When networking on the site LinkedIn, you want to make sure you target the right people to connect with. While I believe you should be some sort of open networker, you 
don’t need to have an enormous list of connections if you target the right people. A network of 500 highly targeted connections is far more valuable than a network of 5,000 random people.
So how do you target people to connect with? First, of course you want to connect with people who are your ideal client. For example, if you’re ideal client is a Bed & Breakfast owner, then of course you want to connect with B&B owners.
However, you don’t want to stop there. You need to create a profile of your average B&B owner: their age marital status, children, hobbies. Then you need to create a list of people who would also work with them. These B&B owners probably have insurance agents, a handyman, connections with tourism bureaus and other professional connections. You want to be looking to connect with the people who also serve these B&B owners.
Then you’ll want to look at the B&B owners’ personal lives. What clubs do they belong to? What hobbies do they have? Do they visit a chiropractor or a spa? Do they belong to a gym? Then you want to connect with people who will associate with them in their personal lives.
To harness the power of LinkedIn, you don’t have to always be directly connected to your ideal client. By connecting with people who also serve your ideal client, you broaden your reach and may have a more powerful network. After all, if you develop a relationship with the owner of the spa the B&B owner frequents, the spa owner may decide to recommend you to their client. And a recommendation is always more powerful than a direct sales pitch.
So take a moment and figure out who also does business with your ideal client, then work to connect with those people as well, to create a powerful LinkedIn network.
Andrea J. Stenberg
