Linking with... what? Curmudgeon tries to get in touch with his entrepreneurial self

Curmudgeon as entrepreneur?

That sounds about as likely as a dinosaur with feathers, doesn't it?

Except that feathered dinosaurs really do seem to have once existed.

Times change. Paleontology changes. And even dinosaurs like me had better change with the times. And, judging by my increasingly obvious bald spot, I'm not likely to sprout feathers anytime soon. So I've realized, finally, I'd better come up with something else.

I'm trying to reinvent my law practice, trying to recast myself as a mediator instead of a litigator, or trying to find someone who'll hire me to think deep thoughts for them, or at least write their appellate briefs or handle their coverage matters. I'm looking to find a way to turn my blogging and/or my interest in politics into some actual money.

I've made fun of professional networking sites like LinkedIn here previously, calling LinkedIn "a combination of job board and trophy case." At the time I wrote that (only last November) I had a half dozen "connections," one of them Younger Daughter (who'd asked me to sign up so I could evaluate her profile).

I thought myself very clever at the time. I wrote, "Those who are looking for work are desperately trying to make connections. Those who are already successful use LinkedIn to showcase all their many achievements. Either way, there is no humility on LinkedIn."

I started the day yesterday with 200 LinkedIn connections; I have over 270 this morning.

Do I sound desperate enough?

I'm still not sure how this is supposed to help. I spent all day online yesterday, combing through profile after profile, requesting connection upon connection. I didn't write a word. I didn't sign up any sort of a case. But every status update I make now on LinkedIn will be available -- and ignored -- by all sorts of interesting people.

I've read, however, that all this networking is somehow entrepreneurial. "Entrepreneurial" may be just a fancy word for panicking... but I'm not sure of that. Not yet. And so I continue to play the game. Excuse me... someone else just accepted my connection request....