I was recently reading an article called LinkedIn – Is It Worth Being A Member? by the Job Search Ninja where he discusses ways that people can get the most out of their profile and networking opportunities. But as I was reading it, it occurred to me that the people he was referring to (the ones who complain that they don’t get anywhere by using LinkedIn) are likely going about it all wrong.

In fact, they are being lazy.

As human beings, we are always looking for short cuts and ways to get things done faster. However, some things are worth investing time in. Networking is one of those things.

I would argue that if you want to be successful when it comes to networking, you have to spend a lot of time doing it. There are no short cuts.

I think Todd (the Job Search Ninja), really hit the nail on the head in speaking about the importance of communicating with your LinkedIn network.

…this might sound pretty obvious, but it is no good just adding connections and then not communicating with your contacts. Remember, networking is about building relationships, and that requires regular communication.

This is excellent advice. You need to ensure that you have a relationship with each person in your network, not just a contact name to call on when you need a favor.

This article also has four other great tips for getting the most out of your time on LinkedIn. I suggest you take a look.

And the take away? Don’t Be Lazy On LinkedIn!

Related posts:

1. How To Ruin Your Network
2. The Layers of Social Networking
3. Networking The Old Fashioned Way
4. Gradversity Quick Tip #20: Get LinkedIn
5. Why I Don’t Like LinkedIn Recommendations