LinkedIn: Where’s the foreplay??

Like you, I receive countless invitations to connect from people who claim to have seen my profile and thought we should connect. And like you, I roll my eyes, wondering if they genuinely like me or if I’m just another notch in their belt.

The other day, feeling a bit fed up, and probably hungry, I decided to reply and said, “As long as you don’t want to sell me anything, we can be best friends forever.”

What was the reply? Well, it turns out they responded with, “I have this survey that I would like for you to complete.” Ugh, I clearly need to be more clear with my intentions.

Through my work with individual clients and during my digital marketing course at HCC, I consistently emphasize that human connection hasn’t disappeared with the digital age. If anything, we need to be more intentional about how we build relationships. I firmly believe in this principle, so much so that I plan to have it engraved on my gravestone: “The most important part of social media is being social.” I’m serious.

You can’t ask someone for something within the first few minutes of building a relationship. It’s like going on a first date and immediately asking if they want to go home together. If the answer is yes, it’s definitely not because the question was initiated during the appetizers. Seriously, who does that?

Where’s the foreplay in building relationships? And who out there is telling people that it’s unnecessary because everyone is too busy? One of my clients learned in a paid program that she should make seven points of contact with a potential client. And by points of contact, I don’t mean general questions like, “Hey, how are you?” or “Did you catch the game last night?” Nope. They’re coming in hot, looking to make a sale as soon as you connect. Can we establish genuine connections and showcase what we have to offer without pushing it on one another from the get-go? Relationships aren’t microwavable meals.

Yes, we’re all busy, but guess what? We’ve always been busy. At the end of the day, people do business with people they genuinely like and trust. Period.

If you’re out there running the same old game across town, do you really think people won’t notice? In the words of Aladdin, one of the best Disney movies ever, “Be yourself.”