What the Hare Krishna Society can teach us about networking on LinkedIn.
How the Hare Krishna Society raised millions as donations and what it can teach us about Networking effectively on LinkedIn in 2017.
During the early history of the group in the US, the solicitation for contributions was attempted in a fashion memorable for anyone who saw it. Groups of Krishna devotees — often with shaved heads, and wearing ill-fitting robes, leg wrappings, beads, and bells — would canvass a city street, chanting and bobbing in unison while begging for funds.
Although highly effective as a technique for gaining attention, this form of fund-raising did not work especially well. The average American considered the Krishnas weird, to say the least, and was reluctant to provide money to support them. It quickly became clear to the Society that it had a considerable public-relations problem. The people being asked for contributions did not like the way the members looked, dressed, or acted. Had the Society been an ordinary commercial organization, the solution would have been simple — change the things the public does not like. But the Krishnas are a religious organization; and the way members look, dress, and act is partially tied to religious factors. Because, in any denomination, religious factors are typically resistant to change because of worldly considerations, the Krishna leadership was faced with a real dilemma. On the one hand were beliefs, modes of dress, and hairstyles that had religious significance. On the other hand, threatening the organization’s financial welfare, were the less-than-positive feelings of the American public toward these things. What’s a sect to do?
The Krishnas’ resolution was brilliant. They switched to a fund-raising tactic that made it unnecessary for target persons to have positive feelings toward the fund-raisers. They began to employ a donation-request procedure that engaged the rule for reciprocation, which, as demonstrated by the Regan study, is strong enough to overcome the factor of dislike for the requester. The new strategy still involves the solicitation of contributions in public places with much pedestrian traffic (airports are a favorite), but now, before a donation is requested, the target person is given a “gift” — a book (usually the Bhagavad Gita), the Back to Godhead magazine of the Society, or, in the most cost-effective version, a flower. The unsuspecting passerby who suddenly finds a flower pressed into his hands or pinned to his jacket is under no circumstances allowed to give it back, even if he asserts that he does not want it. “No, it is our gift to you,” says the solicitor, refusing to accept it. Only after the Krishna member has thus brought the force of the reciprocation rule to bear on the situation is the target asked to provide a contribution to the Society. This benefactor-before-beggar strategy has been wildly successful for the Hare Krishna Society, producing large-scale economic gains and funding the ownership of temples, businesses, houses, and property in 321 centers in the United States and overseas.
The Power of Reciprocity
In social psychology, reciprocity is a social rule that says people ought to repay, in kind, what another person has provided for them; that is, people give back (reciprocate) the kind of treatment they have received from another.
Today LinkedIn is much more than a boring B2B Social site. It is a networking powerhouse for the professionals. LinkedIn is used extensively by thousands of job hopefuls looking to land their dream job in their dream company by reaching out directly to the HR or even the CXO’s. Now who would have thought that was even possible 5 years back!
It is used extensively by companies for lead generation and also directly reaching out to these leads. Along with this, it is also a connection tool in the B2B and Corporate / Startup environment.
But, the heart of all this activity on LinkedIn, rests solely on one thing — NETWORKING.
And this is what many people get wrong on LinkedIn.
DM-ing someone out of the blue with a product or for a job opportunity is probably not going to get the job done. There are many posts these days debating if all DM requests should be answered to or not. The jury seems to be out on that one — some saying LinkedIn is afterall a networking site, so it is upon the receiver of the DM to revert back and try to help out as much as she or he can. The other half believe that it is indeed not possible to respond to and help out each and every person who asks. The truth is; they are not under any obligation to do so!
Here is where the Hare Krishna come in with the Power of Reciprocity. This psychologicaly proven fact, studied many a times over and also propagated by great Social Media Networking Gurus and marketers like Gary Vaynerchuk and alike, state that when we GIVE, expecting nothing in return, we engrain so deep a feeling of indebtedness in the receiver, that he or she will go to any lengths to reciprocate that debt.
So when we ask a stranger, out of the blue for a favour, that stranger is under no obligation to reciprocate. And most of the time, they do not.
However, if we were to provide value to this stranger, do a favour for him without expecting anything in return, the feeling of indebtedness will be so overbearing that one day, when we ask, we shall receive.
So how can we do this? We certainly cannot reach out to everyone in our network list and ask Hey, do you want a favour? It would sound quite weird. A great way is to indirectly provide value to your entire network by providing information akin to what interests them.
First, you need to figure out what space you and your network is in. Your network will generally be more leaning towards the space you are in, for eg, you maybe a Startup guy or a Finance Guy or a Marketer; you will find your network is typically also from similar domains. This is your basic starting point. 90% of your value creation activities on LinkedIn should be centered around this domain. How do you create value? Write articles and blogs on topics relevant to the mass majority of your network. If you can’t write? Share! Do whatever you must, but always keep it in mind, that you are doing it because you Genuinely want to provide VALUE to your network; your audience.
Next, find out what and who is your TRIBE is; Seth Godin describes a Tribe as those who are Genuinely interested in what you have to say. They will consume all your information, analyse it, appreciate it and then go and talk about it to OTHER PEOPLE! This “Tribe” that you build, you are free to network with them as you please! You have brought significant vaue to them, that they are compelled to reciprocate by going and talking to others about it. If you want a favour from them, feel free to rech out. They will be more than happy to reciprocate to negate this feeling of indebtedness that you have ‘burdened’ them with.
As for the remaining connections, the more you share and create valuable information, engage with their posts, participate in discussions and in groups, make as many connection requests as you can; in short, the more you champion the cause of your network, the more you will be noticed. The more people will start reciprocating to your posts and engagements and eventually LinkedIn’s algorithm will also rank your posts higher. This way, you are providing value to more and more in your network and then one day when you do need something from them; you reach out to them. They will not only remember you, but be absolutely willing to reciprocate.
Do you agree? Please feel free to add your opinions on the same and share any content on this topic.
