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A week or so ago I asked readers to tell me how and why they used LinkedIn. The response was awesome. Here’s the original post and comments

The conversation fell out somewhat as I anticipated. Many people just didn’t seem to get much out of it. Successful users explained that it took a fair amount of consistent effort to benefit.

I wrote to an executive at LinkedIn and asked them to participate in the conversation. They responded by telling me they were pretty busy but my chances of getting to participate would improve if I used their system to get referred to one of their executives.

I can’t decide if I admire that approach or I’m irritated by it, but I’m going to play along – I need a recommendation and introduction link to the CEO of LinkedIn – Reid Hoffman – anybody in network that would like to help me get them to participate in this conversation?

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Posted by: John Jantsch on Feb 01, 07 | 1:01 pm
Category: social software | Tags:

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Rick Turoczy

Just a status update. I tried one route, but it doesn't look like it's going to pan out. It stalled.

But, I still have a couple of other ways to navigate, so I'll try those.

Just wanted to keep you in the loop.
John Jantsch

Josiane,

Thanks - this has turned into an interesting game.
Josiane Feigon

My contact there is a sharp guy, Sherman Hu. He manages the inside sales organization at LinkedIn and is very well connected. I emailed him your link.
Good luck,

Josiane
Militant Geek Custom Shirts &

<pingback>...to get senior execs at LinkedIn, the professional equivalent of a pyramid scheme, to explain what it’s good for. They responded by telling me they were pretty busy but my chances of getting to participate would improve if I used their system to ...</pingback>
ryan

I recently had my first brush-off via linkedin - I attempted to "connect" to someone in a publishing niche that is very closely aligned to my own. My thinking is: let's connect, contact, and perhaps do business.

The note declining my request, written by linkedin, states that the user "doesn't know you well enough to represent your interests when forwarding requests or facilitating contacts".

That seems silly. I don't need a representative or an introduction when I can make contact myself. If linkedin is instructing users not to accept connections from people they don't already know, it's not facilitating much is it?
Scott Allen

Heh... and here I was going to suggest introducing you to Kay! :-)
John Jantsch

Kay,

Thanks for chiming in - no worries, I wasn't that irritated or I would have posted the entire email with names and addresses - just kidding.

I see your point too, let's just see if we can get moved up in the queue with some help from my readers - in my mind this might turn into a nice little experiment.
Kay

Hi John,

The point of my "get a referral" suggestion was to:

1.) Help us prioritize the many people who ask for Reid's time. He gets hundreds of requests for interviews and we can't agree to them all. If one of his trusted connections genuinely recommends you, then it holds a lot more weight. Reid has only taken part in a handful of podcasts in the last few months. They all came via recommendations to us. (BTW, you don't have to get the referral through LinkedIn, I just thought it would be the easiest way for you to do it).

2.) We find it to be a more effective interview when the interviewer has actually used LinkedIn.

I suggested that you reach out to us this way because I am interested in your blog and wanted to see you move up in the queue. It's not a prerequisite, I was trying to be helpful. Sorry if this was not the case.

-Kay
John Jantsch

Rick,

I'm game for that - do you want to make the introduction with Konstantine?
Rick Turoczy

John,

I've got Reid pretty close in my network, but I think you'd have better luck starting the conversation with Konstantin Guericke, the original VP of Marketing and a co-founder of LinkedIn.

Downside? Checking his profile, he appears to be serving the role of "adviser" to LinkedIn, now.

Upside? He regularly participates in conversations about LinkedIn on email discussion groups and the like.
Andrew MacGill

John,

Apparently the 'too busy' answer is all too common at LinkedIn. I've tried to work with them to purchase premium LinkedIn memberships for PeerSight's members and they've employed some classic sales techniques... like the 'Templated Response' and the ever so effective 'Things are really crazy right now'.

I think the product's got some real benefit especially if you work at it but the company behind the product has been less than responsive.

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