LinkedIn launched and pretty cool experimental feature showing the power of the data they collect called InMaps. The above picture is what my network looks like. Here's a key:
Orange = MBA classmates
Blue = Everyone else from my MBA program (Professors, students from other years, etc)
Yellow = Family
Pink = HP colleagues
Green = Everyone else
Overall, this is a sweet visual. I guess I shouldn't be surprised to see most of my connections are from the MBA program. Where else do you get to know 50-100 people really well (church?... maybe) and who are actively interested in networking?
My activity on LinkedIn tends to ebb and wane. Most of the time I wait for people to connect with me, but every once in a while I get in the mood to connect and send out 15 invites within a couple days. I also tend to not ask for recommendations, but instead surprise people by freely giving them a recommendation.
What I need to improve upon is not just accepting those connection requests, but taking the time to follow up with a personal message asking how they're doing and offering to help in any way that I can (and giving a couple examples - write a recommendation, make an introduction, answer a question, etc.) That'll add more value to the connection by setting the precedent that this is more than a list of people I know. I do this for some connections, but I'm simply not consistent enough.
So with that, feel free to connect to me on Linkedin.
Or, make your own InMap.
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