3 ways to not get your LinkedIn invite accepted.

LinkedIn: the professional's version of standing near the cool kids and hoping they'll invite you to their party. If you're someone intent on expanding your network here, you've probably already discovered some things that work well and some that don't.

Bring some value, even if it's just
interesting posts and comments, rather
than just trying to get value from me.

After nine years here I am still surprised to see how many people are making some very basic mistakes on their profiles or invites. So if you don't mind hearing from someone who may not be cool but who has at least made some excellent and valued connections here, let me share three ways to not get your LinkedIn invite accepted:

1.) Having no profile photo.

Seriously, do we still need to even say this? I can appreciate the need for some people to feel safe in this world of ours, but something businesslike and at least faintly representative of who you are will go much further than a gray and white silhouette. Are you giving reasonable effort to make a connection, or is this one of 30 profiles that you created today?

2.) Using your company name as your personal profile's name.

LinkedIn has company pages for companies, and personal pages for persons. If you're creating the latter, use your real name, assuming of course that you are indeed a person. "Yes," you say, "But I'm here to promote my business." LinkedIn is the perfect place to do that, but keep in mind that we do that by building relationships with other people. Unless you're a known brand that we're all already hot and bothered to meet, no one wants to meet a company. We prefer pulse and personality, not profit-pushing profiles.

Be yourself, not your company.
If I get to trust and like you, your company won't be far behind.

I've never actually chatted with a company or been impressed with an organization. It's always the breathing, caring people there who make or break the connection. Be yourself, not your company. If I get to trust and like you, your company won't be far behind.

3. Using stock photos or logos in your profile.

I currently have dozens of invites from a wide variety of people who for some reason all have the same few photos being used over and over. I'm guessing they are all fake accounts created by a spammer somewhere, anxious to grow their numbers or see inside other people's networks. They'll be sitting there for a long time to come.

Not far from these are the many profiles that show identical bars in the photos shouting "As seen on" followed by logos for CBS News, Fox, NBC, and ABC. Identical banners for all these people who seemingly have no other connection? Maybe I'm wrong and I've got a lot more world-class authorities eager to meet me than I realized, but I'm thinking this is another variation of the stock photos mentioned above. If you're one of those, you might want to pack a lunch; it might be a while before you get in.

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So there you go... three ways to not get accepted as a LinkedIn connection, at least not into my circle of connections.

So how do you get accepted? To go back to the scenario of the cool kids, be yourself and show why we would want to connect with you. Bring some value, even if it's just interesting posts and comments, rather than just trying to get value from me.  And to offer the best business advice I offer to all my clients... be nice. Now that's bringing value to any party.

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Thanks for reading. I am a communications consultant and speaker helping companies get the most from social media, website design, and SEO. I also speak on effective corporate and interpersonal communications and media relations. Please take a look at my other LinkedIn articles or at my website. Say hi!