Making LinkedIn connections

A LinkedIn connection can be a great way to expand the awareness of who you are and what you are all about.

Make connections using the principles of TRUHE (transparent, relevant, useful, honest & engaging) and LinkedIn connections can become mutually beneficial.

Remember these rules of Making LinkedIn Connections:

• Do not send LinkedIn connection requests to people you do not know. Knowing someone does not mean you had shaken hands or talked. You just have to know enough about the person to send a connection request, and they need to know enough about you to make accept the connection request.
• Your goal is to make meaningful and mutually beneficial connections on LinkedIn. You do not want to just collect connections, despite anything anyone tells you. There is no mutual benefit in doing this and if you try it people will begin to ignore you.

In this post are two of the key sets of activities of Making LinkedIn connections

• How to find relevant people
• How to make a connection

Step 1  – How to find People on LinkedIn

There are 6 ways to find People on LinkedIn. Finding someone on LinkedIn is the first step:

1. Search for their Name in the Search Box on the Home page of LinkedIn. Type the name slowly and don’t press enter or Click Search too quickly. Sometimes if you have the name exactly as they entered it into LI the individual profile will show in the popup list. If not, click on the Search Icon and LI will bring up a full list of possible names.
2. You can use Advanced Search in the event you don’t know how they spelled their name. In Advanced Search you can look for someone in lots of different ways. First Name, Last Name, Company, Location, Title, etc, etc.
3. Peruse your existing connections and their connections. The list can not be “searched”, but it is in alphabetical order by last name. Once you find a name you can look at their public profile to determine A) it’s the right Person and B) they are someone you know or want to know.
4. Search the Members of Groups you are in. Group Member lists have an Advanced Search function similar to the Advanced Search on the Home Page of LinkedIn.
5. Search for a Company and then peruse the list of Employees. Company Employee lists are also searchable after you click on “See all Employees in your Network.
6. Last (& the least relationship building way) – Peruse the “People you May Know” section of LinkedIn (usually on the right column of the home page.

Step 2  – Requesting a LinkedIn Connection

Remember the rules from above about Making LinkedIn Connections

1. If you use the “People you May Know” section of LinkedIn, only send them a connect request from there if you are 100% sure you know the person and they know you. Use this too often without making a connection and LinkedIn could Restrict your account. Always type in a TRUHE Personal Note to the individual.
2. Use the Connect Button from an individual’s Profile Page. This is the best way to send out a LinkedIn connect request because you can see their Profile and you can select a relevant “How do you Know” choice as well as see some of their profile in order to type in a really TRUHE® Personal Note to the individual.
3. What to do if you do not know the person – LinkedIn has a function that allows you to send an Introduction Request. I suggest that you do not use this function. Instead do this:
   1. Look and see what mutual connections you have
   2. Either call or email one of them and ask them
      1. How well do they know the person you want to connect with
      2. Is this person someone you think I should connect with.
      3. If they do not know the person well, then do not ask for an introduction, instead, check with another mutual connection, if one exists.
      4. If they know this person well and they agree the person would be a good connection, ask them to do the next step
      5. Ask your friend to send an email (outside of LinkedIn) to the person you want to connect with, have them CC: you on the message. Ask them to introduce you to this person in a polite, friendly & professional manner. Ask them to at least accept the LinkedIn connection, or better yet, to talk with you soon.
   3. The Benefit of this type of an introduction is that it’s far more personal (even if via email) and it get’s you the person’s email address.
   4. Once you receive the email, wait a day or so for a reply from the future connection and then follow up with your own email
   5. Lastly in this process – Send a LinkedIn connection request using Other and their email address. In the Personal Note – mention your friend and a relevant reason for the connection request.
4. Another process you can use to make LinkedIn connections is to email the people you know and introduce them to your LinkedIn Profile.  In your message indicate that you are excited about using LinkedIn to share knowledge, ideas and that you want your professional connections & friends to join you there. Put your LinkedIn Custom URL in the body of the message and ask them to check out LinkedIn and your Profile and to send you a LinkedIn connection request if they want to join you on LinkedIn.

LinkedIn is a great place to build your circle of contacts as long as you stay TRUHE to the purpose of Mutually Beneficial.

Please remember these tips on Making LinkedIn connections

You can read more articles about LinkedIn thru the How to use LinkedIn Listing

If you want to learn more, please reach out to me in LinkedIn thru my Personal Profile or Company Page. Email me at TLBurriss@TeddyBurriss if you need to.