When Linkedin Sends You a Do You Know
Content of this article originally published in 2014 and fully updated in 2021
After almost two decades, many people still don't know proper LinkedIn etiquette when using the platform.
Why is proper LinkedIn etiquette and so important?
Quite just, because LinkedIn is a business platform total of your potential or existing customers, partners, employers or vendors.
Each day, I see people make mistakes on LinkedIn that not only wastes their time but damages their brownie with these same people. To ensure this doesn't happen to you, it is essential that you understand and carefully apply proper LinkedIn etiquette and best practices.
Good manners are just a way of showing other people that we have respect for them.
Bill Kelly
In this commodity, you lot will discover very important Do'south and Don'ts of LinkedIn etiquette and the mistakes you absolutely must avoid making.
LinkedIn Etiquette: The Official Infographic
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LinkedIn Etiquette: x Things Yous Must Do
1. Personalize Connection Requests
The first and about of import tip I tin share with you is to personalize each and every connexion request that you send out.
People are far more than likely to accept your request if you either remind them of how they know you or explain why they should connect with you. This is especially important when connecting with people you have never met. Many people on LinkedIn don't appreciate connectedness requests from strangers without a personal message.
You may not be aware of this, simply if 1 too many people respond to your invitation by clickingI Don't Know This Person, you lot will end up having your account restricted by LinkedIn. This will consequence in y'all being required to know the email address of each person you send any futurity LinkedIn invitations to, greatly reducing your ability to connect with prospects and expand your network.
If you lot follow merely this i tip, y'all will greatly increment your success on LinkedIn, simply considering most people are non doing it and you will stand out.
LINKEDIN PRO TIP
Beware of sending invites using apps on mobile devices as they tend to make information technology easy to ship connectedness requests before you have had the opportunity to personalize them.
Additional Reading:Why I Take or Turn down a LinkedIn Connection Request
two. Ship a Welcome/Thank you Message
When someone accepts an invitation to join your network, send them a personalized Welcome Message.
Just equally y'all would welcome someone into your home, yous should welcome them into your LinkedIn network. This is the crucial difference between only adding connections to your network and edifice real relationships.
Many people tell me they are active on LinkedIn just they don't find that information technology generates leads. This is considering they are also busy treating information technology as a numbers game. In social club to create interest among your new connections, yous must show involvement in them.
3. Respond Promptly
Just as with email, the promptness of your response is ofttimes just every bit of import as the bulletin itself. Like email, one or two days are acceptable simply don't let it go across that earlier you respond to a message on LinkedIn.
Boosted Reading: How to Use LinkedIn for Atomic number 82 Generation
4. Have a Professional Headshot
People choose all sorts of inappropriate photographs to use in their LinkedIn profiles. Recollect, LinkedIn is a professional person business network and your photograph should reverberate that.
Don't include anyone else—or your pet—in your photo.
The contour photograph is featured in a circle, which should focus on your head – your optics and smiling. It should be a clean headshot of y'all facing the camera, preferably smiling with a prissy make clean background.
Unprofessional looking photographs can damage your credibility and your personal brand, as well as preventing people from connecting with yous.
5. Mail Content Regularly
Posting content regularly on LinkedIn will aid you look more professional and improve your credibility. It can also aid keep you lot tiptop of heed and provide opportunities for others to appoint with you lot.
Interested prospects can hands see how active you are in the Activity section of your profile. To ensure that yous announced agile and engaged, try to mail service a quality status update in one case or twice a week, something that would exist of value to your target audience.
Yous can further improve your action by posting an article on LinkedIn Publisher to establish your authorization on your topic.
Ensure that y'all mail service updates and manufactures that your connections volition find interesting or useful. Different Facebook or Twitter, LinkedIn is not the place to mail service personal trivia — stick to business.
Additional Reading: Is Your LinkedIn Content Strategy Making You Expect Drastic?
6. Personalize Recommendation Requests
Always personalize your requests for recommendations. There are default letters for many LinkedIn functions, including this i, but I never recommend you use them.
Always personalize messages, including recommendation requests.
vii. Nurture Your Relationships
Nurture your LinkedIn relationships through regular date.
Transport an appropriate message to connections after a trigger upshot (i.eastward. new position, etc.), which are opportunities for natural dialogue with your connections that allow you to build rapport, increase engagement and nurture relationships with your prospects. LinkedIn makes suggestions of some types of trigger events on the Notification page that you lot tin can appoint with.
Yous can also nurture relationships by engaging with your connection's content such as liking, sharing and commenting on their posts.
8. Stay Pinnacle of Listen
Stay forefront in the heed of your connections and nurture your relationships by sending messages tailored to each contact's individual needs.
If you come up beyond content that would be of interest or value to someone specific within your network (particularly a prospect or customer), send information technology to them in a private message.
9. Continue information technology Professional
Remember, LinkedIn is not Facebook.
When I say keep information technology professional person, I mean don't talk almost annihilation on LinkedIn that isn't related to business. LinkedIn is a business social network and people expect things to be professional at all times. Yep, this ways no pictures of your meals or pets.
Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn are all bang-up social networks, simply it's important to understand the differences.
10. Innovate People
Finally, here is a LinkedIn best practice that tin create great social capital for y'all: introduce your connections to each other.
Call up of yourself as a business matchmaker.
Doing this volition invoke thelaw of reciprocity and oft people will return the favor and introduce you to some of their connections, thus expanding your network in a very personal mode. This is a swell opportunity to support your connections and nurture relationships.
LinkedIn Etiquette: 10 Things You Must NEVER Exercise
1. Don't Ship Spammy Messages to Your Connections
For example, I recently received a bulletin from someone in my network asking me to export my entire connection listing and share it with them.
This is a ridiculous asking for two reasons (and I reported it every bit spam). The showtime reason is that I don't know this person, and so why would I share something like my connection list with him. Second and more chiefly, considering I value the people I'one thousand connected to, why would I share their contact information without their permission?
Just think that everything you send to your connections should be positioned for their do good, not yours. If it'south not, then it is considered spam.
Boosted Reading: How I Respond to Inappropriate or Spammy LinkedIn Messages
2. Don't Send Irrelevant Messages
Don't send out irrelevant, script styled messages to your connections.
Some other example of a message I received was an invitation to visit someone'due south berth at an upcoming Doctor's Convention. I am not in the health manufacture nor am I in their local region, then this was completely irrelevant to me. Do non transport whatsoever letters that the receiver is not going to notice value from – it also comes across as self-serving and spammy.
3. Don't Transport Letters With, "I encounter you viewed my profile…"
It'due south a groovy idea to regularly check who's viewed your profile and even connect with them, merely do and then without sending a message saying, "I come across you viewed my profile."
Just considering someone looked at your contour doesn't hateful you need to mention it.
If the person who viewed your profile is someone you want to connect with, by all means do so, merely take another reason to brand the asking and don't mention their visit to your profile.
iv. Don't Lock Downwardly Your Contour
Privacy settings are there for your protection, merely don't forget this is a social network and you want to engage with other people. Don't make the fault of trying to protect and treat your LinkedIn profile like your Facebook profile. It is a business organization platform.
With this in heed, make your contact list open to connections, make your activity feed open to everyone, and ensure your name and contour is open to everyone.
If there are some people who you lot don't want to share your data with, then they shouldn't be a part of your network, and yous should and can only remove them as a connection.
LINKEDIN PRO TIP
One important setting you should change is the one that says, "Viewers of this profile also viewed". This is located on the Settings & Privacy page.
LinkedIn turns this on by default, and information technology tin can hands upshot in your competitors showing upwards at the side of the screen when someone finds you—only leave this on if you desire to send potential prospects to visit profiles of your competitors.
v. Don't Add Connections to Your Email List
Do Not consign your connection list and add together them to your email database – EVER.
Just because someone has connected with you on LinkedIn does Not requite you permission to add them to your list and ship them emails. This is completely unethical and, in some countries (like Canada and Europe), illegal.
6. Don't Inquire New Connections or People Yous Don't Know to Endorse You
Don't ask someone to endorse your skills unless they are friends, family, colleagues, a customer, or someone who knows you lot well.
One of the best ways to become endorsements is to give them. When y'all endorse someone, that person receives a notification and volition often reciprocate by endorsing you lot.
7. Don't Ask Strangers for Recommendations
Never ask someone you lot don't know for a recommendation. I have this happen to me ofttimes and I'm not sure what they want me to say."Based on Johnny's contour, he seems like a nice guy."If they don't know yous or accept never experienced your services, they tin can't possibly give you a genuine recommendation, so don't ask.
By the same token, never give a recommendation to someone that you lot don't know or whose services you accept never experienced. Your credibility is on the line if that person turns out to be less than professional person.
8. Do Non Mail service Cocky-Serving Content
When sharing your ain content, make certain your goal is to provide value first and foremost. Do NOT post promotional information almost yourself or your business without providing some sort of value to your connections.
9. Don't Criticize Others or Comment Negatively
Another major false pas is to criticize others or comment negatively. I often see people in heated debates, or insulting their competitors which serves no purpose other than to turn many people off.
Go along your comments positive and never be insulting.
10. Don't Forget to Check & Reply to Comments
When someone takes the time to read and comment on your status update or LinkedIn Publisher post, brand an try to reply to them in a timely manner.
Non only is this a great way to showtime or build a relationship with the commenter but your post or commodity volition now besides be visible to their 1st level network, expanding your reach.
It's Not About Yous, It'south All About Them
The biggest mistakes on social media come from the misconception that people care about what you have to say. That'due south but not the example. They care about finding solutions to their problems, that'southward it. Call up WIIFM – they are always thinking "what's in information technology for me".
The golden rule of this LinkedIn etiquette guide is to always provide undeniable value that speaks to the exact blazon of person you are trying to connect with.
What examples of good or bad LinkedIn etiquette have you seen? Please share with me in the comments and besides share this infographic to social media to help others from making LinkedIn etiquette mistakes that tin hurt them personally or professionally.
Source: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140417174121-34888774-linkedin-etiquette-guide-20-do-s-don-ts
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