Categories: Marketing,
If you’re active on LinkedIn, especially if you smell like someone who buys stuff for a company, you probably have mixed feelings about connection requests. I sometimes time how long it takes after I accept one from a stranger until I get a pitch.
Chris Brogan is one of the original social media influencers (as well as a former colleague of mine and a friend full disclosure whatever). As a big noise on the Internet and CEO of Owner Media Group, he gets more LinkedIn requests in a day than you’ve had hot dinners. He shared this post today on Facebook.
If you want to be received well on LinkedIn, don’t think of it as a prospecting channel. Think of it as a community that allows you to connect with people who care about what you care about. Offer them something of value instead of pitching them immediately. Find some LinkedIn groups in your field and try to help people solve their business problems without trying to sell them. Share other people’s content if it’s helpful to your network.
Then when you send a request, they’ll want to connect with you. They might even connect with you first.