5 Tips for sending invitations to connect on LinkedIn that get accepted
To get ahead on Linkedin, you need to build connections and then foster relationships with those people you have connected with. This starts with your invitation to connect. You never get a second change to make a first impression, but so many people blow it by sending out LinkedIn’s standard message. If you want to send out invitations to connect that get accepted, then here are my 5 tips. They work for me and should work for you.
1. Make sure that you can actually send an invitation to connect.
When you click on the [Connect] button, LinkedIn asks you “How do you know..” that person and gives you a number of options:
- Colleague – choose a company
- Classmate – choose a school
- We’ve done business together – choose a company
- Friends – choose if you know the person. If you use this without being a friend, then you risk getting reported and blocked.
- Groups – choose a group
- Other – provide an email address
- I don’t know…
If you have never met the person in real life, then really you have only two options:
- Groups. Check the persons profile to see which groups that they belong to. Now select one of the open groups to join. This will enable you to connect with all the members of that group. To increase your chances of being accepted, start posting useful articles or discussions. Now when you send an invitation to connect, you have turned cold-calling into warm calling.
- Other. Some people include their email address in their summary or additional information section for just this eventuality, but whether you can see it or not will depend on your degree of connectedness to the person and whether they have created a public profile. Alternatively, do some research. Have they included a business website or Twitter account. If you get to know the person on a different media, you can suggest connecting on LinkedIn.
Tip: If you are open to receiving connection requests from people that you don’t know, add an email address that people can use in your summary section as part of your call to action. Make it easy for people to connect with you.
2 – Never send out the standard message
There are 5 places on LinkedIn where you can connect with people:
- on their profile
- when they appear in search results
- when LinkedIn suggests that person, for example on your [Home] screen
- when they viewed your profile, you have the option to click the connect icon under the person’s name
- when you import them from your contacts
However, if you want to send out a personalised message then you can’t use the search results option. This only sends out LinkedIn’s automatic message. LinkedIn’s standard message states “I’d like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn.” Please don’t use it. It’s like walking up to a stranger in the street and handing over your business card. You wouldn’t do it in real life, in fact, many people actively avoid people handing out flyers. Don’t be that person.
3 – Include a salutation
One thing that LinkedIn’s standard message lacks is a salutation i.e. Dear…, Hi…, Hello… the persons name.
LinkedIn is a business forum as so standard business rules apply. It’s just good manners after all, and they cost nothing to use.
4 – Add a personalised message
If you have met the person in real life, use the options to indicate which job, school or business applies, and then add a note to remind them of when you knew each other. The same goes if you have met the person through a training course or networking event.
If, on the other hand, you have never met them, but would like to connect, then tell them how you came across their name or profile. Was it an article that you read, did a friend suggest that you connect, did they view your profile? Personally, I love it when someone connects with me because they read a book or took one of my e-learning courses.
Some of the messages that I have used include:
- I noticed that you viewed my profile. Can I help you at all? In the meantime would you like to connect?
- I really enjoyed the book, article, blog post that you wrote. I would really love to connect with you. (Carol Kaemmerer suggests in her post that she says in her invitations that she would be honoured to connect with the person. It’s one I’m going to adopt in future.)
- I met X and they suggested that you would be a really good person to talk about Y. Could we connect?
5 – Include a closing statement
As in Rule 3, remember this is a business forum, so close your message with something like,:
- Sincerely
- Regards
- Kind regards
and your name.
These tips may seem like common sense, but as always, it’s something that isn’t happening often enough and they do affect whether someone will actually connect with you or not.
If you’re looking to improve your profile or need some help with your resume, why not connect with me. I’m happy to help. Alternatively, my Mastering LinkedIn ebookis always free from BookBoon.