Windmill Networking: Understanding, Leveraging & Maximizing LinkedIn. Neal Schaffer

essentially, they are the creators of the website. Amazon Recommendations, Wikipedia, and the plethora of blogs that exist are all examples of sites that rely on User-Generated Content. This dependence has generated new types of social networking sites such as LinkedIn and Twitter.

      What is the key difference between social media and traditional media? Within traditional media, we are told what to read; within social media, you and other users actually create the content that you read.

      If you think of social networking in terms of having a “real” network and a virtual network, you can see why there are people on LinkedIn (including myself) who have large networks filled with people whom they have never met. Don’t get me wrong—your “real” network will usually be the most dependable network; however, you would be surprised how a virtual network can supplement the real network you have built. As you have not met everyone in your virtual network, they may not always be willing to help you. Nevertheless, other Windmill Networkers and I have found there are more than enough good people in this world with a “Pay It Forward” attitude who are willing to help you.

      Understanding this virtual networking concept will help you view LinkedIn in a new light. This new perspective will allow you to maximize the benefits of using its professional network. This is what Windmill Networking is really all about. As the MySpace and Facebook generations graduate from college and start working, it is only a matter of time until this type of “loose” or virtual networking begins to dominate the professional networking world. It is no coincidence that LinkedIn recently created a special learning center for graduates, as well as a LinkedIn Group just for “’09 Grads” to help facilitate this transition.

      Note that LinkedIn and sites like it are only tools to facilitate networking in person, which is the ideal form of communication. A virtual network serves as an extension of your traditional network, giving you additional opportunities to meet people. When you can’t physically meet someone in person, reaching out online is the next best way to network across the globe. This form of online communication is key to becoming successful in 21st century professional networking. By doing so, you are geographically expanding your reach, instead of limiting yourself to a narrow group of people that you know. More specifically, using LinkedIn to begin this expansion is essential. If you are an ambitious professional, or hope to become one, there is no better place to be than LinkedIn.

      On a final note, as we embark on our LinkedIn journey, never forget about “The Personal Touch.” Whatever your LinkedIn Objective is, your chances of being successful are greatly higher if you are real and genuine. Personalize the message you send to each person based on their background, any common interests, and what your objective is in communicating with them. Show that you are interested in them. By displaying each member’s profile information in varying degrees of detail, LinkedIn gives you a myriad of opportunities to personally connect and expand your virtual network. LinkedIn fosters Windmill Networking.

      Utilizing Windmill Networking to Understand Social Networking & LinkedIn

      Below I provide a more detailed definition of what I refer to as Windmill Networking:

      Windmill Networking involves understanding the unique value of creating and utilizing a virtual network through Web 2.0 social networking sites such as, but not limited to, LinkedIn. Windmill Networkers build up a sometimes virtual Trusted Network of Advisors to contact for help when necessary, while helping others in their network with a Pay It Forward attitude. It is “Digging Your Well Before You’re Thirsty” on a scale that is only possible through social media. Windmill Networking is about being authentic, and never forgetting the importance of “The Personal Touch.” It is rooted in the belief that the more you genuinely give, the more you will receive when you really need it. By Plugging Your Windmill into the Grid, YOU determine your networking potential which far exceeds anything that a limited physical network can provide. With a clear objective, supported by time and energy, you will undoubtedly connect with, and help, others while finding those who may be of assistance to you.

      As I wrote this book, I searched for an easy way to think about social media, LinkedIn, and how you should utilize it. I wanted a methodology, with a visual, that would allow anyone to understand the value in connecting. On a warm Southern California day, it hit me—Windmill Networking.

      We, as people, are all stand-alone windmills. Our various blades represent aspects of our life, like family, work, and interests. We spin our windmills around and around each day, constantly generating enough electricity for us to get by. I will label the three blades “Career,” “Education” and “Business,” as I believe these are the three primary areas in which LinkedIn, as well as any other social networking site, can add value.

      Figure 1.1. The Blades of Our Windmills

      What happens when we plug ourselves into a grid and connect our windmills? Not only can we share our electricity with others; when we need a boost, we can also obtain fresh energy from new sources to which we connect. There is a natural advantage for us to be connected with others, as we are able to both give and receive.

      Figure 1.2. Windmills Plugging into the Windmill Networking Grid

      Life is composed of, among other things, health, family, work, friends, community, and religion, which I compare in a broader sense to our windmill blades. In order to allocate the time and energy these activities require, we need to draw energy and expertise from other windmills to keep our blades spinning. Combining this collaborative approach with our natural desire to connect is the strongest form of Windmill Networking, as we then find ourselves plugging into the grid on a daily basis.

      Traditionally, once we generate enough electricity for our own windmills, we can only then give energy to windmills that are physically connected to us on a grid—windmills that are close in proximity. More recently, we have developed the ability to travel to each other’s windmills via the Internet. Moreover, we have the ability to hear each other’s windmills on the end of a phone line. Some windmills may have moved to other locations; however, modern communication now affords us the luxury of continuing our relationship with a previously close-by physical connection. Because all of these relationships began from a relationship of physical proximity, these are examples of a traditional “physical” network.

      Power plants not only generate electricity for local customers; they also pass electricity along a grid, providing electricity to someone far away—someone who is not even within driving distance of the plant. If our local plants go over capacity or there is a breakdown in the power line, electricity can be moved through the power grid; you can then get your energy from a “virtual,” or far-away power source. Once we begin to trust and rely on the grid—those far away sources of energy, or windmills—we can start to understand the power of a virtual network.

      All windmills are connected to the power grid in some way. Think of the Internet as a type of power grid, connecting all of us through its network of servers, hubs, and routers. You can see that we are all windmills who are connected to each other, though we may not even realize it. Social media like LinkedIn makes it easy for us to “find” each other on this large grid that we share through its embedded functionality.

      While reading this book, I ask you to take a leap of faith. Leap from this old, traditional world of windmills—where connections were only made within a present or one-time local relationship—to the virtual grid of today.

      You do not have to have a close physical connection with a windmill to both give and receive its energy.

      There obviously needs to be some sort of connection; you have to know how you want to help each other generate electricity. There has to be some synergy, even if it simply means that two parties want to help each other. This is where LinkedIn steps in to help foster this process.

      LinkedIn