Many years ago, I was doing outplacement consulting and supporting clients who were in transition. At some point during every engagement, we talked about networking as the best strategy to find a new job.
I’ll never forget Derek.* After spending a couple of decades at his company, the idea of networking was scary to him (understandably so!) and he was resistant to trying it.
After several weeks, Derek arrived for a coaching session all excited.
Me: “You’re awfully excited today.”
Derek: “I’ve been networking!”
Me: “That’s awesome! Tell me all about it!”
Derek: “I sent LinkedIn invitations to ten new people.”
🤦🏻♀️
As you will recall from past newsletters:
- We live in a relationship economy.
- Networking is the activity that builds your currency in a relationship economy.
- To network is to build relationships.
It is not seeing how many new connections you can wrack up on LinkedIn.
To be clear, the basic premise of LinkedIn is connecting and building new relationships. So there’s nothing wrong with sending connection requests to people to broaden your reach.
The mere act of “linking”, however, is not in and of itself networking.
Now, let’s talk about LinkedIn etiquette.
Send a Personalized Invitation
How many times have you received (or sent!) a LinkedIn request without a personalized message attached?
Because the functionality on LinkedIn changes depending on the platform, you can unwittingly send a connection request without including a note. Mistakes aside, it’s helpful and suggested to provide someone with a frame of reference for the connection.
- Your reason for wanting to connect
- Reminding them of where you met
- Referencing the person who suggested you connect with them
- Etc.
Adding a message is especially important if you haven’t actually met the person – make sure to let them know why you’re looking to connect.
Another benefit is that a year from now when you’re scrolling through your connections and trying hard to remember who this person is, you can look at the message you sent with your connection request and be reminded of how and why you connected.
Know your platform
As mentioned above, the process for making a connection request will look different on your computer vs. your mobile device.
(If you’re a LinkedIn veteran, you can skip the tutorials below.)
Here’s what it looks like on my Mac.
Here’s what it looks like on my iPhone.
When I’m getting ready to send an invitation to connect, I always pause to remind myself of which platform I’m on so I don’t inadvertently send one without a personal note. The mobile interface is a bit less intuitive for me.
Focus on the Relationship First
Every week I receive at least a couple of connection requests from people who are in business to support coaches.
Here’s a screenshot of a recent invitation I received.
Last I checked, I am not in marketing, and I’m not in non-profit. And the person didn’t specify why they wanted to connect so there’s little incentive for me to click the “accept” button at first blush.
Here’s another. This person hasn’t told me anything about who they are or what they do, and they haven’t indicated why they’re reaching out to me specifically vs. someone else.
Bottom line, do your research first, be intentional about why you’re connecting, and emphasize building a relationship before anything else.
