Want More Legit Connections on LinkedIn? Here’s How
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.
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Great advice!
Sara, some interesting advice. But all still require getting an email address. Even though you have indicated you are interested in connecting, I need to contact you to access your email address. This is a real pain in the you know what. Especially if members are open to accept invitations.
Seems to be LI could offer the option of being connected automatically (group members for example), simply by having an option to send a message to the contact asking if they are willing to be connected with the person sending the invite. Twitter makes it much easier to connect.
Cheers,
Volker Mendritzki
CF Marketing Group
volker@CFMarketinginc.com
@ Rob: Thanks very much!
@ Volker: I do see what you’re saying. That would sure be convenient. But it would go against the fundamental LinkedIn environment of professionalism , privacy and individual connect selection. IMHO, LI does not provide these features specifically because of these rules and SPAM concerns. They don’t want to be Twitter. It’s not about quantity; it’s about quality. Members can easily provide an email address within a profile page, and connecting with group members is simple. Either you participate a lot in the groups, and members invite you, or you take some time regularly to request connections from group members. Ten minutes a day can take you far!
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