Why Link In and Then Ignore?

This has bothered me since the first time my LinkedIn (LI) connection was requested, and then nothing more happened. What has happened is this - someone in the professional world asks me to connect. I review their profile, considering we could each benefit from association, I accept… and then I never hear from this person, ever.

In most situations when asked, I accept a request to connect and then kindly suggest we meet to learn more about each other’s work, with the smallest expectation of mutually referring to one another’s business. Make sense? I thought so. Years after creating a LI account, completing it to an All Star level (as suggested by the LI prompts), I continue to get requests to be part of someone’s network, only to be ignored when I message them. I don’t get it. This doesn’t happen with everyone of course; and yet, without any scientific research, I would guess that more than 50% of those I send a message to never respond. And here’s the crazier thing – I can see that they’ve read my note!

  Without any scientific research, I would guess that more than 50% of those I send a message to never respond.

Guessing there might be some clarity about this mystery in a world beyond my own, I Googled the question “why don't people answer linked in messages” and found one article titled Top 10 Reasons Your LinkedIn Messages Are Being Ignored. Honestly, the time I spent reading the article was valuable time I’ll never get back, despite learning the statistics on how many people Link In per second. If there was any sense to the author’s viewpoint, it was stated in the obvious – headhunters and HR reps are searching LI to find candidates for vacancies they’ve been hired to fill. And since my unanswered requests to meet are not with those looking to hire, this data didn’t help me at all. People who request my LI connection are typically local business professionals.

Then I found an article on the Forbes website. There, the reasons for LI requests to connect being ignored included:

• lack of proper spelling and punctuation in a profile,
• a profile without a job title,
• not customizing messages for those we wish to meet, and
• not getting the name of who one messages right.

Check. Check. Check. And, duh! I pass on all these obvious recommendations, including the suggestion to state my reason for connecting.

Here’s a typical message that I send in response to a new LI request:

Hello Maureen ~ Thanks for the opportunity to connect on LI! I welcome a phone call or even a visit over coffee to learn more about your work and to share mine. At the very least, we could mutually refer. Might you have time early next week, Monday afternoon or Wednesday morning?

Be well, Kate

As I’ve stated, over half of my requests go unanswered. One woman just wrote “Not sure.” Weeks later, she still hasn’t made up her mind, and that was even after I shared with her that I had later discovered we have a mutual friend. I figured this information would allow her to check me out if she thought I might be dangerous!

I know it’s not just me. I hear many others who have had similar experiences. Some even tell me I get more answers from my requests to meet than they have. And many of my LI connections that answer their messages have resulted in benefits to both my business and for those I’ve met. I just got off the phone with a longtime friend who received a job application from someone he discovered was a connection of mine on LI. He told me a personal connection puts her higher up on his list of candidates. Also as a result of LI, I recently began meeting with a local group of entrepreneurs. We gather on a regular basis to discuss business concerns, and offer each other support. We discuss insight to small business practices and procedures, affordable marketing, and customer service. This helpful group is the result of one woman’s search on LI to find and connect with other local small business owners. And even if our group meetings eventually dissolve, together we have laughed, learned, and taken time out of our busy, often stressful days to enjoy the company of new friends. Some of life’s best experiences are realized far beyond the time in which we experience them.

  This helpful group is the result of one woman’s search on LinkedIn to find and connect with other small business owners.

  So I ask you, what great professional benefits have you gained through a LI connection? I welcome hearing from you, and I promise to answer your message.

Be well ~ Kate