After 8 years, 6 specifics reasons for getting as many contacts as possible on LinkedIn

8 years ago, I started to be very active on social business networking. I registered on LinkedIn, Viadeo and Xing.

I then sent a huge number of invitations, using some programming techniques, gathering and guessing emails. And I got a fairly high number of contacts...

I now use Viadeo for France (6000+ 1st level contacts), LinkedIn for the world (20000+ 1st level contacts) and Xing for german speaking countries  (1000+ 1st level contacts).
Read my 2 most popular previous posts about business social networking:

• GROW YOUR NETWORK WHILE YOU DON'T NEED IT!
• HOW DOES QUANTITY BRING QUALITY?

Here are 6 specifics reasons why I feel I made the right choice: getting as many contacts as possible:

1. In 2007, Through a chain of “weak contacts(*)” on LinkedIn I was able to hire a new employee in my team.
2. In 2012, I was instrumental in getting an ex-colleague from the Bay area get hired by a famous company in Cuppertino. (I live in France and work in Switzerland).
3. Once, I received a mail from someone writing me: “I want to thank you for just having forwarded an introduction for me, and because of this simple action, I got a 200K$/year job”
4. In 2011, someone from my company HR, asked me several times to advertize some job position on LinkedIn, knowing I had a lot of contacts and it would get greater visibility.
5. I regularly forward business opportunities to business development people in my company.
6. Getting so many contacts demonstrates some persuasion ability. I got connected to 50% people through carefully crafted invitations. The 50% other part of my connections invited me.

As you can see, I did not get any personal advantage in having so many contacts. Networking is something I consider primarily as a service to others: to get a job, hire someone or simply do business together.

Here are the reasons why you should network with people such as me who have huge networks:

1. You will see more profiles.
2. You will be seen by more people.
3. I always answer positively to requests for help, even if the requester is a young student working in another part of the world.
4. If a request comes through me, it will be forwarded quickly because:
• I am accessing my networking sites daily.
• I know how to use the networking tools.
• You will probably need less networking hopping as I have access to more people.
5. I don’t do spam, because I value my huge network too much to annoy people with mass mailing.

Glossary:
A “weak contact” is someone, You have never closely interacted with in the real life.