Prospecting Defeats the Leverage of Networking

The real leverage of networking is that you gain access through your connections to people you might never find in your own individual efforts. Networking like advertising has the ability to give you tremendous visibility. When you network you gain access to the spheres of influence of those you are connected with.

However, if you "prospect" your connections on LinkedIn you will lose access to the spheres of influence of your own connections. When you prospect, unless you do an absolutely incredible job, get the sale, and give the customer far more than he or she expected, you close the door on your connection (now a prospect) helping you to meet and greet the people in his or her network. Few people are going to refer a "salesperson" to anyone.

Prospecting Ruins Your Reputation

If you prospect on LinkedIn you will quickly get a reputation as a "seller" instead of one who provides value to others. The latter attracts people and opportunity.

One of two things will happen if you try to prospect on LinkedIn. First, in order to protect your reputation you will need to communicate almost exclusively via the "private" channels. This method reduces your visibility substantially and thus you don't have business or opportunity coming to you - you have to go find every opportunity.

Second, if you communicate publicly you will reveal your motives as a seller and people will not engage you. You will find that it is almost impossible to not be discovered if you are directly approaching people with the idea of making them customers. By isolating yourself as a seller you will create a situation where it becomes even harder to approach others.

Two Forms of Prospecting

There are basically two forms of prospecting on LinkedIn. The first "advertising one's self" is the fastest way to destruction. By advertising I mean putting your offers for business, links to your blog or website in every question or answer you post, and asking for business publicly. Any visible self promotion other than showing your wisdom in ways that provides value to others.

The second form of prospecting is simply finding contacts in LinkedIn and then going directly after them as you would in any prospecting effort. This method basically burns the bridge of each person you contact. From that point forward the prospect is not going to engage any of your questions or assist you in any way with your objectives. The end result is that you will instead of gaining visibility with each new connection you will be reducing it.

Conclusion

It is probably true that it takes longer to use networking methods to gain business than if you prospect. However, in the long run you will get more business and opportunity from your networking than your prospecting.

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