Friday, June 10, 2005

Plaxo and LinkedIn Should Merge

Two powerful networking companies have exactly what the other is lacking. They should come together.

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<a href="http://www.plaxo.com">Plaxo</a> is contact management software that makes ridiculously good use of the Internet. So, you have this massive address book in Outlook that you’ve grown over several years and several jobs. You never get to clean out the book to figure out if people’s numbers are still the same, where they’re at now, and wouldn’t it be nifty if your address book automatically updated itself everytime someone changed jobs or contact information? Also, its a pain letting everyone know your new information every time its you who’s doing the moving. Plaxo connects you to your network, and keeps your address book fresh, relevant, and up-to-date. Of course, for this to work, a lot of your contacts need to be Plaxo’ed as well. Guess what? They are. Now, <a href="http://www.linkedin.com">LinkedIn</a> is another story. It is literally the best networking tool I have ever used, and I’m on it constantly, looking for new talent, getting references for people who aren’t in my first degree, and expanding my prospect list. Some time ago, I wrote an entry in this blog about the service. Essentially, here’s how it works: You know Abe and Ben. Abe knows Cassie and David. Cassie knows Ben and You. David knows Ed and Frannie.  We’re all on LinkedIn, and identified who we know. Now, let’s say you’re browsing your extended network, and realize that Frannie is VP at a company that you’re trying to do business with. Through LinkedIn, you initiate a contact request through your friend Abe, who forwards it on to his friend David. David forwards this “trusted request” onto Frannie, who is much more likely to take your call than if you cold-called her. It’s structured networking, and it really, really works. Of course, the larger yours and everyone else’s network is, the more people you can connect to, and network with. This is where I see incredible synergy between Plaxo and LinkedIn. Plaxo allows you to keep in touch with contacts, and LinkedIn lets you network through your contacts. Marrying the two services would give each something they don’t have. Plaxo would give LinkedIn breadth, and LinkedIn would give Plaxo depth. Of course, there’s a shark on the horizon. If I were Microsoft, I’d be looking very carefully at Plaxo to figure out how it if it fits with my Microsoft Office and Outlook strategy. Plaxo’s use of the Internet is exactly what the doctor ordered to give Outlook a fresh lease. http://www.brutalclarity.com/index.php/48/
 

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