Is Linkedin Gaining Traction Due To The Bad Job Market?

We have had quite a few seminars in recent weeks in various parts of the state of Missouri and during these seminars I ask several different questions related to technology usage. Some of these are about local search and print media trends but many are around social media and how it relates to how people are promoting their businesses online.

I always ask for a show of hands to find out how many people in the room have Facebook accounts (always more than 60 percent, typically way more), Twitter (typically 40 to 50 percent), and then Linkedin.

As someone who thinks Linkedin is one of the most underutilized social networks for getting business done it has always been interesting to see the number of hands raised, typically less than 20 percent, sometimes close to zero.

Why is that? Because most people do not understand that social networks can be used to get business done, with most peoples first knowledge of social networking coming from stories about MySpace (My who???) or from the early days of Facebook people cannot be faulted for not understanding the importance of social media and business but it has always been a nice feeling to see that look in peoples eyes once tools (and that is what it is) like Linkedin are explained and case studies shown.

Well, I have noticed a major uptick in Linkedin accounts when I ask for the show of hands these days. The percentage of people with accounts increased in every seminar we have had over the past month or so.

Why? I think I know.

With the economy being what it is and the tough job market continuing I think people are using every avenue they can. Not Linkedin is not just for making contacts, it has been another online source for the job hunt. A great tool to use when Monster.com is just not cutting it.

With Linkedin being a social network based on trust it seems only logical that people would actually start using it for job hunting, sure people have been doing this for years but I think there are quite a few newcomers that are just now figuring out the power of using peer recommendations for finding jobs.

I am glad to see this network starting to gain traction even with those not in the corporate or tech world. That is usually the biggest hurdle for online networks like this, getting to mainstream consumers is never easy. I think it is starting to happen.

Using Linkedin To Find Customers In Your Social Network

One of the less talked about but most effective social networks is Linkedin. Unlike Facebook and Twitter, which allow for business to be done but are really not focused in any one specific area, Linkedin has one focus and that focus is to help you use your network to get business done and get access to business contacts in your network.

I find that with Linkedin I focus on only having connections that I actually know or have a pretty solid knowledge of them (fellow bloggers, well known domain investors, etc). With Twitter and Facebook the filter is not always as strong. Based on this trust factor on Linkedin though it can help get things done. Let me give you a quick case study:

In my previous career I was tasked with penetrating a new industry sector, the telecommunications sector I needed to target was a tough one to crack and the customers were known to have money but be very tied to a certain set of very niche vendors and not allow "new blood" in.

Based on this finding away in would be tough and once a contact was made having a level of trust up front would be key. When a customer typically does not like to deal with new vendors and you are telling them they need to spend several million dollars with you instead of with their typical relationships that can be  a tough sell. How do you get past that?

The first thing I did was used the Linkedin search tool and searched for a specific company I had seen do a press release lately about a network decision they had made. Based on this I knew they had capital to spend and a need for network equipment. Know your customer...

After I found some key contacts in the company on Linkedin I was able to verify which contacts of mine had a direct connection to one of the executives at the target company. I was fortunate and someone I had worked with before had left the company recently but had a direct connection to a very key person. I sent a request through this person to the targeted person. This is where trust comes in, since Linkedin is founded on the basis of trust my contact verified the message and passed along a note to the other person that I was someone they should talk too.

Now I had an in, I was able to setup a presentation with the customer which lead to a succession of meetings. Where did it lead?

Well, we found out they were actually talking to a competitor of ours and were in the process of getting ready to sign a deal. But due to the timing of the contact and the quality of our product we were able to secure the deal and after just 90 days from the first initial contact through Linkedin we had a 3 million dollar purchase order.

Now, this same type of scenario can be used to get access to new potential buyers for your domain names or websites as well. Use your network.