Reid Hoffman explains how LinkedIn grew in its early days and what ultimately made the difference: Inviting your warm network! 📇 (I think this is a rolodex emoji 😅)
Maintaining relationships with your warm network is LinkedIn’s DNA!
LinkedIn’s initial growth
LinkedIn’s very first growth was quite simple: the team sent out invitations, which resulted in 2,000 new users per week. The real game-changer came with the introduction of the ability to upload address books, allowing users to see which of their contacts were already on LinkedIn. If you had a contact who wasn’t on LinkedIn yet, you could invite them!
This innovation greatly increased engagement and shifted their growth curve, turning LinkedIn into what it is today. Without this feature, the platform would never have existed…
So, what does this mean?
On LinkedIn, it’s all about maintaining your current warm relationships. Your warm network is ultimately where new business growth comes from. So, should you stop inviting new people? Not at all! Of course, you want your warm network to grow, so meeting new people is absolutely essential.
The key is to spend a lot of time maintaining your current network. 80% of your time should be spent following up, nurturing, and maintaining your existing relationships. 20% of your time can then be spent growing your network so that your warm network keeps expanding. After all, your network might dry up, and you certainly don’t know everyone in your field yet, so keep growing, always and continuously. Plus, you have a limited number of invites per week, so it’s best to use them before you miss out on opportunities. BUT, the focus is on nurturing and maintaining your existing relationships. That’s where the success lies!
How do you keep your network warm?
On LinkedIn, there are two ongoing actions:
- Be the expert, the thought leader, the go-to person, and stay top of mind by regularly posting knowledge (NOT propositions!).
- In parallel, stay in touch with your contacts via LinkedIn chats, WhatsApp, email, etc. In short, keep a great CRM!
And then, be consistent 📆
The 80/20 rule
To stick with the 80/20 rule 😉 80% of your new business comes from your current warm network! So, you’d better put a lot of energy into it.
Isn’t it wonderful that LinkedIn was built in exactly that way? 😍
