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Learn MoreYou’ve probably heard of the Kevin Bacon parlor game that has spawned several websites, including The Oracle of Bacon. To play, you pick a random actor and try to tie him or her to Kevin Bacon in fewer than six degrees of separation. For example, Jon Voit’s, “Bacon Number” is three because he worked with Burt Reynolds in Deliverance, Reynolds worked with Demi Moore in Strip Tease, and Moore co-starred with Bacon in A Few Good Men.
The Bacon game demonstrates the validity of a nearly century- old theory of global connectivity, the notion that everyone is six or fewer steps away, by way of introduction, from any other person in the world. What social media now prove is that we can form connections with others by way of introductions in only 3.9 degrees.
The 3.9 degrees separating you from any other person dwindles if you are in a common profession, like teachers or doctors. Their degree of separation is only 3.2. The gap shrinks further for rare and specialized professions.
According to a recent survey, 75% of advisors use at least one social network for business. Among advisors LinkedIn is a social media darling which has enjoyed an impressive 61% increase in use in the last year. 93% of the advisors surveyed said that their companies allow advisors to accept connections, and 87% of the companies grant advisors permission to list their firm name on their profiles.
Advisors leverage LinkedIn the most to improve referral networks (48%), build brand identity (43%), and expand professional networks (38%).
Tools like Facebook and LinkedIn can help you build your network and can also give you insights into prospects’ backgrounds. Most importantly, they can serve as referral feeders and bridge the 3.9 steps to your next big client with a single click.
