LinkedIn: Great People To Connect With
There are currently 50 million LinkedIn account holders. How do you determine which of those 50 million you should connect with?
I recommend that you use LinkedIn to maintain current business & networking relationships and build new ones. Great people to connect with are:
- customers
- suppliers
- co-workers
- referral partners
- people you meet at chamber mixers and networking events
- anyone that has inquired about your product/service or that you’ve done a proposal for
- people you may want to collaborate with
- influential people in your industry
- people that have taken the time to comment on your blog or other online content
- people who have asked you for advice
- etc…
I would not connect with people just so you can market to them. Only connect with people if you have a sincere interest in building or maintaining a relationship, collaborating, staying in touch or following them via their status updates, etc…
When you send someone an invitation to connect on LinkedIn, do not send the LinkedIn default message shown below:
Default LinkedIn Invitation
Instead send them a personalized message that states at least one of the following: why you want to connect, who your mutual connections are, which groups you both belong to, how you heard about them, what intrigued you about their profile, what common interests you have, etc… (See example.)
Personalized LinkedIn Invitation
Reaching out to someone with a personalized invitation shows that you value them or something about them and it is the first step in building a business relationship. I personally don’t accept invitations from people I don’t know unless they are personalized.
If you strive for quality in your LinkedIn invitations and connections rather than quantity, you will build stronger relationships and have greater success networking on Linkedin.
Please share your LinkedIn networking tips in the comments below…
Kimberly Yow
MarketingThatsEasy.com
P.S. - I consult & train businesses on how to promote their business on the internet and get found! Subscribe to this blog via RSS Feed or Email so you don't miss any Free Tips! @KimberlyYow
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