Are you guilty of sending those dreaded generic LinkedIn invitations Dont do it!

Are you guilty of sending those dreaded generic LinkedIn invitations Dont do it! At a recent social event, I met a masters degree student who wanted to connect with me on LinkedIn. I found her profile on my handy mobile app and handed her my phone so she could confirm I had the correct person. Before I knew what was happening, she had pushed the â€Å"Connect† button. I had unwittingly sent out (gasp!) a cookie cutter invitation on LinkedIn. I’ll tell you a secret: I once did this myself. That big blue Connect button is just too tempting!! The generic LinkedIn invitation is a pet peeve of most LinkedIn experts and business people on LinkedIn, prompting such snarkily written articles as Why I Didn’t Accept Your LinkedIn Request. While I realize that following instructions will not in a million years prevent you from ever sending out a generic LinkedIn message again, I hope they will at least decrease the occurrence of this social gaffe. Initiating a Connection the Right Way Prior to LinkedIns recent interface update, it was easy to mistakenly send a generic â€Å"I’d like to join your LinkedIn network† message from your desktop app. With the new LinkedIn, you get a nudge not to go down this road. After clicking on the Connect button you’ll have a choice of whether to Add a note or Send now. Click Add a note and you’ll have this nice blank box to fill in: Write your note (300 characters) and send! If you don’t choose to add a note and accidentally hit â€Å"Send now,† your connection will get an email that looks something that looks like this: What would someones incentive be for accepting such a generic invitation? Most people won’t. How to Send a Mobile Invitation the Right Way! When I deliver LinkedIn workshops, I always make a point of teaching people how to send a customized, personal invitation from their phones, so as not to send the dreaded â€Å"I’d like to join your LinkedIn network† canned message. I give careful instructions and invite people to practice by connecting with me. Nine times out of 10, someone in the audience pipes up, â€Å"Oops! I just sent you a generic invitation by mistake!† Despite the potential futility of doing so, I will now explain how to personalize your invitations on your mobile device. To send a customized invitation via iPhone or Android, go to your contacts profile and click the 3-dot †¦ button in the upper right (tie your hands behind your back and do NOT click CONNECT!! LinkedIn will not warn you on your phone that you’re about to send a generic invitation): From the dropdown menu, click Personalize Invite (note this menu might vary depending on what operating system you’re using): And write your message. On some Android devices, after going to a member’s profile, you may need to tap either the Menu or the More button, then Customize Invite, write your message and Send. What Should I Say? If you want to make a connection and youre stuck on what to say, you can say something about someone you know in common, or about a place you used to work together or where they work now. Perhaps mention a conversation they started or participated in a LinkedIn group. Or maybe you have a potential work project for them. Be friendly and let them know you are human! Fixing Mistakes If you accidentally connect with someone without including a message, you can always cancel the invitation or, if you miss the window for cancellation, you may be able to send another message with a customized note later. Note that this second solution will only work for people who accept non-InMail messages, or if you are able to send InMail! To rescind your invitation before it’s accepted, click on the My Network tab: Next, click â€Å"Manage all† in the upper right-hand corner: On the resulting page, click on Sent and you’ll get a list of pending invitations. You can click on Withdraw to cancel that message you sent accidentally. Practice! Now that you know the basics about LinkedIn invitations, heres a chance to practice Click here to connect with me on LinkedIn! If we’re already connected, find someone else you want to add to your network and send them a nice message. You’ll both be glad you did. Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save