LinkedIn "ho"

My friend Steph calls anyone with hundreds of LinkedIn connections a "LinkedIn ho".

I guess that makes me a "ho". I pretty much accept invites from anyone.

Once upon a LinkedIn time ago, I tried limiting my accepts to people I knew or worked in a related industry.

I also had a requirement which stated anyone in my network had to have all of their contacts viewable by others in their network.

Finally, I requested that anyone in my network had to return a short introductory email.

Alas, all of those prerequisites went out the window.

Why? I wanted to reach 500 status as soon as possible. That had to be the a good reason.

Why else? I kept getting interesting emails from strangers wanting to talk to me about my industry, jobs, writing offers, etc. Getting that type of correspondence is quite flattering and addictive. You want more so you the network is increased.

The final straw was when a respected co-worker remarked, "Ask Jack about LinkedIn, he's an expert and knows all about it".

That kicked it. I had to have the largest network and the most friends out there.

Seriously though, a large network is useful. I have benefited from it and have never regretted the number of contacts I have on LinkedIn.