Leveraging Your Links

Online networks are the new power lunch tables and the new golf courses for business life in the U.S. In the past 10 years, online dating has become mainstream; 40 million Americans use online dating sites. Now, businesspeople are starting to use the same family of technology to find business clients, new partners, and jobs, through virtual contacts they make online.

Bill Gates, John Kerry, and other celebrities are among the over 2 million people currently registered on LinkedIn, a popular business networking site.

84% of American Internet users have used the Internet to contact or get information from an online group -- more than have used the Internet to read news, search for health information, or to buy something.

44% of U.S. Internet users -- 53 million Americans -- have taken the first step to creating a virtual presence by "contribut[ing] their thoughts and their files to the online world through building or posting to Web sites, creating [Web journals], and sharing files." The 11 million Americans with blogs are just one example of a far broader trend.

For example, Martin Schwimmer, a high-priced lawyer, gets at least 20% of his income from his blog. Schwimmer is an independent lawyer who represents owners of some of the most famous trademarks in the world. He was formerly a partner at Fross Zelnick Lehrman & Zissu. Managing Intellectual Property magazine selected Schwimmer as one of the best trademark lawyers in the United States.

Schwimmer started his blog in May 2002. He spends approximately 30-60 minutes per day maintaining it, primarily commenting on intellectual property news. He needs to keep apprised of the news just to do his job; the marginal cost of his time in maintaining the blog is low, because he is leveraging his preparation time.

His blog has created three networks for him:

• Search engine users. For search terms like "trademark," he is typically on the first page and the highest-ranked lawyer. Clients have approached him solely as a result of his very high search engine placement, which is created largely by the blog.
• Fellow bloggers in his space. The blog keeps him in contact with other bloggers in his sector. Some referrals have come out of that.
• Certain clients, colleagues, and practitioners have become regular readers, and the blog Strengthens his bond with them and increases his perceived compentence.

In 2002, Schwimmer was an aberration. Today, professionals in any number of fields -- attorneys, doctors, entrepreneurs, management consultants, technologists -- are benefiting from creating a powerful personal presence on the Internet through blogs, social networking sites, and other tools.

Virtual relationships can help you find a job, market your product or service, close deals, recruit talent, and identify and contact strategic partners. The virtual networks you join and the way in which you participate in them will vary according to your current objectives. Whatever those objectives may be, there are 10 steps that we recommend everyone take to dramatically improve your personal network online: