LinkedIn – There’s an Elephant in the Room and He’s Selling Something

You hit the nail on the head, Dave - and I was happy I wasn't holding my coffee when I read the comment about the guy with basketballs :)

It's all about providing content, and real value, and not trying to be the next door to door salesman with your foot in the door - the tortoise is going to win this race too!

Well said David and I hasten to add, don't give up. Yesterday I was accused of being a thread policeman because I told sales vultures and wolves to read the thread completely and see the needs had been satisfied. As you said, we who give freely with real advise will reap long terms benefit.

I have found what others say helpful and educational. As to the young crawling sales people, I started a thread on Exhibitor Group suggesting certified training in our industry similar to as their counterparts have. I would encourage your input and thoughts. Sanity has to start somewhere.

Hi David, I agree with you about the quality of a lot of the posts, and the dishonesty of disguising them as questions. However, I hope that you (and folks like you) don't give up on LinkedIn - I've found it to be an amazing networking tool if you're willing to put the time in to knowing who to talk to, connect with, and which groups to take note of.

I have a book coming out shortly, which I couldn't have written without LinkedIn. I got to interview some amazing people, some of whom I sought out, and some who I contacted having seen something that they posted which intrigued me. Hopefully this is a win-win for them too, since I'm including their stories.

If all the quality people give up and leave, it will be a sad day (and what will happen to the $8 billion valuation??? ;-)

David - I'm a supplier who has been selling to this industry for nearly 10 years and I'm posting Anonymous due to the subject of your post. I completely agree with you about this subject and can't tell you how often I want to read and learn something and someone replies, "Our destination can work with you on pricing" or "My company provides XYZ Services."

Back before the days of Blogs, Twitter and LinkedIn there was a listserve group called the MimList moderated by Joan Eisenstodt. We were so anxious to break into the industry and wanted so badly to tell everyone about how wonderful our services were. I remember jumping on a few opportunities to chime in hoping that someone would read my response and out of curiosity look up our company, call and hire us. I learned very quickly from not only the moderator but also other members that my behavior was unacceptable. This current activity on LinkedIn is the modern version of my plight 10 years ago.

There is a right way to sell to our industry. It takes time, money and probably a few "slow moving morning after" breakfast sessions - but it can be done. Oh...and it also helps to have a product, service or destination that is a proven value.

One thing I have learned about Event Managers is that they understand our motives as industry suppliers because so many of them not only purchase services from suppliers but they also sell their events, magazines, sponsorships, etc themselves. They have open minds if you greet them in the right places and right times.

If you want to build your business go to events, shake hands, kiss babies, whatever it takes....The event organizers are smarter than you think and your "strategically placed" comment in a forum isn't going to get their attention. They've probably already tried that themselves!