Life’s not all about bubble gum cards.

When I was a kid there was a craze for bubble gum cards.

Topps bubble gum – I can smell it now. It took a long time for the smell to leave the cards. In those days there weren’t rare gold cards, sparkly cards or limited editions. It was all about quantity.

When I first joined LinkedIn it seemed to be a good idea. I thought of it as Facebook for grown-ups. Handy for re-connecting with previous work colleagues and getting your profile out and about whilst job-hunting. I think that holds true now and if that’s what you want it for fine.

When we formed Clark Hearsey I started to do a lot of networking. So much so that I joined BNI which involves pretty intense networking. Meeting lots of new people and swapping bubble gum business cards.

It became something of a compulsion. I’d write the date I met the person and where on their card and the lucky ones made it into my rotadex.

I would also see if the person wanted to connect on LinkedIn. When a list of possible connections came up I would go through them, clicking away.

Over the years I have built up connections in the manner of a teenager on Facebook.

Now the LinkedIn “sell” is that people will see you’re connected to someone and ask for an introduction but does that really happen? No. Also I get fed up of strangers wanting to connect. Invariably when you do connect under the mistaken belief that they must be someone you know you just get an advertising hard sell. Linked In can be useful to give you a face to look at when you can’t remember the name of who you are looking for but that doesn’t work too well when you’ve hundreds of pictures to go through.

Three months ago I decided to have a cull. I started with recruiters and then all those people I’d met once and exchanged business cards with. I then moved onto the people I really know and have regular contact with.

Having reduced my connections I now generally say no to people wanting to connect. Or, if I think they are a legitimate contact I allow them to connect, then send them a postcard thanking for them connecting together with a set of literature.

So, if you are really looking for customers rather than a collection of virtual bubblegum cards take this challenge:

delete a connection;
invite a connection for coffee
send some information to a contact you’d like to do business with.

Let me know how it goes…

Now, the West Ham team of 1977/8…

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