Short and sweet today and, at the same time, one of the most powerful things you can do on LinkedIn.
You receive an invitation to connect and press the “Accept” button. Another contact made.
Should you leave it at that? I say no. At that moment, perhaps more than any other, you have the perfect opportunity to develop that potential relationship easily and immediately by writing back and getting the conversation going … right there and then.
Think about it for a second and imagine you were doing this face to face. Someone has decided to approach you {sends an invite} and extends a hand with a cheery smile and a brief introduction {personalised message}. You shake it warmly in return {accept invitation} and then … then … you walk away without another word.
NO! You’d engage in some way … so do the same on LinkedIn.
You’re actually encouraged to do so with a “Send a message” option when you accept the invite, so join the 2% who really stand out and do so! You have a distinct advantage as well because you can of course check out their profile and actually say something that is relevant. Ask a question or tell them something that you do that would be of particular interest. Perhaps something that you could do for them (novel approach 😉 ) – or as a last resort, you could even fall back to the everso trite “What can I do for you?” line instead.
If nothing else, thank them for the invitation and perhaps you could even venture so far as to ask them what it was that attracted them to your profile in the first place – be prepared for a range of responses to that one!
At the very least, just say “Hi!” – you just never know where that might lead in the business world!
Takeaway point
They’ve made the first move and invited you to connect so, when you accept, make sure that you write back to them.
