photo credit: P/UL

For the first two articles in the series, check out HowTo LinkedIn #1: Creating your unique URL and HowTo LinkedIn #2: Write a killer headline.

The foundation of your LinkedIn experience is your connections — the list of people who acknowledge that they know you.  In order to begin building your network online, you need to ask those people who know you to connect to you by issuing invitations.

How to add LinkedIn connections

The process for adding LinkedIn connections is really simple.  You have a couple of options.  You can search for someone by name in the large “Search People” field at the top of the screen.  Or, you can let LinkedIn do the heavy lifting and cross-reference your existing contacts with their database to identify potential LinkedIn connections for you.  To do this, select “Contacts” from the left menu, followed by “Connections.”  Then, in the blue header bar, select “Add.”

LinkedIn gives you four methods to find and invite the people that you know.  The first tab, “Invite Contacts” allows you to manually key in people that you know.  This section will invite people whether or not they’re current LinkedIn users.  For a quicker, more powerful process, use the “Import Contacts” tab.  LinkedIn will pull your contacts from your webmail account (Hotmail, Yahoo!, Gmail, AOL) or from an Outlook export file.  Then, you can just check the boxes of those people you want to reach out to, and send out the invitations to make it happen  Lastly, check out the “Colleagues” and “Classmates” tabs to find people you worked or went to school with.  Between these four methods, you can create a great start on fleshing out your real-world connections on LinkedIn.  But, before you do…

LinkedIn connection etiquette

1. Have a connection philosophy, and respect others’. You’ll find that some people connect with everyone and anyone (you may see the designation LION, meaning “LinkedIn Open Networker.”)  Others will only connect with people that they trust and would recommend.  Figure out what you want to get out of your LinkedIn experience, and give some thought as to how you should utilize LinkedIn as a tool to get you there.  Then stick with it.  But remember that others will use the tool differently, and there is no right or wrong.  If someone declines you as a connection, they have their reasons, and their reasons are good enough.
2. Connect to people you actually know. Most people will respond positively to a request to connect from someone that they know, either personally or professionally.  However, some people will think you presumptuous if you ask to connect and they don’t know you or know you very little.
3. Personalize. Take the time to write a personal invitation to connect, especially for people with whom you may need to rebuild a relationship.  A quick, “Great to see you on LinkedIn!  Let’s catch up when you get a chance,” or the like is more personal, and more effective.
4. Don’t spam. If someone doesn’t respond to a connection request, let it go.  You can request again six months from now, or reach them through another forum.  And keep in mind that if you send an invitation to someone who is not a current LinkedIn user, you’re asking them to make time for yet another online activity.  Use invitations for non-users sparingly for those that you feel confident making that kind of demand on their time and attention.
5. Don’t use “I Don’t Know…” unless it’s truly the case. When you start receiving invitations, you’ll likely eventually receive one from someone that you don’t feel comfortable connecting with.  You’ll have the option to accept, decline or say you don’t know someone.  Keep in mind that when you select “I Don’t Know” that the other person suffers a black mark on their account.  A few of these black marks, and LinkedIn makes it harder for them to make connections.  If you truly don’t know them, then by all means say so, but if it’s a matter of them feeling differently about your professional relationship than you do, just archive the request and avoid the issue, or politely decline.

That’s it.  Get a few connections under your belt, and you’re well on your way to effective use of LinkedIn as a networking tool.

Related posts:

1. HowTo LinkedIn #2: Write a killer headline
2. HowTo LinkedIn #1: Creating your unique URL
3. Left out on LinkedIn: How can I use LinkedIn more effectively?
4. HowTo LinkedIn #4: Your professional experience
5. HowTo LinkedIn #8: Using the Outlook Toolbar

Tagged as: Career, linkedin, networking