All right, I admit it: I am not sure where to begin. Background: I decided to increase the number of personal contacts I have through LinkedIn. I have been part of this social community for many months now and had only 16 contacts to my name. Clearly, something different had to be done. My Campaign: As a Gmail user, I recently realized that more than 200 people in my address book were also LinkedIn members. Wow, what an opportunity (at least on the surface) as it looked like a great way to bring in new contacts. So, over a two day period I emailed everyone -- yes all 200+ contacts -- and have been sifting through all of the responses ever since. My Goof: Among the people invited was a former client who ripped me off, plus several people who I had no idea were in my address book. Perhaps through DP or MyBlogLog or maybe they spammed me in the past. Who knows? Anyway, this led to a message on my blog today issuing a blanket apology to all: My LinkedIn Strategy Has Backfired! Lesson Learned: Although I ticked a bunch of people off, I have gained 40 new contacts (and counting). I'm sending personal notes to the offended parties, but that is nothing to what I'm getting from my campaign. In conclusion, if you decide to do a mass invite via LinkedIn you may want to remove some people from your list. I'm sorry to have troubled some people but then again the increased number of contacts sure has been terrific!