You probably have already seen terms like LinkedIn Open Network, LinkedIn Open Link.
Or maybe their other variations – such as LION, LinkedIn Open Profile, etc.
But what does this mean, what’s the difference between them and what makes them interesting?
More importantly – how can you use this to improve your LinkedIn outreach?
LinkedIn Open Link
LinkedIn Open Profile (or Open Link) are the people with LinkedIn Premium who have set their profile to allow receiving free InMails – because they want to receive messages even from those who are not part of their network.
While you cannot filter the LinkedIn search results to show only open link profiles, you can try to narrow down the results by “premium” status. LinkedIn adds a small “golden” badge next to the person’s name when they have premium.
On LinkedIn Sales Navigator, you can also find them by open link status\icon.
You can also use a tool such as Webwalker to search specifically for Open Link profiles – and then message them with free InMails.
LinkedIn Open Network
Do not confuse Open Profile with LinkedIn Open Networkers – people who accept connection request from anyone because they want to expand their LinkedIn network.
They’re accepting connection requests even when they don’t know the person sending the request and have no shared connections. They are sometimes referred to as “LION” (LinkedIn Open Network).
There are some advantages in connecting with Open Networkers. They’re unlikely to report you as spam or click “I don’t know this person“. Which means they can be a good & safe way of building your initial set of connections when you’re just starting out.
Additional benefit is that you after adding them, you will get access to their network. It will provide you with much more 2nd level connections. More over, you will probably start getting more invitations to connect from others after you get connected.
The Pros & Cons of Open Networking on LinkedIn
There are both advantages and disadvantages in being an open networker on LinkedIn.
We’ve already mentioned some of the advantages above. You can grow your network quicker and outreach more people this way. This, in turn, will help you getting more views on your posts and having easier time connecting with people.
The disadvantages include privacy concerns. People in your network will be able to see your contact details and some other information you add on LinkedIn. You might need to put that in consideration before starting connecting with people you don’t really know.
Remember – people in your network will be able to see your email address, among other things. So that can lead to increase in spam your getting in your inbox.
How to Find LinkedIn Open Networkers
You can find LinkedIn groups that are intended for building your network – try searching “LION” or “Open Network” in LinkedIn groups. Get better & more useful results by adding your region or industry \ sector \ title, to find better matches.
You could also use the same approach when searching for contacts – many open networkers add that into their summary or other places on their profile, so you can find them by using the same keywords as with groups.
Grow Your Network Faster with Automation
Connecting with LinkedIn Open Networkers & sending free InMails to LinkedIn Open Profiles can help you outreach a large amount of people.
But you can speed it up and reach even more people by using LinkedIn automation tools, such as Webwalker. With this app, you can search for your target audience and connect with them much easily and efficiently, saving you a lot of time and energy.
You can setup a workflow to automatically search & connect with people from an Open Network group, or send free InMails to Open Link profiles, and a lot more.