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LinkedIn: Playing the Ego Game by Zeke A. Iddon
Many people wonder exactly how to use LinkedIn. photo courtesy: NY Film Academy
LinkedIn is a funny old beast despite being only ten years old. On the one hand, it’s a social networking site like no other, and as far as professional networking services go, nothing else has even come close to its global dominance.
On the other hand, however, it’s one of the most misunderstood networking tools active on the net. I’d say the amount of people who don’t fully understand what LinkedIn is actually for are the majority—you’ll know what I mean if you’ve ever had a school friend who doesn’t even work in the media industry make a connection with you.
For the purposes of today’s lesson, I’m going to assume you are in the camp who is aware that it’s used to build a business network and how to use it, but just aren’t quite sure about how to take your LinkedIn marketing efforts to the next level.
In filmmaking, the old adage “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know” isn’t totally accurate but it certainly doesn’t hurt to have some good connections further up the ladder. Question is, how best to make friends?
Why LinkedIn is a Superior Contact Platform
LinkedIn is surprisingly good for contacting industry professionals, mainly because other platforms (Facebook, Twitter, et al) get swamped with fan interaction, so any attempt at personal contact is likely to go amiss. As such, LinkedIn is a good tool for them to manage business inquiries since the channel has a lot less ‘static’.
Six degree of separation has become patently 20th Century. illo courtesy: NY Film Academy
Let’s say you’re a scriptwriter fresh out of the New York Film Academy, just for example. Screenwriting school has given you the writing chops you need to get ahead in the industry, but what you need is to catch the attention of those who are more experienced.
Reaching out to people via LinkedIn is a great way to grow your network, but there’s a right way and a wrong way to increase your chances of a reply via LinkedIn. This is what I like to call ‘the ego game’.
We’ll take Danny Boyle as our hypothetical target—for the record, we’re not suggesting if you follow this advice you’ll end up having dinner with him. That would be a bit of a lofty goal, but it will serve as an example:
The Wrong Approach
Dear Mr. Boyle,
I’m a big fan of your work and as a sci-fi writer I particularly enjoyed 'Sunshine'. Your use of internal character conflict was masterful, and I personally loved the slow shift to horror in the third act.
I’ve written a similar script and I was hoping to get an expert opinion (or perhaps you know of a director or producer who’d be willing to get on board?). In a nutshell, it’s set in 2092AD and takes place in the middle of a war between… etc.
The Right Approach
Hi Danny,
We met at SXSW last year and you were kind enough to sign my '28 Days Later' poster. Thanks so much for that; it now takes pride of place in my editing room.
Quick question—how did you keep the production budget down on 'Sunshine'? For a sci-fi film, the end result looked like it was shot on twice the budget, so I was curious as to how you successfully pulled it off so well.
Best,
Your name and website
The Difference
In the first example, the hypothetical LinkedIn user is introducing Danny Boyle to a script they’ve written (probably at great length, too). It’s polite, friendly, and gives a related reason as to why they’re reaching out…
… but I’ll be damned if he doesn’t get at least ten of those a day, and he certainly has no reason to look at yet another script.
The second approach, however, is an appeal to the recipient's ego. Packaged inside a non-gushing, genuine compliment is a question about Boyle’s work that might be entirely satisfying for him to answer.
Also, the bit about meeting at SXSW is—GASP—a lie, but since you have done prior research and know that he has attended the convention and assume he would probably not recall not meeting you (at least not with enough certainty to call you out) it is a minor peccadillo.
This trick obviously needs to be used carefully but it does breed the magic of instant familiarity.
It may not get your script seen (in fact, note it isn’t even mentioned), but it’s a far more effective approach at starting a dialogue and infiltrating LinkedIn on a deeper level.
As goes film, as goes job applications: Suit your approach to your viewer. illo courtesy: NY Film Academy
In addition, it works well with mid-level directors but it works even better with actors. Want to make valuable film connections on LinkedIn? Try reaching out using the Ego Game. You’ll have a notable increase in replies in just the first few opening messages.
Supplementing LinkedIn with a Dot Com
You’ll note that the second outreach message signs off with your name and web address—not your name, web address, Twitter handle, Facebook page, Google+ profile and Pinterest board.
Listing all those things—assuming they’re relevant to your film work—is a fine thing to do within your LinkedIn profile, but to close off unsolicited messages you’ll want a snappy one-stop shop where someone can learn everything they need to know about your credentials and film projects within a minute or less.
You can’t do that from a Twitter or Facebook feed, so consider setting up a quick WordPress site. Even with no design or coding experience, you’ll get the hang of it and have a slick-looking site set up in an afternoon (I’d recommend Elegant Themes for pre-built packages—it’ll set you back a modest $39).
Further Investment
If you really want to get the most out of LinkedIn, do consider purchasing a premium account. They’re admittedly pricey (a good $25 a month just for the lowest package), but come with some worthwhile features. Here’s a good overview on what to expect from the upgrade.
A Tip That I Wouldn’t Dream of Recommending But… Y’Know
One tip that I would not advocate personally, but would have tangible benefits if you decided to ignore this disclaimer, is to buy LinkedIn connections.
I know that sounds beyond the above mentions little-bitty lie and the connections themselves are totally worthless. But from an outsider’s perspective, they make your own profile seem more ‘powerful’ and that increases the likelihood of people giving you the time of day on LinkedIn.
A few hundred extra connections (you wouldn’t want to overdo it) is pretty cheap, too, and there’s plenty of companies out there who can deliver such a service.
But again, I don’t recommend doing this. It’s just something I heard about once... if you catch my drift.
Zeke A. Iddon is a professional writer and filmmaker, currently serving as the lead content consultant for the New York Film Academy (NYFA). While he's lead numerous clients and individuals to great success on LinkedIn, the best way to get in touch with him these days is via Google+.