How Many LinkedIn Connections Should You Have?
June 10, 2013 |Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
This question is the LinkedIn equivalent of talking about religion or politics. Discussions on the topic can get pretty heated, pretty quickly. Let’s look at the arguments for and against having a big network of connections or a small one.
A small number is manageable.
This is true, but it also depends on how you define “manageable.” Most people with smaller networks value the idea that they know their connections pretty well, and interact with them on LinkedIn on a regular basis.
But a large number increases your reach.
This is also true, particularly for people in sales and human resources, and the traditional occupations where networking and knowing many people is a plus, such as insurance, real estate, and financial advice. When a person having a larger number of connections uses LinkedIn’s search capability, their larger network will yield more results, because search results are primarily based on your first, second, and third degree connections. More direct connections means more second degree and even more third degree connections. It’s in these people’s interests to have a big network to increase their reach.
If you connect to those you don’t know that well, you may get “connectors remorse.”
This is an argument I am always surprised at hearing. What if you connect to someone you don’t know that well, and they start spamming you? Or, even worse, spamming your connections? Well, the answer is pretty simple: Disconnect from them. I am continually surprised at the number of people that don’t realize you can disconnect from any connection you feel you have made by mistake.
LinkedIn says you should only connect with people you know well.
I think LinkedIn says this for a couple of (good) reasons, but they don’t exactly practice what they preach. Let me explain: The first reason is to reassure higher-level executives using LinkedIn that they will not be swamped by people trying to connect with them. The second is to make people stop and think before they blindly invite someone to connect with them. Does LinkedIn really believe you should only connect with people you know well? Of course not. To start, LinkedIn allows the existence of the LinkedIn Open Networker (LION) crowd. These are people who will accept any invitation to connect with any other LinkedIn member. That hardly constitutes people they know well. The other reason is that LinkedIn has a hard cap on how many connections you can have. It’s 30,000! Think of a good-sized sports stadium. How could anybody know everybody in that stadium “well?”
How many connections is the right number?
Your goals with respect to LinkedIn should guide you in how big a circle of connections you want. If you are an engineer with specific professional interests, a circle in the dozens may be just right for you. But if you are in sales, or a profession that traditionally lends itself to networking, the right size for your network will always be “a little larger than it is now.”
When someone says, “Here’s the number of connections you should have,” they are applying their standards to your situation. Let your goals in how and why you are using LinkedIn be your guide.
There is no right number, but there is a right number for you.Bruce Johnston is a sales consultant specializing in social media and especially LinkedIn. He has over 25 years experience in high tech sales and management. He can be reached at brucej@practicalsmm.com or through his profile on LinkedIn.