Sure, there are plenty of times you’ll want to simply connect with a friend, or fellow employee who will clearly know who you are and why you’re wanting to connect with them on LinkedIn.
However, if you truly want to connect on LinkedIn with someone you’ve never – or only briefly – met, personalize your invitation request. LinkedIn provides a very generic email template with “I’d like to connect with you on LinkedIn” which most people simply send without customizing.
With an increase in spammy connection requests across all communication channels, including LinkedIn, you not only want to reassure your connection that you’re legitimate, but you want to give them a reason to accept your request.
Think about it as your cover letter introduction. Why do you want to connect with this person? Why should they care about why you want to connect with them? Yes, it’ll take more time than simply hitting “Send” on your connection request, but presuming your reason to connect is more than just to superficially add more connections to your account, take the time up front to properly introduce yourself and establish the parameters for your LinkedIn relationship request.
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