Target the right people first
If you want to be efficient at networking, target the right people. Set up calls with the kind of people you can help, and who can refer you to work.
That still matters. But it does not change the math.
Most calls will not go anywhere, and that is okay
No matter how good you are at it, if you network a lot, you will spend a lot of time talking to people where nothing really goes anywhere.
That is not because you are doing it wrong. Most people are not ready to buy. A lot of people do not know the people who need your help. That is part of the numbers game.
The research on weak ties is a good reason to keep having those calls anyway. In a 2022 study published in Science, researchers from LinkedIn, MIT, Stanford, and Harvard Business School analyzed randomized experiments on LinkedIn’s People You May Know feature. The experiments covered more than 20 million people over five years, a stretch in which 2 billion new connections and 600,000 new jobs were created. Moderately weak ties, measured by mutual connections, and the ties people interacted with least did the most for job mobility. The strongest ties did the least.
It can also be somewhat soul-crushing to spend that much time and not see immediate results. So it helps to change what you count as a win.
Change what counts as success
My goal on every call is to be helpful. I try to help the other person, learn something, and have a productive, friendly conversation.
LinkedIn’s own research points the same way. In a 2017 survey of 15,905 members in 17 countries, 35 percent said a casual conversation on LinkedIn Messaging had led to a new opportunity, and one quarter said they had established a new business partnership through a conversation there. Those were conversations, not pitches. That is the kind of call I am talking about.
If the goal truly is not to sell, if it is just to network and then ask for a referral, then whether they have a referral for you or turn into a client is not the measure. Those things can still happen. Even when they do not, you can still have a productive, successful call.
So look at it that way. Every call where you connect and build a real new relationship is a win. If you want more of those conversations on your calendar without doing the outreach yourself, see LinkedIn BizDev or book a networking chat.