LinkedIn Networking Strategy 101

"Let's Connect" ...Why? – Do you always make it clear why someone might want to accept your LinkedIn invitation? Informing me “Hey, it would be great to connect!” doesn’t resonate. At all. Ever.

You see, I’m looking to connect with prospects.

Build your LinkedIn network strategically—it’s not about developing a fan club.

Or I want to connect with those who might refer me to prospects. For example, beyond my primary contact at an existing B2B client, I want to connect with targeted insiders there. Why? Because in today’s gig economy, many frequently move from company to company to company. LinkedIn helps me keep track of such peripheral people for whom (unbeknownst to them) I may have been their content editor. You just never know who’s going to be in a position to recommend me at their next whistle stop.

Illustrated at left, I lay that out in more detail here: https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/linkedin-sales-referral-funnel-chris-morton/

Can You Follow? – Before diving further into connection invitations, let’s look at the Follow option. Frank is an up-and-coming, freelance content creator who works in the same high-tech realm as I do. What I write and respond to on LinkedIn (and elsewhere) appeals to him.

But if I were to accept Frank’s connection invitation, he would have access to all of my 1st-degree connections. This is akin to my giving him all of my prospect leads, so I’m not keen on that. Gaining such access may not be Frank’s motivation anyway. He being relatively new to LinkedIn, he doesn’t know about the Follow option, for which he needs no permission. Following a person or company increases the odds of their posts (and related comments) showing up in his feed, which is all Frank is looking for.

It’s possible for people to change their default [Connect] button to [Follow]; I’ve done this myself in Settings. But for most others, click [More...] on their profile to access Follow on the context menu.

The Personalized Invitation – When inviting an aforementioned peripheral insider to connect, I make certain to include a short personalized note of some relevance. It might be as simple as, “You may be aware I’m doing a lot of work for Orion; let’s connect.”

I find it easiest to do this while viewing the person’s profile on a desktop system.

TIP: If using a mobile device, view the intended recipient’s profile, but don’t click the [Connect] button. Instead, click [More...], then select Personalize invite as I’ve done at right with my connection invitation to Michael.

NOTE: Rarely do I choose to connect with anyone displayed on one of those People you may know..., More suggestions for you..., or Recommended people for you lists. LinkedIn has little idea as to who I want to strategically include in my first-degree network. That said, I do occasionally scan such lists just in case there is someone I’d like to connect with.

Also, I never accept an invitation where that person hasn’t bothered to view my profile first. Such types aren’t really interested in a mutual business relationship. And before accepting any invitation, I scrutinize that person’s profile to make certain they’re for real. I immediately report all phony profiles to LinkedIn for them to deal with. (That’s another [More...] menu option.)

Limited Character Count – Invitations have a limited character count of 300, including spaces and carriage returns. This can often be problematic when you have more to convey than “Hey, it would be great to connect!”

Along with a more meaningful message that includes an incentive for them, I like to include a closing, my name, and a link where they can learn more about me and the many things I do with respect to B2B content creation. Often you have to get creative in squeezing in salient points (a four-letter synonym for a ten-letter word can be a godsend).

TIPS: In reminding someone about our existing or potential business relationship, sometimes I first reach out using InMail to skirt the aforementioned character limitation. Once I get a friendly response, only then do I send the connection invitation.

For others—perhaps those in a higher position—you might Follow them and comment on their posts for awhile. After they get used to seeing your name in a favorable light (you wrote complimentary things in those comments, right?) it may be a good time to send them a connection invitation. This is one method of favorable relationship building.

Pay attention to who’s commenting

about what. They may be a prospect.

Video Invitation – Known as The LinkedIn Unlocker, Angus Grady uses an interesting approach. He simply inserts a very short note along with a link to an individualized video introduction he creates using Vidyard. (And I received an embedded audio-only message from him via LinkedIn InMail as I began writing this.)

Strategic Networking – Build your LinkedIn network strategically—it’s not about developing a fan club. Simply gaining a huge number of random connections is akin to collecting baseball cards, as LinkedIn trainer/author Wayne Breitbarth puts it. You know—there the bulging card collection sits in a shoebox relegated to the attic, never to be looked at. And just like those baseball cards, the vast majority of those LinkedIn connections are utterly worthless to you.

Connection Benefits – Once connected, it’s time to start nurturing your new relationship. As an added bonus, typically you have access to their Rolodex, er, 1st-degree LinkedIn networks they’ve themselves built. But unlike Rolodexes, LinkedIn automatically keeps such contact databases mostly current, with all data voluntarily offered and updated by active (operative word) members. In connecting with Michael, it may become of interest who he knows and could possibly introduce me to through LinkedIn.

Value of the LinkedIn Feed – Pay attention to who’s commenting about what. Example: Alumni Relations Director Susan forwards posts to the LinkedIn feed from those who attended the same private school as me. Many went on to become movers and shakers in high-tech. One is Jeannie, who’s now a product manager at Facebook (which includes Instagram, Oculus, Whatsapp, and the Telecom Infra Project {TIP}—the latter being a top client of mine at present). She was advertising open positions.

Jeannie’s a prospect. In constructing my connection invitation message, I was able to mention both our shared school experience and my TIP affiliation. Below Jeannie’s post was a comment from Meg, a high tech board advisor and VC, among other things.

‘OK... did Meg also go our school,’ I wondered? A quick check of her profile revealed that she did. Again I used this information and my high-tech work history to connect with her, too. (What immediately ensued via messaging was a fun trip down memory lane back in Hometown, USA.)

What about all of those who simply Liked Jeannie’s post? Clicking any one of those might turn up another high-tech prospect from our same school. But better yet, clicking the circled number displays a list of them all. You can then check out any or all of them at will. Our shared school experience being what it was (“The Most Enchanted and Enchanting Setting In America,” wrote Wolf von Eckhardt, Washington Post Art & Architecture Critic), I'll likely want to connect with most or all of them.

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Click the following link for a catalog of all of my posted articles: https://chrismorton.fyi.to/tips-about-linkedin-editing-writing-branding-high-tech-windows

As the principal of Isn't That Write, Chris Morton is a freelance B2B/B2C marcom editor, author, proofreader and jargon translator working in the high tech realm with companies such as Telecom Infra Project, Orca Security, Exabeam, Philips Lifeline, and Innolitics—always seeking to "Do the write thing."

Specializing in technical writing and the user experience (UX)—coupled with a marketing bent—ITW edits and creates marcom collateral and technical documents for audiences ranging from CTOs and CIOs, from developers to operators, and end users across a wide range of disciplines.

ITW also coaches up-and-coming content authors as their work is being edited, so they can “learn to fish” (as the Chinese proverb/Italian adage/Native American saying/Anna Isabella Thackeray Ritchie quote goes).