Don’t Put Crap In The App

If you’re a professional speaker, don’t be stupid like me. Don’t connect with other professional speakers on LinkedIn.

I was scratching through my LinkedIn profile and got really excited because I saw that I had 9600 connections. 

My excitement waned when I realised out of the stupid marketing mistakes I have made in the last 20 years, having so many connections, is right there in the top five of stupidity. And, believe me, I’ve done some really stupid things.

It would have been OK if they were the right connections. I.e. my ideal client. In my case, sales managers and sales directors.

It depends on which self-professed LinkedIn expert you speak to: only 15% – 5% of your first connections see your posts.

So, at 5% (which I’m more inclined to believe since my average post only gets 200 – 300 impressions) I would reach 480 connections. 

That would be great if they were all my ideal client profile: sales leaders.

But here’s what this thing looks like:

• 868 professional speakers. I love speakers, but they’re not my market. And, they do try. They like, high five, and comment on each other’s posts. Not mine so much. (´-ι_-｀) Except for the brief dopamine hit, it’s not worth it. Another speaker is never going to get me a professional speaking engagement. The ones that do, and there are two of them, I have on my phone. We call each other.
• 1 600 coaches. Seriously, what was I thinking?
• 24 plumbers and electricians. Ke?
• 7 Wellness retreats, one called Chi Chi. Oy gevalt.
• 1400 managing directors. That was looking better, until I went through a sample. Ninety percent of them are one-man/woman bands. Fooi tog, I didn’t know you could be a managing director of one person? ¯\(º_o)/¯
• 287 personal assistants.
• 2700 sales leaders ٩( θ‿θ )۶ That’s a start, or is it?*

* Many people who are on LinkedIn are not on LinkedIn. Yes, they have profiles, but they’re not active. 

So, what to do?

• I don’t know, do I look like a LinkedIn expert? I’m as confused as the next person (⊙_◎).
• You can ask a smart guy like Scott Cundill who is one of the few people I know who really knows his way around LinkedIn. The one thing that he said that stuck with me: “Don’t put crap in the app.”
• If you want to connect with other speakers, do it on Facebook. Who cares about Facebook – a place where any original thought goes to die? For most of us, our ideal customer does not reside there. 

I hope my therapist is right when she says size doesn’t count, quality and technique do. ​​

⊙﹏⊙ Well, it’s true for LinkedIn, I’m sure. Rather have a smaller 1st connection base that is full of your ideal clients, than a big one that is full of (☞^o^)☞  well professional speakers, plumbers, electricians, coaches, and ‘managing directors’.

If connections don’t serve your agenda, perhaps it might be an idea to start disconnecting from them. But, do it slowly, like maybe five a day. We don’t want LI to think you’re a bot and put you in jail.