6 months ago, I purged myself of most of my "business" associates. During my first year as a start up, I was extremely open and helpful and embraced anyone also trying to start or chase their dreams as an entrepreneur. I learned, rather slowly & painfully, that I had a lot more talkers than doers around me, and I saw that it began to affect my own productivity. I knew myself to always be more productive & successful as a loner, but bought into the whole " you need a network", " you need people" mantra. I now realize, if anything, you need the "right" network and people. I thrive off extreme challenges and have always been a risk taker, sometimes to my detriment, but never catastrophically. Through nothing but dogged persistence, extreme sacrifice, and blinding confidence, I've developed mutually beneficial relationships with powerful, influential people, the kind that help you get contracts signed. What I've refused to do is JOIN LINKEDIN. I don't have an arrogant bone in my body, but frankly, I've decided that I only want to be connected to "go getters". Top performers, people that turn the impossible to "done". I know that if I join LINKEDIN, I will decline invitations from many people I know, because while I may interact with them socially, I do not want a professional connection implied. More importantly, and at the heart of my question, once I join LinkedIn and connect with those influential people I am tied to, I KNOW some of the unproductive people I still run into will want a free ride to my hard won connections. Still, I think it's time to join LINKEDIn. How do I handle this???