Lately I’ve been receiving a lot of LinkedIn invitations from people I do not know with the generic “I’d like to add you to my network” message and nothing else. This just isn’t doing it for me. Maybe I should know you, but without a compelling message, it’s hard to make that decision. And please don’t take the easy way out and assume I will click on the link to your profile. Explain in the body of your email why I should connect to someone I don’t know and what the possible professional synergies are. That will capture my attention and make you much more credible in my eyes.
LinkedIn users should stop mining data and start creating authentic relationships on-line that can eventually lead to valuable professional partnerships. That’s the way to optimize its value.
I appreciate your reminder about linked in. I was recently adding a few friends there and found myself hitting the enter key too fast and sending without a message–a good reminder to move more slowly!
LinkedIn has become the new pet rock or mood ring for this year…everyone has got to be a part of it even if they don’t really know what it does. I usually just ignore an invitation from people I don’t know, and only connect to someone I feel I could really say something positive about. I always think about how embarassing it would be to have someone call me and say “I see where you’ve made a connection on LinkedIn with Joe Blow…what can you tell me about him?” And I just say, “Well…nothing. I just hit the “I accept” button and don’t know diddly about him.” That doesn’t make me look too good, does it?
Anita Bruzzese
http://www.45things.com