Don't Look A Gift Horse in the Mouth

Jay Fairbrother Amber Avines CLC, CHPC Karen Bonnett - Natraj ACC ELI-MP, CDS

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You know the saying, “Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth?”

Have you ever wondered what that means?

During the 16th century, horses were common gifts, but today that’s no longer the case. However, we still use the idiom. It means?to not find fault with something that has been received as a gift or favor. What does this have to do with LinkedIn?

LinkedIn makes it easy to keep up with the people in your network on birthdays and work anniversaries.

For a long time, I’ve recommended that you not send generic congrats messages.

I still recommend that approach.

Generic anything on LinkedIn isn’t worth the time of day, and if your network is anything like mine, there are people you want to build ongoing relationships with and others you don’t.

It just doesn’t make sense to send messages to people who aren’t your potential clients, referral partners, colleagues, joint venture partners, or subject matter experts. It’s a waste of your time and theirs.

Here are a couple of tips that will help you turn giving and receiving congrats messages into golden opportunities:

• Create your own unique message. Something along the lines of “Hope this is your best year yet,” or “Congrats on passing another milestone.” It doesn’t have to be brilliant; it just needs to be set you apart. For example, I’ve seen some very cool/funny congrats gifs that you can attach to your messages.

You have no interest in furthering your relationship with this individual, you’re just wasting time – yours and theirs.

• When people send you congrats, you have another opportunity to engage with them at a deeper level. Check out their profile. If they’re potential clients or partners – respond personally. Ask about how their career/business is going or what’s new with them since the last time you talked. It's another opportunity to build relationships and that’s the key to conducting business on LinkedIn.

Neither of these approaches take a lot of time, but they offer you they can open the door to new or deeper relationships.

I’d love to hear your thoughts. What other opportunities are you using to develop relationships with your LinkedIn network?

Dr. Dumont Owen is a serial entrepreneur, international best-selling author, creator of the Lucrative LinkedIn System and the Lucrative Lead Generation System. She is known for building systems that help coaches get clients in record time using LinkedIn. A storyteller at heart, she puts her unique stamp on the process of personal branding and digital marketing.

As one of less than a dozen people on the planet certified as a Master Personal Brand Strategist by Reach Communications, Dumont helps her clients attract high-quality leads on LinkedIn by building and promoting powerful brands that express who they are, what they do, and how they do it ...better than their competitors.

Dumont is the founder of Dumont Digital Marketing, Dumont & Associates, and Radically Rewarding Careers.

When Dumont’s not spinning strategies, she can be found stripping woodwork on the beloved century home she shares with her husband and one seriously neurotic cat.

Dr. Dumont Owen is not affiliated with LinkedIn and the Lucrative LinkedIn System and Lucrative LinkedIn Lead Generator are products of Dumont Digital Marketing.

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