Closing by Connecting

Friday, May 23, 2008

Closing by Connecting

The word closing has multiple meanings.

If you are a business owner that is struggling to survive, you may be closing your doors.

If you are in sales, closing is usually a positive term referring to the final step in the initial sales process.

This post is about another type of closing.

It's about getting closer.

Closing the six degrees of separation to one or two.

Awhile ago I registered myself at LinkedIn.com but did nothing with it.

Then I saw a series of articles from Jill Konrath on how to use LinkedIn.

But still I waited.

About a week ago, Joe Dager, who lives here in Fort Wayne, Indiana sent me an invitation to join LinkedIn.com as one of his connections.

I thought to myself, "I really should follow through on this", and I did one evening last week.

I imported my email contacts and watched as LinkedIn.com told me which of them were all ready on.

Then at a business meeting last Thursday morning, I told about 25 people about LinkedIn.com and some of them are now on it.

So what is LinkedIn.com?

First, it is a professional social networking tool. It can help you cut down the six degrees of separation to just a couple.

Second, it is a way to reconnect with long lost friends and business acquaintances.

Third, (and this is my favorite), it is free.

Here's some of what has happened since in one week. I have 43 connections right now that I can contact with the push of a button.

Your Network of Trusted Professionals

You are at the center of your network. Your connections can introduce you to 59,500+ professionals — here’s how your network breaks down:
Your Connections Your trusted friends and colleagues	43
Two degrees away Friends of friends; each connected to one of your connections	800+
Three degrees away Reach these users through a friend and one of their friends	58,600+
Total users you can contact through an Introduction	59,500+