This document discusses how LinkedIn's professional network has become diluted by members focusing on connection volume over quality. It recommends strategically connecting with experts and service providers whose skills complement your own ("LOOK B4U LINK") in order to strengthen your network's value. The author maintains a robust yet selective LinkedIn presence focused on increasing their value proposition rather than popularity metrics. The advice is to examine potential connections for synergy before automatically accepting invitations.

1. LOOK B4U LINK!
Theodore Sprink
Managing Director, Integrated Growth Strategies
Is “Social Media Marketing Dilution” contributing to a diminished value and benefit of our
coveted LinkedIn site as a referral network of professional business contemporaries?
LinkedIn's professional network appears to have become significantly diluted, the victim of its
own phenomenal success.
LinkedIn members often engage in a numbers game to build a volume of oftentimes irrelevant
"connections". As a result of overwhelming volume, the value of professionally crafted articles,
comments and posts, important to industry professionals, has become subject to a "shelf life"
seemingly limited to minutes, before being buried in an avalanche of new posts that literally
overwhelm our thoughtful contribution.
Strengthen the value of your LinkedIn network by adding relevant experts and service
providers whom will ultimately serve as an extension of your skills. To do so will require
you to “LOOK B4U LINK”.

2. Each invitation to “connect” should be viewed strategically for synergy that contributes
to the breadth, depth and quality of the network of the invited party.
LinkedIn, provides access to a broad cross-section of qualified and desirable experts. It provides
for awareness of new, products, services and processes; and resources to make us more valuable
to customers, prospects and co-workers as subject matter experts.
For these reasons, I have quite consciously crafted a fairly robust presence on LinkedIn, while
purposely maintaining only a modest presence in certain other popular social media channels.
My participation in LinkedIn, as a professional networking and referral tool, was always intended
to increase my value proposition to customers, prospects and co-workers. My network represents
intellect, experience, expertise; and a source as well as destination for referrals. I have also found
it valuable, to target article submissions to Membership Groups with a direct interest in the article
subject matter.
My network serves as a complementary “extension” to my particular skillset. And, for
this I am thankful
Generally, I view the LinkedIn site of each individual I invite, and most invitations to
connect are personalized. Usually I send a personalized thank-you for an acceptance.
In some cases an invitation fails to elicit a response. Perhaps this individual is not seeking an
additional relationship with my particular skill set. I understand. And, it is ok to be selective.
It appears that the LinkedIn experience is changing, perhaps reflecting the general population’s
appetite for popularity, number of “friends” and the pursuit for “likes”, whether professionally
relevant or not.
So, my advice is for all of us to “LOOK B4U LINK”. In other words, take a look at the site
and skills of the individual extending an invitation to join your network, and examine
for synergy their membership groups, before automatically “accepting”.
LinkedIn is not the venue to run up the score of irrelevant connections, un-informed likes
or un-read articles. Examine the invitation for complementary skills, expertise,
experience and synergistic business networking opportunities before pressing the
“accept” button.
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Ted Sprink is the Chief Executive Officer of www.IntegratedGrowthStrategies.com and
can be contacted at tsprink@integrated-growth.com and 866-494-3727.