comment on, what others say about them. This will help you find the best way to approach them and also enables you to become known by them. By commenting on their posts or liking comments they make, people are naturally curious and will look at your profile and if you’ve picked people that fit your criteria, then they will reach out to you!

At least pretend to be interested in them

Nothing frustrates me more than someone that has spotted that I ran a marketing technology business and sending me a generic “Have you considered outsourcing your development” message, alongside a request. I don’t mean to pick solely on the outsourcing sales guys, others are bad, but currently, they do seem to be the worse example to me.

A 20-second review of my profile would show I am no longer at that business, that none of my new companies requires those services and that when I was at RedEye, I was not the decision-maker for outsourcing, that was clearly left to the CTO.

Don’t Just Connect

Another LinkedIn vanity trap is building up a large list of connections. Like it is some badge of honour.

“Yes, I’ve got over 4 million connections on LinkedIn now, I’m so popular”

Are you? How many of those connections actually know who you are? How many have you engaged in a conversation, on LinkedIn and off the site? These are far more important metrics for you to measure, not a count of connections.

I see events where the entire premise is how to get more LinkedIn connections, but at no point does it talk about what sort of connections you need. It is another vanity exercise to increase numbers. If you look through my LinkedIn connections, you can see I was definitely guilty of this in the early days, but I like to think I’m now more reserved in invitations I accept and I certainly am about who I actually invite.

The people I’ve connected with now are people I engage with, people that I’ve been able to offer advice or help to. Or they have been able to advise me or put me in touch with other good connections.

Remember, LinkedIn is about networking. Networking is about meeting and connecting with people that are useful to you and your business. The only number that you should track is the amount of business you generate as a result of using LinkedIn.

So, if I can help anyone, feel free to find me on LinkedIn but only if I fit the criteria!