On your profile page, under Contacts at top, click Add Connections. Go to the right box titled Enter E-mail Addresses. All you need to invite someone to join your network is his or her e-mail. That’s it. Type 1 or 100 at a time in the box. Then click Send Invitations.
Your Challenge: Where do you dig up these connections? Where do they hide? Do you need to contact Homeland Security or Dog the Bounty Hunter to track them down? Pretty much!
TRADITIONAL SOURCES
Start with what you know: your current resources. Where do you store the names of your professional colleagues, friends, associates, and livestock?
Back to ‘ole basic traditional sources:
1. Old faded business cards held together with broken rubber bands
2. Rolodex® cards
3. Print & online directories (your institution, association, conferences)
4. iPhone/PDA directories
5. Other
Tap all of these previous sources. That could be a fairly long list or a tiny one based on the season of your career and your interpersonal skills. Once you have sent out the invitations, be patient. If they’re academicians, expect a very low response rate. Don’t take it personally. Most are not familiar with LinkedIn. Just persevere.
What’s Next? Beyond your current lists of potential invitees, my next blog will suggest 13 other sources I have used to build my network. That could conceivably be my most useful blog of 2010. Just wait for the nominations to come out. You can start on those sources over the holidays and during your break. I hope you get a break.
COPYRIGHT © 2010 Ronald A. Berk, LLC
TOP 10 RULES (continued)
Here are the last 3
NETIQUETTE DO’S:
4. RESPECT COPYRIGHTS: Unscrupulous ninnies are stealing information off of every imaginable cyber-source without permission or credit. Even several of these ninnies stole one of my blogs and parts of others. Plagiarism is out of control. As academicians, you’re trained APA style-wise or, heaven forbid, in Chicago or AMA style to cite and acknowledge sources in ALL of your writing. Do the same online.
Make sure to get permissions and/or acknowledge sources when appropriate, even Wikipedia. DO NOT swipe any material—print or nonprint media. As a contributor to the Internet, you also need to protect your intellectual property. For the consequences of violations and guidelines on how to protect your work, check out my October 2009 blogs on “Copyright Infringement” and “Intellectual Property.”
5. USE APPROPRIATE SIGNATURE LINES: Do you have a signature line? If not, get one soon. They’re on sale at COSTCO®. Haha. You need to identify who you are. If you are commenting on professional issues on listservs or in group discussions, your credentials are important to colleagues so they can evaluate the weight of your contributions. Your position and expertise provide a context for your messages. For example, if you are Director of the Alligator Rehabilitation Institute at Everglades University, your suggestions on how to capture an alligator with asthma in your hot-tub are noteworthy.
Also, a signature line with title, institution, address, e-mail, phone, and fax makes it possible for colleagues to contact you easily. If you have a business Website, blog, publishing company, and/or other professional sites, you should include links to them. If the list appears too unwieldy, create different signature lines for different target readerships. (SIGNATURE ALERT: Of course, if you’re a spy, recently involved in the Espionage Exchange Program, or work for Homeland Security with a code fuchsia clearance or above, none of these contact rules apply. Stay undercover; see if we care.)
6. RESPOND TO SPECIFIC REQUESTS IN A TIMELY FASHION: If colleagues, known or unknown, or students request information from you, try to respond in a timely fashion, within 24 hours. If you don’t have time to fill the request, respond that you will get back to them by a certain date. That’s just professional courtesy. Be empathetic.
You may receive inquiries from all over the world. It may be a copyright permission, article, research evidence, teaching request, or resource request. Respond appropriately and quickly. Everyone appreciates a rapid response. Again, it’s your professional reputation on the line. "Just do it!"
My next blog will continue with 3 don’ts related to caps, flaming, and crossposting. Hope this info is helpful.
COPYRIGHT © 2010 Ronald A. Berk, LLC
