LinkedIn is an invaluable site for professionals across the world. It makes it possible for you to stay in touch with the contacts you make at events as well as clients, customers and co-workers past and present. You never know when your network may be able to help you out and if you’re connected on LinkedIn it is a whole lot easier to reach out to them.
However, with over 390 million members, it can be tempting to use LinkedIn to connect with people beyond those that you know. If you work in sales, you can reach out to potential prospects. If you work in recruitment, LinkedIn is a perfect place to find candidates. If you’re a job seeker, perhaps you could connect with potential employers. Are these things acceptable?
On LinkedIn, there does seem to be some unspoken rules when it comes to expanding your network.
1. Personalise your connection requests
If you’ve just spoken to someone on the phone or was introduced to somebody new just yesterday, you may just send a generic invitation as it’s safe to assume that they will know who you are. However, generally speaking, it is always better to write a more personalised message to anyone you want to connect with on LinkedIn.
This is especially important if you are interested in connecting with someone that you haven’t met before. The majority of people are wary of connecting with those that they do not know, so be sure to introduce yourself and explain why you would like to connect with them and why they should want to connect with you.
TIP: To ensure that you always have the option to personalise your requests, go directly onto the person’s profile and send your invitation from there.
Ways to personalise your connection requests
- Give your reasons for wanting to connect – if you don’t have a reason, you shouldn’t be connecting!
- Remind them when and where you have met or spoken before.
- Be complimentary.
- Take a look at their profile and see what you have in common, for example, a mutual connection or a shared school/university. You can then refer to this in your request.
- Keep it short and to the point – you are limited to 300 characters.
2. Don’t be a stranger
As mentioned above, many professionals are wary of connecting with strangers on LinkedIn. If they don’t know who you are or why you want to connect them, what is going to make them accept your connection? LinkedIn actually encourages its members to only connect with people they know, so before sending that connection request, make sure you have a solid reason.
Personalising your requests will help you to overcome the stranger danger hurdle.
3. Focus on quality, not quantity
There isn’t much point in having a tonne of connections if they are never going to offer you any value. Why connect with people who aren’t in your industry, or with those promoting products or services that you are never going to need?
Anyone on LinkedIn can grow a large network, but building a quality network takes more thought and strategy. In the long run, it offers more rewards.
Following these 3 rules for connecting on LinkedIn will allow you to grow your professional network in the right way. If you connect wisely, you will reap the benefits!
