Most professionals know LinkedIn is a networking platform for employers and working professionals, allowing companies to present themselves through online pages and for users to find job listings and enhance their network in their area of expertise.

Businesses use it as a platform for businesses to connect with potential leads, prospects and acquire clients.

LinkedIn is also a popular social recruiting tool provided it is used properly.

I’ve already covered topics on optimizing one’s profile and the unique etiquette to be applied when creating connections for job search assistance and growing one’s network.

One thing professionals don’t realize is just because they send out an invite to someone, doesn’t oblige the receiver to accept that connection (you can check 9 good reasons for that rejection here).

Even if they do accept the connection invite, it doesn’t mean much unless one builds a relationship and they can remove the connection or even block the other person if certain boundaries are trespassed.

In my post on making your one-on-one networking effective, I’d pointed out that LinkedIn is not a numbers game but requires making meaningful contacts.

Otherwise maxing out the number of connections you have without really knowing those connections well doesn’t serve much purpose.

There is another way to expand your network and actually get to know others on LinkedIn too. It’s by talking to them or rather communicating online through LinkedIn Groups.

Groups are a key component to the success of your future networking efforts on LinkedIn.

Groups are where you can get to know other professionals in your industry or field and engage with them. They might be able to provide the leads for a new job or even business provided you are active in that Group.

I’ve made some wonderful professional connections and then discovered we had a lot in common even outside of the Group and profession and strong friendships have been forged that make it impossible to believe I’m half way across the world from these professionals.

One thing to remember – no matter what your membership level is with LinkedIn (free or premium) – you’re limited to joining only 50 groups. So use some care in joining.

If you find later that some groups are not proving to be as productive as you want, you can leave a group so that you may join another.

But before you go and start applying to join groups that are relevant to your profession or industry, make sure you have a complete profile.

A completed profile is very important because many group owners/moderators actually review your profile to make sure you are an ‘appropriate’ new member for the group.

It happened to me when I wanted to join the global Alumni Group of the partner firm where I had done my training. In the years that followed, that firm had merged with another firm. I had to provide evidence that I had worked for them and was a Bonafide alumni.

New people with incomplete details very often will have a difficult time getting accepted into the more active and beneficial groups, but since you have taken the time to set up a good, solid professional profile – you should have no problem getting into the majority of the groups that you apply for.

How to find and engage in the right Groups for your job search or business leads

You can join up to 50 groups. Unless you spend all your waking hours engaging in conversations and discussions in these Groups, I doubt you’ll get very far with your goal leveraging LinkedIn Groups for your goals.

Instead of joining all 50 groups in 1 go, I suggest you use the following approach.

First decide on your intention for joining a group.

After that, look for large groups with high engagement rates. If you’re looking for a new job, then focus on 1-5 groups that fit the bill and then participate actively.

If that feels daunting, then start with your Alumni or professional Groups who will be happy to welcome you and it will be easier for you to also connect personally with group members.

If you’re in job search mode or looking for business leads or collaborators, you need to be able to talk to people in the company you’re targeting for the job or business.

That means connecting and building relationships with people who work for that company or even own it. Let them know you’re looking for a position.

When you join a Group, you also get access to their job postings that might not be advertised or available in the general job search function of LinkedIn.

Joining a Group is not enough though– you need to engage in discussions and even start conversations that bring value to the Group.

When other Group Members see you being active, they will get to know you and inclined to help if they see a common interest or ground.

The best part about Groups is you can send messages to Group Members although there is a daily cap to prevent misuse.

Make sure you read the rules established by the Group Manager or Admin for each of the Groups that you join and observe the Group and discussions before joining in.

Of course you want to get noticed but it has to be as a valuable new member, not a sore thumb!

Do this to create the right impression in your new LinkedIn Group

Once you have joined all of your selected groups, write a brief intro about yourself and your business – nothing too elaborate, just enough to let the group owner and members know that you are going to be a valued contributing member of the group.

I usually spin it a bit for every 4 to 5 groups, as there are going to many people that will belong to several of the same groups you are posting to – you don’t want it to look totally ‘copy and paste’ across all 50 groups!

So spin it a bit – change up the opening sentence every few sites, switch the paragraphs around, change the close.

You don’t have to write something totally unique for each one. But you do want to vary it a bit so that across the 50 groups you have at least 5 different versions, and ideally 10 different versions.

Consider content curation.

And if you’re like me, you don’t need to join all 50 groups in 1 go. I have about 25 based on education, profession and interests and I find that’s enough for my networking.

Have you leveraged the power of Groups for you career or business goals yet?

Additional Guidance on using LinkedIn Groups

This post would be incomplete without providing some guidance on using Groups on LinkedIn. Especially if you have never used them before. Here are 2 sources to help you.

LinkedIn Groups Membership – Overview

Find and Join a LinkedIn Group

5 Mistakes Professionals Make on LinkedIn

A lot of networking right now is shifting online as we continue our COVID-19 year but it doesn’t mean we can’t apply one-on-one networking practices in the virtual world.

In fact, how good are your online networking skills?

This isn’t a trick question.

It’s based on an observation I’m making on LinkedIn – the Numero Uno social media platform meant for serious networkers looking to expand their business or professional network for career progression.

It’s the number of non-personalized invitations, the people who don’t respond when you ask them their reasons for wanting to connect or hit you with a CV asking for help with getting a job or a sales pitch for a product or service without considering if you’re the right person.

And I’m not the only one. This morning I saw a post from a Career Coach who openly vented about sales pitches and pick your brain sessions that weren’t useful to either party.

Or another LinkedIn connection of mine who is a highly respected LinkedIn Trainer who received a personalized invitation to connect and then the next message after accepting the connection request was to offer him a service to improve his profile for more business leads.

In the words of Bertie Wooster – Egad.

Guess what?

That’s not networking – it’s repelling a fellow professional who can be helpful if approached the right way.

It’s also not about trying to get 30,000 people to connect with you without knowing anything about them.

If you’re making this mistake because someone told you ‘connect and build a network’, then there is a vital piece of the equation that they might not have mentioned.

Or if they did, you didn’t hear it because you focused on doing 1 click invites to build an enviable 30,000 network.

Networking on LinkedIn isn’t a numbers game…

…it’s about making a meaningful connection with someone you can learn from, who in turn can teach you new things.

On LinkedIn, it’s about being able to communicate with the connection and develop a real contact. That communication could be in writing at first and then even a telephone call or a meeting if you’re in the same city.

In other words, communication is important and if you can do it on the phone, Skype or in person, brownie points!

Unfortunately, this makes networking suddenly seem more intimidating.

This is where time spent learning how to network can be valuable.

• Take time to practice having conversations.
• Start by talking to family and friends.
• Practice your listening skills.

Then once you’ve learned what it means to engage with others, practice again on those people you’ve lost touch with over the years, (and rebuild some great relationships in the process.)

Once you feel confident, take this newfound knowledge into the field, and test it on the people you want most to connect with and meet whether virtually or in person.

Will every encounter come out perfect? Probably not…

If you keep in mind every conversation becomes an opportunity to learn, you will soon be feeling more confident each time you meet someone new.

And if you’re thinking in these days of social distancing you can’t network, then let go of that excuse. It’s a limiting belief giving you permission to avoid conversations.

You can do it on LinkedIn and you can start doing it right now by contacting your contacts and start building meaningful relationships.

Drop them a line and ask how they’ve been? You don’t need an ulterior motive or agenda. Just be human and authentic.

If you’re not sure about how to invite and engage with new connections, I’ve got a post with the 10 rules of engagement you need to keep in mind when networking on LinkedIn including the story of a real Missing Link I met on LinkedIn.

In fact, you can use the same guidance on Facebook if that’s your favorite place to hang out.

5 Professional Tips for One-on-One Networking

Not all networking happens at live events. Some of the most effective networking you can do happens over coffee meetings.

One-on-one catch ups, whether they’re in real life or virtual, give you a chance to really connect without the distractions of being in a big crowd.

More often than not, I’ve noticed professionals ignore their existing or hidden network and reach out to strangers on social media, especially LinkedIn and Facebook when approaching a warm network would be more beneficial than cold networking.

Recently a highly experienced professional approached me for help with his job hunt and the fact that I was not in recruitment or executive search didn’t stop him from asking. That’s alright because I told him to contact the right people for achieving his job hunt goal.

As it turned out, we had 3 common connections and one of them was in talent management services.

There was no excuse for not renewing this contact other than the resistance arising from having been out of touch. According to this professional, he wanted to try out other professionals before turning to his existing network that he had not been in touch with.

Here’s the thing. It’s very easy to fall out of touch with people. It happens with the best of us.

We get busy with our jobs and family life and only remember them when we are in trouble.

Then we feel sheepish about asking for help and go off on a tangent asking strangers who don’t know us from Adam or Eve for help and expect miracles.

There’s  simpler way to have a robust network.

Maintain contact with your current network and all of the people in it is going to help you grow.

Follow up with people – your mentors, colleagues, and other contacts – on a regular basis to see how they’re doing.

Keep them up to date on you as well. Remember, don’t make it all about you; you will want them to know what you’re up to while also finding out what they’ve been up to.

Does that sound like a Herculean task?

Here’s a quick tip – at least send them a greeting on their birthdays and on festivals. You’ll stay top of mind and you never know, it might bring up the chance to actually catch up and make the connection stronger.

As with other professional activities where you are investing time and effort, you need to have a plan and more importantly a method to make it effective.

Here are five tips to make your one-on-one networking even more effective.

Always have a purpose for the networking meeting

Whether your networking meeting is taking place offline like say a coffee meeting or a virtual one over Zoom or Skype, your networking meeting is more likely to be effective if it’s clear why it’s happening.

In other words, what’s the purpose of the meeting?

Are you looking for a mentor, or a new position? Has the person been recommended to you? Maybe you’re new in town and looking to connect with peers.

If it’s a get-to-know-you meeting, it’s okay to talk about common interests like books, movies, or sports.

The other person’s time is valuable too and its important to make sure you’re both meeting for a good reason.

Picking their brains for free advice is not a good purpose!

Be strategic

Do your research and identify leaders that you really want to connect with. Be clear about where you want to be in a year, five years’ time and seek out the people who can help you get there.

Part of the point of networking is not just the people you meet, but the people they know who can help you grow your own network.

If you have changed jobs, sectors, or towns, connecting with the right people can help you hit the ground running.

Make the meeting mutually beneficial

I mentioned earlier that picking someone’s brains for free advice is not a good purpose for a meeting unless of course you have made that intention clear at the time of inviting the person to the meeting and they have agreed.

A good networking meeting isn’t just about what you can get out of the other person – there has to be some benefit for them too. It’s what I call netweaving – an activity that can make you a valuable connection for others.

Think about what you can offer. What are your special skills or connections? Do you have acquaintances or experiences in common?

Pay the other person the respect of doing some background research so you know where they’re from, and what their career path and big projects have been.

Networking is a Two-Way Street.

When someone helps you out and makes a positive connection for you, then you have to be sure that you give back in some way. You simply can’t keep going back and asking for help without giving back in return.

The giving back can take many forms. Maybe a box of chocolates if they’ve helped you get a job or even an introduction to another contact of yours who can be beneficial to their business or work. Sometimes even a sincere letter of thanks or a recommendation on LinkedIn works.

Keep an eye out for their interests and make an introduction at an opportune moment. The choices are not restricted.

Respect your new contact’s time

Remember this person has made time for you in their day. Be respectful of that and keep to the agreed time (don’t be late!).

Don’t hog the conversation, and make sure the meeting doesn’t go over time, unless the other person is keen to keep talking. In an offline setting, you can give them your business card, but don’t hand over your resume or a pitch book for business unless it’s requested.

Likewise, if the meeting is virtual, don’t send the resume or a business proposal unless they have asked you for it.

Remember your manners

Be polite during your meeting and remember to follow up within twenty-four hours with a brief email thanking them for taking time out to talk.

Gratitude goes a long way. When someone helps you in whatever way, being grateful will go a long way.

After having a conversation with someone in person or online, send them a quick thank you note for their time.

It’s a small thing, but letting people know they are appreciated will go a long way and encourage them to want to speak with you again.

If you committed to sending an article or book refence, remember to follow up. You want this first meeting to set the tone for a future meaningful relationship.

Whether you’re building an offline or online network, the basics of professionalism and good manners stay the same.

Treat the other person the way you would wish to be treated and you can’t go wrong.

Happy Networking!

Did you know that LinkedIn was originally meant to have been a platform for job hunters before it became a business platform too?

In fact, I joined LinkedIn way back in 2008 to reconnect with my globally scattered colleagues and create a database of my contacts to keep in touch. In time it became a means of offering mutual support for our lead referrals and enhancing our network.

Since then the network has gone on to include new contacts some of whom are fellow coaches and others with whom there is synergy for mutually beneficial business opportunities. Some of these contacts are now considered friends and our association has moved on to emails and Skype calls to ‘catch up’. Both parties have nurtured the connection.

I was listening to a webinar by JoAnne Funch of Marketing Dish last week and she referred to the choice of nurturing relationships or building a database.

I’m an admirer of Ms Funch and I listen to her and read her guidance very carefully because she is on the money.

JoAnne’s words hit a nerve.

Along the way, I too have found myself become an involuntary member of an online Yellow Pages Directory.

I’ve culled my contacts to contain real people who engage with me –even if it is only to wish me on my birthday or acknowledge my greetings.

The past week, I received 2 LinkedIn invitations where 1 person mentioned their reason to connect was for the purposes of finding a job even though he knew I was not in Executive Search.

Considering he had over 50 connections in common with me who were better equipped for the task, I felt he really should have approached them. As it turned out nobody responded.

Had he cultivated the connections?

The answer was no. I suggested he update his profile and start building relationships with contacts who could get him a job interview.

Then I got another invite from a lady who was looking for a job for a Chartered Accountant friend of hers with 2-years’ work experience and wanted access to my network. She stated as much in her invitation email.

We have 1 mutual connection in common and I told her that he was a better referral fit for her friend. The lady couldn’t recognize the contact until I sent her a link to his profile.

As for me, she hadn’t checked my profile properly and might as well have done a 1 click connection. I have resources for job hunters and gave her a link to share with her friend.

Her response? She’d think about.  You can see why I didn’t connect with her.

These 2 experiences and the webinar got me thinking about job hunters and the way they use LinkedIn or even understand the dynamics of this platform.

One of the best ways to open doors for possible job interviews is to get referred for the position but nobody is going to refer a complete stranger.

This holds true in the offline world and is equally important in the online world, whether you are looking for a job or a business referral.

I’ve already written about trusting strangers on LinkedIn and being a savvy networker.

I’ve also explained the finer nuances of job hunting in the online world in my Kindle book 5 Reasons your Job Hun is failing

In this post, I’m going to focus on 5 tips that I can give job hunters on LinkedIn.

Build Relationships even before you need them by making it about them first

In other words, keep in touch and be of service. One of the easiest ways to do this is to share an article or link to one with personalized message to your connection telling them that you thought they might find it interesting.

It serves 3 purposes – keeps you top of mind in case an opportunity comes to their attention, helps get a conversation started and establish your professional presence.

Create a schedule to keep in touch

This is an excellent way to nurture and build relationships. It could be a friendly email every few months to check in or even greet them for a special occasion. LinkedIn makes it easy to do this with their notifications service.

Create a profile that shows you as a professional and as a person, not a cut and paste of your resume

Gone are the days when simply uploading your resume worked. There are lots of talented professionals out there looking for a job and your task is to stand above the noise.

Showcase your talents and skills and if you did something exemplary during your career or school days, like a hobby or passion show it.

One recent example that I can share is from a LinkedIn expert who invited me to connect. I have been following him for the longest while and knew of his expertise.

This time, while I was preparing to respond to his invite, I checked the profile again. I discovered we had both written for our respective school and university newsletters.

Imagine my delight at finding a mutual interest. It also explained why I enjoyed reading his books – he got his experience way back before he joined the workforce!

Learn how to ask for a referral for a job

This is where building a relationship earlier helps because the person from whom you are asking for a referral or introduction can easily decline, especially if they don’t know you.

That’s the mistake the 2 job hunters I mentioned earlier made with me and I’m sure with others too, especially the first person.

He simply sent me a message he was looking for a job. His LinkedIn profile was incomplete and he wasn’t willing to get on the phone to talk to me.

A better approach especially when requesting a referral from someone who doesn’t know you that well, write to them with reference to what you have been doing and your current work history and the specific job that you are looking at.

Ask them if they are comfortable giving you a reference. Offer to forward your updated resume so that the referrer has something to work with.

Give them the option to decline if they aren’t comfortable with it.

I remember when I was setting up my credentials as an independent IFRS Consultant, a family friend and colleague approached highly respected Alumnus on my behalf who agreed to see my resume and portfolio of professional work.

He was impressed but had the principle that if he was going to refer anyone, he had to talk to them too. By chance, he was visiting New Delhi. We met up over a cup of coffee and he got a chance to assess me as a professional and ask in detail about my work.

I landed one of the biggest projects I could have envisaged that helped me meet half of my business plan revenue target that year.

You can get more guidance on framing the letter or email in this post from Happy Schools that provides a framework for your referral request. How to Ask a Stranger in LinkedIn for Job Referral

Let your referrer know if someone contacts you

Getting a referral for a job might not lead to getting the job if the hirer doesn’t think you’re a good fit. The fact a potential employer reached out to you based on a recommendation is an important enough event for you to reach out to the referrer. Update them about it.

Thanking them for the introduction has the added benefit that perhaps the referrer can reinforce the recommendation once they know the company is interested.

Besides, it’s good manners and if that introduction doesn’t work out, the referrer might be willing to look out for something better suited to you.

Follow these 5 tips and your job hunt on LinkedIn will lead to better results than you might be having right now.

At the end of the day, it’s all about building relationships and becoming a real human behind a LinkedIn profile.

It can take anywhere between 6-8 months to land the perfect job. Building a viable network instead of a database of strangers is always a better strategy.

Have you ever used LinkedIn to find a job or potential leads?

What advice would you add to these 5 tips?

Savvy professional build networking relationships on LinkedIn

What transpired in the following 24 hours left me wondering – was I actually dealing with a professional leave alone a savvy one?

Maybe an alien who did not understand the basics of written communication with a stranger on LinkedIn? Was this a prelude to what I read in the papers about cybercrimes that seem to occur on social media sites?

What I did know was that I was annoyed.

It all started innocently enough with a boiler template invitation to connect from a 2^nd level connection that had a profile picture but a skeletal profile. I could not place the person and in line with my recommendations in my previous posts on sending LinkedIn invitations, I asked how we knew each other.

The reply to my question was sent in the form of 3 messages within the course of 1 hour that went, ad verbatim, like this:

1^st message: Hi. I do not know you and am messaging you, hope I didn’t irritate you. I am 45 male, (city location), married. Is it OK to befriend a stranger? What do you do?

I saw this message while logged on my email account and made a mental note to ignore the invitation. I mean, you are asking me what I do, meaning you haven’t bothered to read my profile or noted my instructions before sending me an invite to connect.

Besides, LinkedIn is a professional networking platform not a friendship one, even though I have befriended quite a few new connections over a long period of time.

A few minutes later, I got another message:

Would it be OK or immoral? What do u do?

And then another:

I thought we would talk 🙁

By now I knew this was someone who had no idea of any LinkedIn etiquette when messaging and blocked the sender. Apparently, LinkedIn did not work as fast because the next evening, I got another message:

What happened?

Then it stopped because the blocking had come into effect.

Our mutual connection could not remember this person and removed him too.  Did I learn a lesson? Yes. 2nd level connections may not really be known to your 1st level connection – even if they manage to acquire 500+ connections. Trust but verify before connecting.

I’ve been a LinkedIn member since 2008 and I’ve made some meaningful and beneficial business relationships with very savvy professionals. Sadly, there are some peculiar folks out there including spammers, false profiles and weirdoes.

Continuing the series on social media etiquette, in this post, I’m going to touch on 6 basic LinkedIn Etiquette. These can make or break first impressions and the way professionals may perceive you on the most business-like of the major social media platforms.

Show up professionally when inviting people you do not know to connect

Sending appropriately worded invitations to connect, is a subject that I have covered in detail in 2 previous posts – Are You the Missing Link on LinkedIn? and Networking Alert: How to Connect on LinkedIn without trusting Strangers .

I suggested personalizing invitations and explaining why you are connecting.

Neither suggestion is rocket science. Sometimes people don’t realize the consequences of sending boiler invitations to professionals they may not know in the real world. Or write smarty pant type of responses to the invitee who may ask before accepting the invitation about how they know each other.

Offend the person who you are inviting to connect, and that person may take one or both of these actions. Ignore and click the option that they don’t know you or report you as Spam.

Update your profile before sending out invitations to connect and be responsive

Unless I know the person from the offline world, I don’t accept invitations from anyone who doesn’t have a profile picture or a reasonably completed LinkedIn profile. In the above incident the head shot was there with a skeletal profile and 1 known mutual connection.

I still ask how the other person knows me but now ignore the invitation if I don’t receive a response within 5 days.

Interestingly, I’ve seen those inviters view my profile before writing back. It’s an indication that they don’t know me at all or have no mutually beneficial reason to want to connect.

Consider the impression you are making on others if you do something similar, even if unknowingly.

Professionalism

Don’t use Messages, Group Message or connections email address to spam them with offers

This morning, I received a LinkedIn message from someone claiming to be a social media service provider selling me her company’s service. The person had not bothered with proper salutation but instructed me to click a link, watch a video and buy. I could not find a mutual group and did not know this person from Eve apart from a mutual connection.

I don’t think I would like to hire a social media expert who sends spam, would you?

Just because someone has accepted your invitation to connect, is a Group Member or a 2^nd level connect, you do not have permission to add them to your company mailing list without their consent. You should not send them sales offers or copy them on a general message where the other recipients can see their details.

I’ve been seeing a trend towards doing this quite a bit even in 2024.

My theory is that they are more comfortable sending DMs on Twitter thinking the same applies on LinkedIn.

Or their entire motive for connecting in the first place is to send out non-relevant sales letters to their new connects without realizing that the recipient may think of it as spam and automatically delete it, remove the connection and block the sender.

Worse yet, unsubscribe from the newsletter and tell the mailing service that it is spam, thus putting an unnecessary strike against the sender’s name.

It could also be that having read blog posts on how to use LinkedIn for sales and getting clients, they’re ignoring the first rule of connecting, which is adding value.

Even if a new connection appears to be a prima facie ideal prospect, a more sophisticated approach is to offer something of value (whether your own or a link to an article you think they might find interesting).

Build the credibility factor and see how you can be of service. In other words, lay the foundations for a mutual win-win.

Know the difference between asking for advice and high value services for free

This one can be a little tricky. You may be connected to a professional who is your senior in your industry or works in a complementary industry where some of their services are relevant to your immediate need.

Given the fast pace of life, while many professionals would love to help you out with a nugget of precious advice, they may not have the time to meet with you in person for coffee or a phone/ skype conversation so that you can pick their brain or tell them that you want them to help promote your business unless there is a strong WIFM (What’s In It For Me) factor involved.

If their living depends on offering services that are high value and come with a steep price tag, the last thing you should do is ask to talk to them for ‘guidance’ trying to get services for free. Many professionals do pro bono work but that is at their discretion, not because you are connected and want that service gratis.

A better option is to request them to point you to resources or articles that might be helpful. Good manners and respecting the other person’s time can take you a long way.

Don’t confuse LinkedIn with Facebook or Twitter

What works on one social media platform does not impress on another. So fun stuff such as ‘What is your Elf Name?’ O

r ‘share if you can find the frog’ may appear quaint on Facebook or Pinterest but ……do I have to say it?

Likewise, keep a tab on how many times you post updates during the day. Once or twice is fine provided you are able to share something of value to your network.

Be mindful of the LinkedIn Algorithm. It’s better to post less and engage more to build relationships.

There have been times when I have logged onto LinkedIn and my home page has been taken over by a headhunter who has posted about 10 or more job listings in 1 go. Often someone decided to update their profile and forgot to turn off the updates.

If someone is having a bad day or finds this irritating, they might turn off your notifications and miss your more pertinent updates that offer an opportunity to engage with meaning.

LinkedIn is by far an amazing networking, business and job-hunting platform. Remember there is etiquette to connecting and engaging with people with whom you don’t have an offline relationship.

Resist the temptation to lurk

You may not be a lurker per se but guess what, when you visit someone’s profile, it appears in their Profile View statistics.

If you are planning to keep visiting the same profile a couple of times during the day, consider making your profile anonymous. Do something better by sending them a message to connect, if there is a mutually beneficial aspect to contacting them.

Think about it, are you innocently committing a LinkedIn faux pas? Or maybe you’ve been the one on whom the faux pas was committed? Do share your experience with me in the comments box below.

Do it with me service

Take charge of your brand on LinkedIn

With a proper professional profile and savvy 15 minute actions on a daily basis, you can leverage LinkedIn to increase your visibility and credibility, which as you know are hallmarks of a credentialed professional. Here is an easy way to do it yourself with my help – Build Your Brand on LinkedIn.

Written By: Vatsala Shukla

I wrote about connecting on LinkedIn sometime back in my blog post “Are You the Missing Link on LinkedIn?”.

It became so popular with spammers that my IT guy deleted all comments as a safeguard. Considering the spike in the number of trusting strangers wanting to connect with me in recent times, the topic merits a revisit.

Now, I am immune to the generic invitation

I’d like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn

If I know the person, I accept the invitation immediately. Then I drop a line to them telling them how delighted I am to reconnect and catch up with what’s been happening.

I’ve updated my contact details on LinkedIn clearly stating how I can be contacted. If the person does not know me, they have to tell me the reason for wanting to connect & not pretend to be a friend.

Not that some people read the bottom of the LinkedIn profile or bother to honor my request. That’s okay. I’ll simply ask them to jog my ageing memory and remind me how we know each other.

Their reply decides my next course of action.

Since you are a person I trust, I wanted to invite you to join my network on LinkedIn

Imagine my surprise when I first received an invite with the above statement and could not place the person.

(Update October 2017: Since I wrote this post, this particular boiler plate template seems to have disappeared)

So, I logged in and went to look at the profile and found no picture, no details and 3 connections.

The only word that made sense was real estate and that too because as an IFRS specialist. I had done some work for real estate companies being listed on overseas stock exchanges.

Maybe this person is just starting out on this platform. Maybe we have worked together, and I made a good impression in real life.

Wanting to know more, I wrote back asking to be reminded how we knew each other. There was no response and I ignored the request.

You trust me enough to want to connect on LinkedIn but won’t answer a valid question?

Then I got another one where there was a picture of a beautiful model in great clothes.

This time my query resulted in a long message telling me about this apparel company and how they were exporting clothes to so many countries. I was instructed to immediately like their Facebook Page and promote them.

No second guessing, I declined the invitation and marked them as not knowing them. I couldn’t bring myself to mark them as spam but thought more about my reasons for declining these 2 invitations.

Here’s why I declined your invitation.

• I have no idea who you are
• We’ve never met in real life
• Your incomplete LinkedIn profile as the only reference point didn’t pass muster
• The profile shows we have no Group or mutual connection in common
• Your agenda is not clear (I don’t want to like you on Facebook or promote a strange stranger)
• My parents told me not to talk to strangers
• My dog doesn’t trust strangers and neither do I

What you should do instead to get your invitation to connect accepted

This holds true not only for me but others whom you trust but don’t know.

Once my irritation with the clothes horse subsided, I went searching on the platform. That’s when I discovered this being a trusted person is actually another default invitation template.

Nothing wrong with using it except that it makes me think that you are collecting connections, that you are not interested in real networking.

Using a template? Please personalize it!

Read the profile, find something or someone in common and let me know that you want to know me and not my name.

Take a minute to personalize it. I’m not obliged to accept your invitation. If you catch me on a bad day, I might just mark you as spam and if more people mark you as spam, LinkedIn may block you from trusting another stranger for a long time.

Quite possibly you may know the person from another social media platform like Twitter or Facebook Group. You may be in a LinkedIn Group, school alumni or visited their blog in which case mentioning this   takes the sting out of the person I trust business.

It demonstrates that you are not a stranger, just someone who, for whatever reason selected a default template.

The stranger who made a difference

I got the “I trust you” invite from someone who had a photograph and the headline “looking for a job opportunity”. The profile was somewhat complete. We had 4 connections in common and I sent a communication asking how we knew each other.

To my pleasant surprise, I got an immediate reply that was honest, respectful and confirmed that we did not know each other. We were from the same professional background. She was looking for a job and hoped I could help her.

My heart melted. I’m a veteran of 3 economic recession-based redundancies. I know it takes courage to reach out and say that I need a job.

I gave her a few tips on how to improve her LinkedIn profile – things that I provide in my Build Your Brand on LinkedIn service gratis. She was grateful for the assistance which was implemented immediately. I was happy to have made a difference.

A few more to and fro by email with more suggestions for her job hunt and I accepted her invite.  Knowing enough about her, made it easy to share her CV with my circle and ask if someone could help.

My point is, when you want to connect professionally with someone, be upright and honest.

Take the time to craft an invitation that shows you have put some thought into it.

Remember, in the online world, our terms of reference are very different.

You wouldn’t allow a stranger on the street into your home. Similarly, it stands to reason the same applies with someone online.

Have you been bombarded with the person I trust invitation by a stranger? How did you handle it? I’d love to know so please share your experience in the comments box below.

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Written by: Vatsala Shukla