Is exactly what I've used to find "VLP's" or Very-Leveraged People. It works.

Take care,

Mike Winicki

> It might be nice for us to share what we're
> all working on....

> I guess I get to go first! :)

> As you would know, a part of my time every
> week is dedicated to our products here - The
> Great Ideas Letter, the Entrepreneur's
> Hotsheet, the SeedZine - the first two are
> joint ventures with Michael Ross....

> One other project I have going on is related
> to the phenomenon of the Six Degrees of
> Separation. As you have probably heard, it's
> estimated you can go from anyone on Earth to
> anyone else, via acquaintances, through just
> six steps. I've been looking into research
> on this topic....

> Here's an interesting tidbit related to
> this. In 1973, a sociologist, Mark
> Granovetter, did some research on people who
> found jobs through other people they knew.
> He surveyed whether they found these jobs
> through close friends, or more distant
> acquaintances. When you think about it,
> you'd expect MOST people to have gotten jobs
> through their close friends - since their
> close friends would put more effort in
> helping them out.

> The truth is the OPPOSITE! Most people - in
> fact, 83% of people - who got their jobs
> through those they knew, got them through
> more distant acquaintances (people they
> might speak to once or twice a year).

> The reason why is because people who are
> close to you tend to "travel" in
> the same "circle" that you do....
> So job opportunities they know about, you
> probably already know about too. However,
> more distant acquaintances know about a lot
> more opportunities that you don't know of,
> so what they know about can have more impact
> on your situation.

> Granovetter called his research, "The
> Strength of Weak Ties" ....

> By the way, this also has implications for
> business - not just for those seeking
> employment. Having wide contacts - and
> regularly contacting even your more distant
> acquaintances - leads to more SALES and more
> OPPORTUNITIES too!

> (Forums like this one - where you can see
> people's email addresses in order to contact
> them - are ideal for building your business
> contacts. DON'T SPAM of course, that's
> counter-productive - but do build bridges to
> other people.)

> A fun way to "play" with Six
> Degrees of Separation is the well-known
> Oracle of Kevin Bacon , which shows you how
> many links from Kevin Bacon to any other
> actor, through actors that have been in the
> same film together. (Try it out!)

> More recent research in this topic explains
> that the six degrees of separation is
> explained by what's known as a "small
> world network".

> There are other implications of a
> "small world network" I'm
> currently researching (with a couple
> others), which we believe has commercial
> implications.... So I'm still keeping a
> "foot" in the world of science
> research, and tying it to my business
> activities!

> Michael Ross and I also have another project
> we're working on.... But we're still in the
> early stages right now.... You'll hear more
> about that in the future....

> Thanks to Mike Winicki for the idea of this
> thread!

> Please share some of your projects - big or
> small.... It would be interesting to see
> what we're all up to.... :)

> - Dien Rice