LinkedIn and the Froggies

About this time of year in my corner of the world, the tiny frogs known as spring peepers arrive in their millions. And millions. They’re countless, and everywhere.

As you walk through the woods or near ponds and streams, especially in the evening, their sound is nearly deafening. For the few weeks that they sing, they’re kind of cute, but I don’t think anyone could take them in perpetuity.

If you clap your hands or stomp your feet, they’ll generally all shut up at once. Then, if you wait quietly, after less than a minute, the bravest (or dumbest) frog in the pond will go, “Peeeep????” And then his little buddy will go, “Peeeep…”, and then two more, and then exponentially across the pond until they’re all bursting their lungs to outshout each other.

And what exactly does “Peeeep” mean? Well, it’s just the gentlemen froggies who do the singing, each one at the top of his lungs, “Pick me! Pick Me! Pick me!”

If you’re a lady froggie, you really have it made, with 7,326,927 males screaming for your affection.

Now, I’m no expert on froggie romance, but I’m guessing that a frog orgy is pretty non-discriminatory, and the odds of getting lucky have less to do with talent and more to do with proximity. It’s frankly wholesale and random.

For whatever reason, every time I go on LinkedIn, I think of the spring peepers. “Pick me! Pick me! Pick me!”, they all scream in unison.

Let’s be frank: what’s the main reason you go on LinkedIn? Is there any other reason than the hopes of getting lucky professionally, so to speak?

Granted, there are a few LinkedIn Peepers who peep a little louder and a little sweeter and a little more strategically than the other 7,326,926, but the odds of them “linking” and getting good business are not a whole lot better than that of Freddie the Frog. Slightly better than random, but not by much.

It’s a funny thing how we, as professionals, seem to be utterly promiscuous when we go looking for new incoming business when in fact we all know exactly how it works when it’s our turn to find professional help for ourselves: if it’s commodity, that is, if the professional service is just another litre of milk, then we want the best price.

But if it’s mission-critical, we want the gal or the guy who can best do the job.

And how do we find that mission-critical professional? By their reputation, which they have earned by producing results, quality work, demonstrating expertise and thought leadership. Not by sitting around the LinkedIn pond shrieking, “Pick me! Pick me! Pick me!”.

To be sure, the froggies only have about two weeks to perform their magic, not much time to develop a reputation. But when you have a frog who lives for a long, long time, you get to build a reputation.

Take Kermit, for example. Everybody knows Kermit.

Why? Because he is unique. He stands out in his own special, sweet, goofy way. He doesn’t try to be “Pick me! Pick me!”, he just sticks to being Kermit. And everybody knows him and follows him and every third little kid has a Kermit stuffy. He has a reputation, and a brand.

You’re not a spring peeper, you have more than two weeks. Like Kermit, you have an entire career to build a reputation, beginning today. And it begins by being yourself. Your best self.

Not sure where to start? Happy to have a free half-hour chat.