Sending Invites for LinkedIn
I get quite a number of invitations these days from people I don’t really know. I don’t mind connecting with them however I do ask first where they found me and why they want to connect? Obviously they haven’t read my profile before sending the invitation otherwise they would know that’s a requirement for me to connect.
Why do I do this? Well, I want to feel there’s some kind of personal connection first. I also don’t want to be counted as a number as I know that many, particularly LIONS, are prone to do. Quality not quantity is something I’m seeking in the way of connections - will there be a mutual benefit for us both to connect?
If I know and recognise the name as someone I’ve chatted with before I will accept and then I’ll give them suggestions on how to do an invitation and send them here to my blog to check out the LinkedIn category. But if I don’t recognise their name I wait for their response and often those responses can be funny or even indignant. Some don’t respond at all.
Why would a response be indignant? They seem to expect that because we had a minor connection via an email about 3 or 4 months ago I would remember who they are. Perhaps they don’t get much email but I get 2-300 on a daily basis because of the nature of my business and also the groups I belong to online. Why would I remember someone who might have answered a question at LinkedIn or responded to a forum message? It would be different if we actually did business together in some way but usually it’s one of the former.
So, if you’re new to LinkedIn I encourage you to look at personalising your invitations (you can click on edit and change the text of what’s being sent) and make sure you read through the profile of the person you wish to invite first. You can get penalised by LinkedIn if you get too many “I Don’t Knows” against your name.
Oh, and if you have copied someone else’s email that says something about ‘please do not mark IDK’ then I suggest you don’t do that. It’s almost as bad as a blanket invite being sent. If you can copy and paste someone else’s message, you are also capable of writing your own personal message.
Unless someone is looking forward to the opportunity to spam their connections, I don’t really see and benefit from people who advertise 500+ connections. I routinely scan, assess, and remove connections which I believe do not benefit my professional interest or the interest of my connections I would like to keep. Have I sent invitations to those who I have only met in LinkedIn?… sure…, building new connections is a good thing. But only if I can justify that the connection is mutually beneficial.
I have to admit that I don’t always remember to personalize my invitations, although I certainly appreciate it when other people take the time to do so. Thanks for the reminder!