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I am often asked, “How do I invite people on LinkedIn?” Invitations are so fundamental and, yet, many remain frustrated about the “right” and “wrong” ways to connect.
So let’s go back to basics and review the LinkedIn invite process.
First and foremost, LinkedIn requires an invitation for two people to connect. One must invite; the other must accept. If you invite someone who is not yet an LI member, he or she must become a member to accept the invitation.
When you send an invite, and the person accepts, he or she is now a “first degree” connection. LinkedIn strongly suggests you thoughtfully select whom you will invite, choosing only those you know and trust, i.e., family, friends, current or former classmates or colleagues…
LI assumes that, at some point, you will request a recommendation from a first degree connection, or vice-versa. This is why quality is far more important than quantity. Sure, it’s fun to brag about having thousands of connections. However, unlike Facebook, LinkedIn network members are not collected; they’re selected.
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Additionally, recommendations can improve page rank within the LI network. Someone exactly like you, but with more recommendations, would ostensibly rank higher than you in LI network search. A higher rank might mean enhanced connections and better lead generation.
Specific Steps for LinkedIn Invitations
Now, on to the good stuff, with a few simple connection options:
1. Invite one contact at a time:
Enter the person’s name and email address using the “Add Connections” link on the home page.
2. Invite one contact at a time and add a personal message:
Click the “Add ___ to your Network” link (right side of the other person’s Profile.)
3. Invite “who you already know”:
a. Click on the green “Add Connections” link at the top right of your home page.
b. Find the box titled “See Who You Already Know on LinkedIn”.
c. Enter your email/password to access your email address book.
d. Click “Login to…” or “Continue” (the button varies depending on your email server)
e. Log into your webmail account.
f. LI will download your contacts from the webmail service into a box.
g. Select those contacts you wish to invite.
h. Click on “Invite selected contacts”.
4. Invite Colleagues or Classmates:
Colleagues have worked or do work for one of the companies you have listed on your Profile, during the same time periods you have listed.
To connect to colleagues:
a. Click on the green “Add Connections” button located at the top right of your home page.
b. Click on “Colleagues”.
c. Click on “Find New” under one of the companies you have listed on your Profile.
d. Select former colleagues to invite. Consider including a personal note.
e. Click on “Send Invitation(s)”.
Classmates have attended the same educational institutions you have listed on your Profile, during the same time periods you have listed.
To connect to classmates:
a. Click on the green “Add Connections” button located at the top right of your home page.
b. Click on “Classmates”.
c. Select a school from one you have listed on your Profile.
d. Click “Invite”, to the right of the person’s name you wish to invite.
NOTE: LinkedIn will not allow you to insert web site URLS or links within an Invitation. This information can be shared only after a connection is accepted.
Consider this article a LinkedIn Connection Primer, because these methods are just a few ways to get connected. More to follow on this topic in the near future.
Next week: How to Showcase Your Expertise on LinkedIn…Without Giving Away the Farm
Victoria Ipri is CEO of Modello Media, Inc., an e-marketing strategy firm based in suburban Philadelphia, PA. She welcomes your questions and comments on this forum, or contact her directly at: ModelloMedia@gmail.com
Connect with members of Green Buzz Agency on Linkedin: Tod Plotkin, Sara Evans, Jared Lee, and Jennie Ryon. And join the Green Buzz Agency Linkedin Group.
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ANNOUNCEMENT!!!: Moving forward, Victoria Ipri will be writing a weekly article on the Green Buzz Agency Blog that will run on Tuesdays. If you like the article below, check back every Tuesday for more insight on LinkedIn and check out the blog archive for the many other articles she has contributed since July.
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So here you are, following all the rules for LinkedIn lead generation. You’ve got a few hundred ‘connections’, joined a bunch of groups, and update your status regularly. But still, nothing is happening! No conversations, no leads, no business!
What are you doing wrong? Maybe you’re not as connected as you think.
Building your community is just one step towards engagement. If your relationships with other LinkedIn members have not moved beyond that initial, “Hey, thanks for the connect!”…you may actually have a disconnect.
This disconnect occurs when you perceive LinkedIn to be something it is not. You believe the hype, extolling the virtues of lead generation via social media. But what that hype doesn’t tell you is this: LinkedIn is just a tool. It can only get you so far in the lead generation process. The rest is up to you, and good, ol’ fashioned conversation with other members. Yes, I mean emails and…gulp…that amazing invention we call the telephone.
You’ve heard it before, but it bears repeating: social media, LinkedIn specifically, is about building relationships. You can’t expect to connect with someone today and sell your product tomorrow. It wouldn’t work that way in the real world. Why do we expect it to work that way online?
The All Important Follow-Up
When it comes to follow up, the advice is simple. Just do it, while you’re still fresh in the prospect’s mind. Did you ever get an email or phone call from someone you simply can’t place…..then he says, “We met at the ABC seminar about two months ago. Do you remember me?” Awkward.
Once you’ve connected , don’t let that trail grow cold. Reach out with an email, thanking the person for connecting. Ask a question. Offer a compliment. Point out that the two of you share a group. Anything to create an ongoing dialogue! If common interests exist, move on to a phone call and, perhaps, a meeting in person.
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What’s Happening in Their World
What are your connections up to? Are they talking about a new venture? Can you lend some expertise? Have they RSVP’d to a local event? This is your chance to get involved. Look for opportunities to grow your relationships in the “real” world.
Be an MVP
Don’t wait for folks to come to you. Be useful. What are your groups and connections chatting up on the LI home page? Can you add valuable insight or advice? Give it freely. Just as you seek out others for their expertise, people will seek you out after you’ve established yourself as a valuable player. Keep the dialogue moving by answering your connections’ requests for advice.
Make the Most of Travel
Going to a seminar in Des Moines? Contact a few worthwhile connections in the area and ask them to coffee. Face-to-face is still the most powerful medium there is. Because we’re all doing so much less of it, it’s even more impressive.
There is more to the game of engagement than simply clicking “connect.” LinkedIn can help you build solid, rewarding relationships when used correctly. If increased referrals, more highly targeted lead generation, and new business are important to your survival, you owe it to yourself to get it right.
Need help? Please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Victoria Ipri is CEO of Modello Media, Inc., an e-marketing strategy firm based in suburban Philadelphia, PA. She welcomes your questions and comments on this forum, or contact her directly at: ModelloMedia@gmail.com
Feel free to connect with the newest members of Green Buzz Agency Marketing department on Linkedin: Jennie Nowers, Brittney Grove, Jared Lee, and Jennie Ryon. Or join the Green Buzz Agency Linkedin Group.
Unless you’re living in Turkmenistan, you’ve repeatedly read or heard that success on social media is closely linked to engagement. What do we mean by engagement? Definitions abound, but I like this one from a marketing page on Wikipedia: “Engagement measures the extent to which a consumer has a meaningful brand experience when exposed to commercial advertising, sponsorship, television contact, or other experience.”
Ah yes. There it is. “Meaningful brand experience.” If you’re a sole proprietor working from a home office, you might not think of yourself as having a brand. In terms of social media though, you do. And nowhere among social media sites is this realization more important than on LinkedIn.
If, despite your best efforts at engaging with others on LinkedIn, you’re going nowhere fast, something is clearly wrong. What could it be? In most cases, it’s not your effort…it’s your approach.
Let’s pretend for a moment:
You’re standing in line at the store. You hear a voice saying your name. You turn around to see a good friend standing behind you. You smile big, your eyes widen, your voice rises as you exclaim, “Hey!”…in fact, a host of physical changes take place automatically which generally signal, “I’m happy to see you!”
You’re standing in line at the store. You hear a voice saying your name. You turn around to see someone you don’t recognize. You step back slightly with a quizzical look on your face. Who is this guy? How does he know your name? Oooh, this is creepy. You begin to sweat. Your body is screaming “Danger!” as your brain kicks into high alert and looks for a way out.
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Moral of the story? People talk to friends. People buy from friends. People tell friends about friends. Your friend in line at the store comes with ‘built in’ value that immediately puts a smile on your face. The stranger…not so much.
Ergo…while your job on LinkedIn is to network, you must do so with real value behind it. How can you add value? The easiest way is to drop the canned LinkedIn messages. You know, the one that says “I’d like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn”, or, “I’m sending this to ask you for a brief recommendation of my work that I can include in my LinkedIn profile.”
Is that how you talk to your friends? These canned messages have all the pizzazz and personality of dry toast. When you choose to invite someone to join you on your network, tell the person why. Explain who you are and why you believe there is reason to connect. Something like, “Dear John, I noted you are employed with ABC Company. My company, XYZ, does business with ABC. Let’s connect!” Isn’t this more enticing than a canned message? Or, if you’re asking for a recommendation, wouldn’t you rather receive, “Mary, I’d be honored to receive a recommendation from you based on our collaboration on the JKL project.”
Word of Caution: don’t go overboard and send your entire resume! A few sentences will get the conversation started and put you on the path to creating a deeper connection.
It takes only seconds to write something fresh and meaningful! Next time you feel like you’re in a pickle on LinkedIn, review your approach. Look for ways to entice others to be part of your network. If you run out of ideas, think of Elvis, who once said, “I learned how important it is to entertain people and give them a reason to come and watch you play.”
Alternatively, call me at 800-614-4619, and let’s brainstorm on other great ways to strengthen your LinkedIn profile and get more business.
Victoria Ipri is CEO of Ontogeny, Inc., a full service Internet marketing firm with an emphasis on copywriting and social media. She welcomes your questions and comments about optimizing your LinkedIn profile. Look around the Green Buzz Agency Blog for her other excellent articles on Linkedin.
Feel free to send an invite to connect with members of Green Buzz Agency on Linkedin: Sara Evans, Jennie Nowers, Tod Plotkin, Brittney Grove, and Jennie Ryon. Or join the Green Buzz Agency Linkedin Group.
As I help LinkedIn members strengthen their profiles, one of the most frequently asked questions I hear is, “How can I get more connections?” You probably know LI is quite strict about the invite process. As the rule goes, “Don’t connect with people you don’t know.” This is why you generally have to know a member’s email address to connect with him or her.
Lately, LI has been rather overrun with spam. Clearly, some people aren’t getting the message. But for those of us who want to play by the rules and connect legitimately with others, what are the strategies?
Here with 6 tips for legitimately connecting on LinkedIn:
1. The first, and most obvious, connection strategy is to search for family members, friends, old classmates, current or past coworkers, etc. This may take a bit of time, but it’s a good way to get started. Remember…everyone you know knows a lot of other people! But you’ve got to have their email addresses, in most cases, to connect this way.
2. Visit a member’s profile and click the Add to My Network button to the right of the member’s picture. This offers the opportunity to add a personal note as well…and as we all know, social media is nothing if it’s not about engagement!
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3. Click on Contacts, then My Connections. It will bring up an alphabetized list of all your connections, which you can then go through to send individual messages or requests for a recommendation.
4. Click on Contacts, then Imported Contacts. From here you can pick and choose people who are connected to you in ways other than LI, and invite them to not only join you, but to recommend your work.
5. Click on Contacts, then Add Connections. This will ask you for your LI login, then will allow you to search your email contacts to find people you know on LI, who you can then ask for recommendations.
6. Join up to 50 groups, and as many subgroups as those groups offer, and invite every group member to connect with you. You don’t need an email address, because you’re already connected through the group.
Hmmm…I’m sensing a trend here. Yes, people, look up once in a while! Play around with all those great drop-down menus across the top of your page. You’ll be surprised what you find.
For example, did you know that the more recommendations you have, the higher up you move in the LI list for your industry? Even if a competitor has done a better job of optimizing their profile for keywords? We’ll chat about this next time…but it’s a true fact, and another terrific strategy for optimizing your LinkedIn presence.
Questions? Comments? Please contact me at www.LinkedIn.com/in/VictoriaIpri. For the timid or the super-busy, we offer L.I.P.O. (LinkedIn Profile Optimization) that really cuts the fat from your profile. It’s affordable and the results are stunning!
Victoria Ipri is CEO of Ontogeny, Inc., a full service Internet marketing firm with an emphasis on copywriting and social media. She welcomes your questions and comments about optimizing your LinkedIn profile.
Feel free to send an invite to connect with members of Green Buzz Agency on Linkedin: Tod Plotkin, Sara Evans, Jennie Nowers, and Brittney Grove. Or join the Green Buzz Agency Linkedin Group.
We all know what lipo is – a cosmetic surgery procedure that reduces stubborn fat deposits. So how about a little L.I.P.O.™ of a different kind? I mean LinkedIn Profile Optimization, aimed at cutting the fat from your profile and tightening up those marketing muscles.
If you’ve ever wondered how professional profile optimization is done…well, I can’t spill all the secrets, but I’ll share a few:
Status Updates
You know that little status bar underneath your picture? If you’re not using it, you should be. The best status updates are pertinent to your industry and reach out to people with a message of value. Status updates should be rather narrow in focus and say something more than, “Hey! Look what I did!” Instead, engage others by letting people know about that conference you’re attending or the group you just joined. Ask people if they’re involved as well. “Going to the Chicago SuperConference on June 12. If you’re attending, let’s connect!?” You’ll share a piece of your world and show your connections you care about what they’re doing as well. And by the way, if you have 500 or more connections, you should be updating your status at least three times a week. Reach out and touch someone!
Summary
This isn’t merely a listing of accomplishments or a flat resume. It’s an opportunity to reveal who you are and how you can help. People like to do business with those they feel comfortable with – that’s what networking is all about. Let YOU come through. Highlight your experiences, what drives you, and maybe a little of the journey that got you here so others can know you on a deeper level, allowing you to move from casual acquaintance to someone they “trust”.
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Title
How can people find you if they don’t know you by name? By keyword search. The right keywords bring people to your virtual door. Make sure your title is descriptive; not just your actual job title, but what you can do for others. Think about how someone (not in your field) might look for you on LinkedIn. Use long-tailed keywords to help you stand out – if you’re buried on page 6 of the search results, you won’t be found. The title tag is the single most important string of words impacting optimization, and there is a formula for creating a terrific title. Want to know the secret? Drop me a line: Victoria@TheConfidentCopywriter.com
Recommendations
Remember to ask for recommendations. But to get them, you must connect to people in your industry, people that have seen your work, either side-by-side or serving under or over you. Having your neighbor on LI might be fine for expanding connections, but it won’t be relevant as a recommendation. Make a potential employer or client’s job easier by providing recommendations that are positive, plentiful and pertain to your current position. The more recommendations, the better you’ll rank within your industry.
Groups
Joining groups on LI is imperative to your success. Groups allow you to cast a wider net by permitting you to connect with group members by invite, without knowing the individual email addresses. Groups establish your expertise, let you share your knowledge, make an impression and solve a problem for someone else – all keys to lead generation.
Don’t forget: Optimization + Engagement = Lead Generation. Isn’t that what we all want?
Victoria Ipri is CEO of Modello Media, Inc., an e-marketing strategy firm based in suburban Philadelphia, PA. She welcomes your questions and comments on this forum, or contact her directly at: ModelloMedia@gmail.com
Feel free to connect with the newest members of Green Buzz Agency Marketing department on Linkedin: Jennie Nowers, Brittney Grove, Jared Lee, and Jennie Ryon. Or join the Green Buzz Agency Linkedin Group.
