If you are, pay close attention to the following dialogue that I had with someone this morning already and I've not had my coffee yet.
I was approached by someone who wanted to "add me to their professional network". I had no recollection of this person so I declined the invite. I received back a "oh we met at such and such a convention 3 years ago and I thought I could use your services back then but I've been busy since then and this is the first chance I've had to reach out" emails.
The problem with the connection request is that they left out those details.
My response was simple:
No worries at all. There's one little thing I tell everyone using LinkedIN to pay close attention to as it makes all the difference in the world. When you're sending an invite to connect there's an opportunity to add a personal message. Use it. Simply put you could have made a stronger impact with something like:
"Hi Michael, I met you at "SUCH and SUCH in 2009, but I've been busy for the past 3 years and so this is the first chance I've gotten to connect with you. I remember you provided some great services such as merchant accounts with the lowest rates in the business, shopping carts, and that you get people listed on google faster than anyone on the planet. I was wondering if we could connect our networks, share resources and potentially collaborate - SoandSO"
instead of "I'd like to add you to my professional network"
Notice the impact of the first vs. the second?
This little change in the way that you approach connecting to people on LinkedIN will help you grow vs. shrink your network.
Take this to heart, if I don't personally know you or have not actually met you, and you send me a "I'd like to add you to my professional network" request...the laughter will be able to be heard through the speakers in your computer as I delete the request and move on to those who invest the time in the connection.
Yes, I have done the exact same thing in the past and I have learned to spend a little more time truly connecting with those I'd like to do business with. You may wish to do the exact same thing. However, it's one of those choices in life that we either make...or don't.
Happy Thursday!!
Michael