I’ll admit I’m a much more prolific user of Facebook than LinkedIn.
However, being the friendly guy that I am, I’m happy if you want to Link up with me … even if I don’t really know you. I’m all about relationships. So, who knows, we could maybe just learn something from each other.
But, please if you are going to ask me to “Join my network on LinkedIn” make it easy for me to decide if I want you to be part of my network. After all, you just might be a crazed stalker!
So, when you send a request to Link up on LinkedIn request to me, or, for that matter to anyone else, and the recipient of the LinkedIn request doesn’t know you from Adam or Eve, please do the following…
Tell us where you know me from, or why you want to Link with me, or, a wee bit about who you are (so I don’t have to go a read your bloomin’ profile to figure out who the heck you are). This is particularly true if you have a common name, and, trust me, your name is probably way more common than you think it is!
By the way, this same advice applies to Facebook. I’m not all that famous, yet, so when I get a Friend request from some unknown person, first thing I do is check you out! Particularly, if you’ve sent me a generic Friend request. Again, if I don’t know you, tell me why you want to friend me, where you know me from, etc. Trust me … even if you are blonde, busty, and bodacious I won’t accept your friendship unless I see some reason for having you in my circle of ‘friends’.
I’m even pickier with Twitter followers. Of course, that just might have something to do with all the Twitter spammers and scammers. I don’t auto accept and I don’t auto follow! I click through and vet every Twitter follower. And, I can’t tell you how many times that I’ve received an “account suspended for suspicious activity” message, even within an hour of receiving a follow notification. And, when I check out your creds I’ll block you if I don’t like the looks of you: you’re selling multi-level marketing opportunities, or you want me to check out your sexy pictures at some shortened/obscure URL.
I’m Canadian so that means I’m nice (or at least that’s the myth we propagate) 😉 so please do REMEMBER that Social Media is a like a bit like the dating scene. I want to know who you are BEFORE we get intimate!
