English: Jimmie Foxx, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Mickey Cochrane (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Four hundred still sounds like a lot to me.
It represents a milestone number of things as well as being an overall majestic figure worthy of reverence.
Four hundred home runs used to be a benchmark for entry into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown back in the pre-steroids, pre-advanced nutrition, pre-workout ‘til you drop out, there’s-only beer-and-hot-dogs-to-munch-on-here era (my idol when I was growing up, Mickey Mantle, ended up with 536 home runs and only Jimmie Foxx and Babe Ruth were ahead of him when he retired).
Four hundred had meaning back then. Back even further, Ted Williams was the last player to hit .400 (.406 in 1941, to be exact).
Four hundred still has meaning today but just in different ways.
I have been holding steady on LinkedIn at 399 connections for quite a while now.
Maybe I’ve grown stagnant and nobody loves me. A few people used to drop off without notice and that was fine. But 399, as imposing as it may seem on my profile page, will pale in comparison to what 400 looks like.
That’s because 400 leaves me ever so much closer to the magical threshold of 500+ connections! Okay, so the truth finally comes out on my drive to five, I mean, first, four hundred; c’mon man, isn’t that one of everybody’s goals on LinkedIn? I think it’s really Big Time and so that’s what I’m shooting for. At the least, it’s good to have goals, so that’s my story.
I thought of running a contest to try to get the 400th person out of the way and over with.
Problem is, I didn’t know what to offer as a grand prize for being my 400th connection.
When I think about 400 in terms of being the number of individuals I’m connected to, well, that’s a lot of people. Four hundred jelly beans as grand prize? Nah, didn’t think so, either.
I think my grade school auditorium might have seated 400 people, but I’m not sure.
LinkedIn, much like baseball to Chico Escuela, has been berry berry good to me.
I only have a fraction of 400 Facebook friends. I know some people with at least two times four hundred friends on Facebook. Think about it—800+ friends! That’s a lot of Facebook love. I’m sure there are folks out there with even greater numbers of Facebook friends.
LinkedIn One Percent Most Viewed Profiles Email (Photo credit: DavidErickson)
But can you call on any of these friends in times of real, actual need? Perhaps.
A LinkedIn connection, comparatively speaking, is like a good tire—you’ll run with it for as long as you can—to the ends of the earth even.
Speaking of the ends of the earth, I especially like making connections with people on the other side of the world. The international community is really wonderful, business-wise. I welcome my foreign connection expansion on LinkedIn. I feel domestically-speaking, it may be difficult to make any more inroads here in the U.S.
Maybe I’m not thinking positively, but I see the biggest gains to be found overseas.
The international community looks to be where the early money would be going if one were wagering on where my 400th connection comes from (or Vegas odds makers were involved).
Animal or human? Male or female? Alien or of the planet earth? Celebrity or little known industry mole? Captain or Cook?
Who knows. The point is that the possibilities are endless. I have a duck for a Facebook friend, but he hasn’t hit me up to be a connection on LinkedIn. I don’t know if he’s even on there.
I have a lot more to say, but I’ll stop now as I’ve gone well over 400 words and need to get this on bobskelley.com before my 400th LinkedIn connection request arrives in my inbox.
Who will it be and where oh where will you come from?
The suspense is killing me as I do the 400 vibe meditation chant dance recitation.
Bob Skelley is on LinkedIn. Do you know Bob Skelley? Do you want to know Bob Skelley? View the profiles of professionals named Bob Skelley on LinkedIn.
The majesty that is 400 can be yours.