Permissioned Connecting - How I Use My LinkedIn Network To Help Others

When I landed in Vancouver in 2014, I had only 2200 people in my LinkedIn Network. Up to that point, I've ignored LinkedIn as a social media network due to its prior focus on employment and I thought of it as a nice to have glorified resume online.

However, after trying to network in Vancouver and find the people I want to meet, I reverted back to LinkedIn and made it my primary way of connecting with people, due to the fact that Vancouver is one of the hardest cities to navigate, especially when it comes to newcomers.

A total revamp to my profile, a few thousand invites, and several articles later, I was one of the most connected people in the city.

May sound easy, but it took hundreds of coffee meetings and genuine hard work to search and connect with the right people.

I'm privileged five years later to have over 18,000 connections that I'm working hard to and stay in touch with and add value to.

One of the core ways to keep my network active and build goodwill in the community is my open offer to introduce anyone I meet and get to know to my network.

That usually opens me up to the risk of introducing my network to people that may waste their time, are a bad match, or the worst scenario they try to sell them something right off the bat or solicit business.

That’s why I apply what I call permissioned connecting.

The premise is that both parties are capable adults that are responsible for their actions. So all I have to do is ask for permission.

However, who am I kidding, when I introduce someone to one of my connections there will always be an assumption of some sort of endorsement, even if I explain to them that I don't know that person. Eventually, anything they do will reflect on me.

That’s why I follow a simple and effective process that has worked almost every time :)

First I ask the person who is seeking the connection to do the heavy lifting.

I ask them the following in my reply to their request (on email or LinkedIn message):

• Connect with me on LinkedIn
• Search LinkedIn for the people you want to meet
• Find the people that have me as a mutual connection with you
• Send the names and profile links to me along with: 100 words about you and what you are working on (not a pitch, just a human description) + 2 lines on why you want to meet the person (focus on what you want to learn, what you want their help with, what you read about them that got you interested)
• Make sure the above descriptions are in the 3rd person, please

What this ensures is that they are serious about their request and they are willing to do the work.

There are usually 3 outcomes to this:

1. They do the work and come back to me with what I requested.
2. They disappear and do not do the work
3. They complain that they can’t do this, or it’s too much, so I know that they are not a good intro to my connection.

Then I confirm to them my part so that they know what I will do once they do their part. This makes it clear that I'm serious about helping them and there is ambiguity in their mind about what will happen next.

This also helps me manage expectations, letting them know that it's totally up to the person to respond and make thing happen.

Here is what I say I would do:

• Share the information with my connection in a LinkedIn message or email
• Ask my connection if they are interested in connecting and what is the best way to connect with them
• Once I hear back from my connection I will let you know
• If the answer is a yes, I will make the intro

Then I finish with this important note:

This approach may not be what people are used to when they ask for an intro or help in connecting to someone. Unfortunately, people are used to ineffective ways that do not build trust and are not focused. I don’t do support that.

This approach does require you to do your research and be laser focused in your ask, but that’s what it takes to gain access to the network I’ve spent years building on a foundation of trust by adding value. If you think that’s a lot to ask, I understand and I respectfully decline to make the connection.

This makes it obvious that I take this very seriously, that there is a reason to why I do this in this way, and I preempt their possible request to just do an intro the way that everyone does an intro.

I added this note because I've had someone scream at me because they found it hard to do the research and find the people they want to connect with. They called me a hypocrite for not connecting them to the right people without this ridiculous process!

Yes, these people exist, and while I've helped hundreds using this way and there was one person that had this reaction, it's always better, in my opinion, to preempt this when possible :)

Connecting people together is an amazing way to activate your network and to help people in your community.

You do not have to have thousands of connections to do this. And you can do this on LinkedIn or any other network you are using, even on email.

Here is what the LinkedIn message or email I use looks like. Feel free to use it as a template and make sure you edit it to match your tone of voice and personality.

Hi

Thank you for your email

Happy to introduce you, I follow a simple and effective process that has worked almost every time :)

Your Part:

? Connect with me on LinkedIn

? Search LinkedIn for the people you want to meet

? Find the people that have me as a mutual connection with you

? Send the names and profile links to me along with

100 words about you and what you are working on (not a pitch, just a human description)

2 lines on why you want to meet the person (focus on what you want to learn, what you want their help with, what you read about them that got you interested)

? Make sure the above descriptions are in the 3rd person please

My Part:

? Share the information with them in a LinkedIn message or email

? Ask the person if they are interested in connecting and what is the best way to connect with them

? Once I hear back from them I will let you know

? If the answer is a yes, I will make the intro

Important Note:

This approach may not be what people are used to when they ask for an intro or help in connecting to someone. Unfortunately, people are used to ineffective ways that do not build trust and are not focused. I don’t do support that.

This approach does require you to do your research and be laser focused in your ask, but that’s what it takes to gain access to the network I’ve spent years building on a foundation of trust by adding value. If you think that’s a lot to ask, I understand and I respectfully decline to make the connection.

Trust this is clear and helpful

Let me know if you have any questions or need more information

Looking forward to hearing back from you

Enjoy a remarkable day

Like, comment, and share if you found this helpful and let me know if you have other ideas of how you activate your network to help others.