How your LinkedIn success is dependent upon the invitation
How many invitations have you received in the last week or two that were sent with the default invitation? You know the one…
“I’d like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn .” – Jane Doe
Did you wonder what they had in mind when they decided to invite you? What was it about you that attracted them? Were they interested in your skills or connecting because you shared multiple connections.
How you invite people to your network will have a direct reflection on your success
Your goal should be to build meaningful connections that meet your business objectives. If you don’t have business objectives you may want to consider the following criteria for LinkedIn success rates that are dependent upon your invitation:
– Attract new clients
– Position yourself as a thought leader
– Connect with influencer’s in your industry
– Find and hire employees
– Connect with potential donors or sponsors
Next you should set-up some campaign goals, so when you are searching for those meaningful connections you have purpose and thus can focus your invitation on your goals.
– Position a new product or service
– Increase awareness about you or product
– Find referral partners
– Find organizations to speak
– Build a network of colleagues
– Find niche you want to target
Make your invitation to join you on LinkedIn specific:
Dear Jim,
I am looking to increase my network by building associations with Realtors. If you are interested, I would enjoy having you as a new connection and someone with whom I can associate with in the future. If you are interested, than please accept this invitation and I look forward to building a mutually beneficial relationship.
Sincerely, JoAnne Funch
Stand Out From The Crowd
Creating a personalized invitation letting the person know why you are inviting them is a great way to stand out from the crowd. Pay attention to the number of default invitations you receive versus the customized ones and tell me which ones stand out in your mind. Now that you know that LinkedIn success dependent upon invitation, you can employ these strategies going forward and find the power of LinkedIn.
Seems simple enough but sadly people aren’t doing this. Remember: Your LinkedIn success is dependent upon invitation acceptance.
2 Responses
Good points JoAnne!
I’m quite comfortable personalizing my LI connect requests – unfortunately, occasionally I send the default message without realizing it!
At least one time per week I’m looking at who’s viewed my LI profile, and when I go to click on the image to find out more about them, I get the connect request sent message! Its a problem with the LI screen layout: if you’re on a device – and it happens on my laptop when I’m working quickly – the links are too close together, and there’s no option to CONFIRM before the message goes out.
Maybe you have some influence with LI: I’ve heard this from other LI users too on threads about using the default connect request message.