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| Default LinkedIn invitation message |
Although LinkedIn recommends that you only send invitations to people you know well, many more people who you don’t know are open to connect with you if you explain who you are and why you want to connect.
Changing your message to be more personal, interesting and informative can greatly improve the response rate to your invitations and start to build a relationship with your new connections.
Instead of using the default invitation message, customize your message like I have done below by highlighting the default text, deleting it and replacing it with your own message.
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| Example of customized invitation |
Customized invitation message
Modify your message to show recipients why you want to connect with them. Examples:
- "I read your blog regularly and love your advice.” (Believe me; bloggers never tire of such messages!)
- “You may recall that I met you at the networking event. I was the person who was very impressed with your business card.”
- “I see you also worked at XYZ Corp. I’d like to invite you to connect.”
- “I see that you are also an alum of the University of Missouri. Go Tigers!” Similarly, you could send messages to your particular school … “I see you were a 1995 Business School grad, too. I bet we had Econ 101 together. I‘d like to invite you to connect.” You could also invite people from your fraternity or sorority even from a different college saying something like, “I see you are a Kappa Kappa Gamma from ABC University. I was one at the University of XYZ.”
- “I’ve enjoyed reading your comments on the [GROUP NAME] discussion board. I think we share a lot of the same perspectives.”
- “I know we have not yet met, but my friend Joe Blow talks so highly of you, I wanted to invite you to connect to introduce myself.”
- “I heard you speak at an event and was so inspired by your message.”
- “I’ve seen you in the XYZ Co. Cafeteria, but have not yet had the opportunity to introduce myself.”
- "I'm a fellow St. Louisan and notice that we have 34 mutual connections so I thought I would invite you to connect in case our knowing each other might be mutually beneficial."
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| Choose the best connection option |
Consider the best connection option
When you invite someone to connect on LinkedIn, the system gives you options to explain how you know the person. Choosing which option to use can be tricky because two options require that you know the person’s email address (the Friend and Other options) and one option … the “I don’t know” the person option doesn’t work at all. The “Groups” option works well if the system “knows” that you both are in the same LinkedIn group. The other options … “Colleague”, “Classmate” and “We’ve done business together” … typically work well because the options are based on your work/school history, NOT the person with whom you are inviting.
Connection considerations
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| Open networks are open to all invitations |
- People (like my friend Robert Shindell of ILostMyJob.com shown above) who include the word “LION” or their number of connections after their name are called LinkedIn Open Networkers. Open networkers will accept all invitations … so by all means go ahead and invite them to connect, but for best results, still modify your message to let them know why you want to connect with them.
LinkedIn open networking
- Did you know that you can send InMessages to anyone in the same LinkedIn group? That means if you belong to a LinkedIn group with 20,000 people, you can send a well crafted connection invitation to anyone (or everyone) in the group to greatly expand your network.
- You cannot include a link or attachment in an invitation to connect.
- Recruiters or hiring managers may be resistant to accepting connections from job seekers … they fear you will use the connection to pester them about job openings. Rather than asking them to connect, invite people to connect who can influence the hiring decision on your behalf at your target companies.
- Accept invitations! In all the time I’ve been on LinkedIn, I have accepted invitations from all who have asked and have never had a problem with spam or inappropriate contact. So don’t resist connection requests; each connection expands your network which, in turn, can help you learn about and then connect with the right people within target companies.
- Not everyone will accept your invitation, often because they don't really use LinkedIn. Don't get discouraged; just keep on inviting others to connect.
- If you encounter an invitation box that won't let you delete/replace the default text, go to the person's profile page instead and then invite them to connect through the "Connect" link.
- If you don't want to connect with someone, simply click the “Ignore” button.
- Invite me to connect … and practice customizing your invitation while you are at it! I will accept and then you can feel free to ask my questions or let me know how I can help you.
Customize your connection invitations starting now to reflect your personality and purpose. Doing so can not only help you dramatically build your network, it can help you ... Get a Job!
In the meantime, if I can be of help to you, let me know. Invite me to connect on LinkedIn. I will accept and then you can feel free to ask me questions or arrange a coaching session or LinkedIn or resume review. You can find out more about my services here.
Find related "how to's" on the 'Get a Job! Tips' Topical Archive including tips on how to ...
- Add your LinkedIn profile to your e-mail signature
- Improve LinkedIn profile and presence
- Improve your online presence
- LinkedIn groups
- LinkedIn introductions
- LinkedIn recommendations
- LinkedIn recommendation list
- Research hiring companies using LinkedI
- Send a mass LinkedIn InMessage to select people
- Use LinkedIn to learn about hiring companies
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