Are You Connected to LinkedIn’s Most Connected?

 Are you connected to some of the most connected people 

Why Should You Care

When you do a search on LinkedIn, the number of results with viewable profiles (unless you are on a paid account) is a direct result of the number of first-level connections you have, how well connected they are, and how many people are members of groups that you also belong to. So, based on this, you should want to be connected to well-connected people. 

I am not suggesting we all become LIONs (LinkedIn Open Networkers), those people who declare they will connect with anyone on LinkedIn. As you know, I am a staunch believer in quality over quantity. Your network should consist of people you consider to be trusted professionals. What I am suggesting is that you make sure you are connected to all of the well-connected people in your market who meet your definition of “trusted professional.”  

How to Find the Most Connected People

Follow these steps to identify the people in your market who are extremely well connected:

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• Go to Advanced Search. Do this by clicking the word “Advanced” on the top right of your home screen.

• Once on the Advanced Search screen, select the zip code and the mileage radius of the location you define as your market.

• Near the top of the page, right next to the words  ”Sort By,” you will see the word “Relevance.” Click the arrow next to “Relevance” and change your selection in the drop-down menu to “Connections.” This will give you all the people on LinkedIn in your defined market, and they will be listed in the order of the most first-level connections. You cannot tell specifically how many connections these people have because once a person exceeds 500 first-level connections, LinkedIn simply lists “500+.” However, some people (usually LIONs) will identify their approximate number of connections either next to their name or in their headline. They typically do this in order to encourage other LIONs to connect with them. From this information, you will be able to surmise how many connections other people on the list may have.

• Go through this list page by page and identify people you are not connected with who meet your definition of “trusted professionals.” I would suggest you look through at least the first ten pages, which will identify the top 100 most-connected people in your market. It is your call to decide whether to dive deeper. Remember – there could be gold in them thar hills.  

• Of course, the last step is once you have found people you are not connected to but should be connected to, invite those people to join your network. I wouldn’t worry too much about the chance that they would decline your invitation because they are obviously following a strategy of adding lots and lots of connections to their networks.