Stand out in the world of LinkedIn Invitations – how to get accepted and start building connections

Getting your LinkedIn Connection Invitation noticed

In this week I received two LinkedIn invites. One I immediately accepted and responded to and one which left me uninspired and unwilling to connect. Both were in my field of business – digital strategy and design.

Here’s how the invitation read:

Hi Melanie
I would love to stay in touch & follow your work here on LinkedIn & maybe find an opportunity to collaborate. I mostly share posts on the Transformational Change Management and Growth Mindset.

Why did I accept the one within a few seconds and left the other one for 2 days to think about? I tell you why, a personal message made all the difference for me. Not only did the invitation introduce the person to me, it told me within 2 lines how we are connected, what the benefit would be to connect and their area of focus. It was immediately clear how we can connect and form synergies.

The second one was just a standard, run-of-the-mill invitation with no reason for me to want to react. I left that invitation for 2 days. No excitement, no reason to want to connect.

To stand out from the plethora of invitations that get sent out to fellow LinkedIn members, you need to start thinking out of the box. The “I’d like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn ”will get you nowhere very fast.

How do you get your invitation to be noticed?

If you are not customizing your invitations, you will simply be ignored or at best overlooked. You have 300 characters which can have a big impact, opening the door to new opportunities or reinforce a relationship. This might be your only opportunity to convince the person to connect with you – use the opportunity well.

Perhaps you don’t know what to say? Let’s look at a few examples of what NOT to say before we look at possible solutions to overcome the challenge.

Another great tip – Start looking at your 2^nd and 3^rd connections to see who they are connected to. That could be a great source of connections for you. Be sure to reach out to them in the same manner.

Find a way of connecting, do your research (try as many platforms as possible to find information and remember to not come across as a stalker!), keep your message within 300 words and always stay professional.

In our next blog, we will look at some practical examples of how this looks in action.

Want to find out more how I can help you stand out from your competitors? Reach out to me on email or follow me on LinkedIn and Instagram.