In my previous post, I discussed the concept of Social Insurance. If you haven’t read that post, please do since it provides great context for this one.

Experienced LinkedIn have an expression: “The power is in the 2′s.” What this means is that the second degree connections on LinkedIn are the most valuable connections you can nurture. In fact, some even suggest that the only reason to get first degree connections is so that you get to the 2′s.

The reason why this is so, is because second degree connections are the ones that will open most of the new opportunities for us.

So, I’m thrilled to share that I recently reached my goal of having 1,000,000 second degree connections on LinkedIn.  This has made my LinkedIn network a lot more valuable for everyone in it.  I look forward to meeting some of those 2′s and turning them into 1′s.

I recently met Neil Schaffer who happens to be one of the most connected people on LinkedIn. In his view LinkedIn is a form of Social Insurance that everyone needs and you can never have enough of it. You never know when someone in your network, someone who may have never helped you out before, can provide invaluable advice or connections during a time of need.

I have found this to be true myself.  About a year ago I needed help with some of my emails not being delivered and got the solution from one of my 3rd degree connection – who later turned out to become a good friend.  Another time, one of my colleagues needed help with publishing a children’s book. Once again several people in my network who I didn’t personally know came through with flying colors.

A virtual network will never replace your real network. However it will certainly enhance it. The larger your virtual network, the greater your Social Insurance.

Click here to watch a 2-minute video on how to use and participate in the LinkedIn groups. By the way, be sure you check out my newly created group Link Power.

How busy are you?

Here are a few of Webster’s definitions of busy:
1. actively and attentively engaged in work or a pastime: busy with her work.
2. not at leisure; otherwise engaged: He couldn’t see any visitors because he was busy.
3. full of or characterized by activity: a busy life.

Today I checked in with three people I hadn’t seen for a while, and I asked how they were doing. Two out of the three responded with “I’m busy.” I then asked, “Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” Neither one of them thought it was a good thing. When I continued probing why they were so busy, they both said they were working really hard to try to get their businesses going, and that’s the reason they were so busy.

The problem here is that they were confusing Activity with Productivity.

Again, let’s see how Webster defines these two words.

Activity
1. the state or quality of being active: There was not much activity in the stock market today. He doesn’t have enough physical activity in his life.
2. a specific deed, action, function, or sphere of action: social activities.
3. a use of energy or force; an active movement or operation.

Productivity
1. having the power of producing; generative; creative: a productive effort.

As you can see, there is a quite a difference between being active and being productive. My experience is that people who are productive hardly ever complain about being busy and vice versa.

I recently launched a new program called Referrals Mean Business. In this program I’m guaranteeing that the people who participate will earn at least twice as much as they paid for the course within three months, or they’ll get their money back. I can do this because I have proven strategies that have worked for the hundreds of people to whom I have taught the principles. This program is almost sold out. What’s fascinating about the registration stats is that most of the people who are on board with the program are doing quite well in their business. Abraham Lincoln once said, “Give me six hours to chop down a tree, and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” These people recognize that investing in training always pays off.

Oh, by they way, the two people I referenced at the beginning of the article were too busy. Neither one of them would take me up on my offer to do the program. Their reason? They couldn’t afford to take the time since their entire focus was on getting their business going! How ironic. The people who need the Referrals Mean Business the most are the least likely to engage and attend.

So, when you find yourself thinking or saying how busy you are, stop and focus instead on what activity will yield you the greatest productivity and results. Here’s a great question for you: What’s the best use of my time RIGHT NOW, so that I can be productive?

One of the questions I get asked  a lot is: What should I post on my LinkedIn status?  My response is that EVERY post should accomplish one or more of the following:

1. Add value to your network
2. Build your visibility in your particular field
3. Increase your credibility

The responses you get will tell you whether you are doing this or not.

The following is a great example of merging the power of online and offline networking to create incredible synergy. Sheila is one of my students who purchased the LinkedIn Power system. She sent the message to the people in her LinkedIn network. She is also a BNI member – the worlds largest face-to-face networking organization.  She is giving a lot of value to the people in her networks. What do you think this is doing for her? At the very least she is gaining visibility – I’m writing about her here, aren’t I? However she is also getting credibility as someone who is caring, supportive and helpful.  Are these the type of qualities you would like to have in a travel agent?

Notice how she promotes herself and what she does very subtly. The spotlight is on others not her. This is the difference between advertising and product placement. One screams and interrupts. The other one is subtle and part of the context.

LinkedIn

Sheila Cannon has sent you a message.

Date: 7/30/2010

Subject: Connection Highlights – How can I help you?

Hi! How is your summer going? I hope you’re managing to stay cool. I’ve noticed that the leaves are starting to fall already, so perhaps we’ll have an early winter.

This summer I took a trip to Italy and an MSC Mediterranean cruise with my family. We had a great time. Rome was just amazing, with ruins right next to new buildings all over the city. The highlights of the cruise for me were Tunisia (totally different culture) and Pompeii.

Once again, I would like to highlight selected people in my network that I know personally can offer real value, helping you to offer a new benefit to those people in your network.

If you are looking for something specific yourself, please let me know. Conversely, if you would like to get the word out about a product or service that you offer, I would love to hear more about it.

I am proud to say that I know personally that these associates can help make the lives better of those that you like, know and trust. Please take a look at the recommendations below to see if you know someone who could use this service. If you do, kindly introduce us. If this is something you would rather not participate in, please let me know and I won’t send these highlights to you.

1. A friend of mine recently had his last several tax returns reviewed by my CPA. He did the happy dance in the elevator after meeting with her, because he was going to be getting $57,000 back from the IRS, which was 1/3 of his annual income! If you have a friend who would like their taxes reviewed to see if they are owed money, let me know and I’ll put them in touch with her.

2. Who do you know that has a new teen driver in the family? They may want an insurance company that helps inexperienced drivers develop safe driving habits through their safety education program for those with less than nine years of driving experience. Jean at State Farm in Redlands and her staff of great ladies give speedy, personalized service and will make them feel like valued customers. She’s got a great program that includes a premium discount for qualifying drivers. She also offers a Good Student Discount for students who get a 3.0 or higher. Keep your teens from harm and call Jean at State Farm for a quote. 909-798-5318. Tell her Sheila, the travel genie, sent you!

3. Do you know someone who is having trouble finding a dentist who will take his insurance? I’d like to tell you about Raymond whose insurance coverage changed and his dentist did not take his Aetna PPO plan. He put off going to the dentist for three years and got gum disease. He finally found this great dentist (a father and daughter team) who takes Aetna PPO insurance (and many others). He’s now getting his gum disease under control with their help, by going in every four months for a cleaning. If you have a contact looking for a great dentist who takes their insurance, contact me and I’ll put them in touch with this dentist.

4. Do you know any Beatles fans out there? You can let them know about a free festival called Tribute to the Beatles at the historic Santa Monica Pier, August 26, 27 & 28, 2010. They can find out more about it by visiting www.tpclive.com. Also, my agency, Connection to Cruise, is presenting three different “Tribute To The Beatles” cruises, featuring The #1 Beatles tribute band, Abbey Road! Please have them contact me at 818-385-7092 or Sheila@ConnectionToCruise.com for more details.

All my best,

Sheila 
Travel Genie 
Connection to Cruise

The value of LinkedIn is primarily in building and leveraging relationships. One of the challenges that people face is how to take the initial contact with a stranger and turn it into a meaningful relationship. Furthermore, how to do this in a systematic, time-effective way?

The way I do it is by sending a message to my new contacts offering them the gift of inspiration through a program called QuoteActions. It is very effective, fast and scalable. Below is a response I just got from a recent LinkedIn contact.  In addition to already have made a very positive first impression with Mark, he will now be receiving something from me every week (that he requested and opted in) which will continue to further my relationship with him. Best of all, this whole thing took less than 1 minute to set in motion. Very powerful indeed

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The key to being successful with Social Networking is building relationships. Malcolm Gladwell in his book The Tipping Point talks about how small actions done over time will add up to a moment when things explode.

This same principle applies to building relationships.  Making new connections on sites such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn is very easy. Turning those connections into relationships takes some work.

The good news is that you can use technology to help you turn contacts into relationships. Remembering and recognizing someone on their birthday is a very powerful tool.

Yesterday I sent one of my casual contacts an electronic birthday card – I was notified that they had a birthday through Plaxo. The action took me less than 30 seconds to complete.

I just received a message from her telling me how I made their day! Who would have thought that this would be the case? I now have a much stronger connection with her thanks to a small action on my part.

Making someone’s day and delighting them is a great way to build relationships. The more we do this the more we are building our relationship capital (RC.)  RC is a form of currency that will yield fabulous results.

How do you build your RC?

Great news. You are now able to reorder the various sections on your LinkedIn profile to have the information displayed in the order that you would prefer. For example, I have a video embedded in my LinkedIn profile (click here to learn how to do this) and it used to be way at the bottom and many people missed it. I have now been able to move it right up to the top and now more people can see it.

Click here to watch a short video on how to reorder the sections on your LinkedIn profile