Dear Person I've Never Met Who Wants to Connect on LinkedIn
I love LinkedIn. I really do as the content platform it has become as well as its initial incarnation as a pure networking site. My profile here is an extension of me outside of the digital world - someone who likes to make connections and help others advance. I accept nearly all of my LinkedIn requests, but one of my pet peeves is the random generic connection requests. I get about ten random ones a month where I have no obvious link.
LinkedIn is a big enabler of this by automatically sending default request copy when you act on the "recommended connections" list. There is a way to edit these after hitting connect. On desktop, you can personalize from a member's profile:
- Move your cursor over the Down arrow in the top section of someone’s profile.
- Select Personalize invitation from the dropdown menu
When I do send a "cold" request, I make sure that I state a purpose and how I know that person:
- "XYZ suggested that I get in touch with you"
- "I wanted to understand more about how you are doing XYZ"
- "I saw your post about XYZ and ...."
- "I saw you present at [conference] and ...."
- Or just a simple "We're in the same industry/role/location, and I wanted to buy you a cup of coffee to talk about ...."
Bottom line: Make it personal. Stepping off my soapbox now.
Edit: Absolutely call me out if I don't practice what I preach!
Disclaimer: One specific request did not spark this post. If you have recently sent a connection request to me, don't take this personally.
Associate Director, Technical Product Marketing at Stack Overflow
4 年YES! Just got one last week that began, "Hi, {{contact firstname}}" Now that's a personal touch, isn't it?
Partnerships Marketing Manager at Anthology
5 年????
Vice President, Program Manager - Global Strategy & Enterprise Platforms, Bank of America
6 年Agreed. More often than not, I will accept an invitation to connect, but taking the time to add? a single line of personalization goes a long way.
FCIM, Sr Director, Global Marketing - Conferencing, Shure Inc
9 年Well said Vivek. I will only connect to people I have met in the real world (or spoken to on the phone at least), and where there is some current, or potentially future, mutual value in being connected. I totally resent sales people prospecting with generic connection requests - no credibility for them or their proposition at all.
Story Builder, Passionate EdTech Guy, Marketer, Baseball Coach
9 年Thanks for the comments! I can't tell if I got a string of blind connection requests as a joke, or just coincidentally!