Do you have difficulty deciding how to respond to connection invites on LinkedIn? Many of my clients have trouble deciding what to do with these invites.

Some people have simple, across-the-board criteria when it comes to making this decision. For me, there are a number of variables I take into consideration.

 

 To Connect or Not to Connect?

Here are some examples of criteria you might want to apply to help you decide whether to connect with someone.

  • There’s a potential for a business relationship with this person.
  • The two of you are part of the same professional, business, or community organization.
  • This person is a current or former co-worker, business colleague, client, or vendor.
  • The two of you met at a networking function and hit it off.
  • You know them from a Facebook group or other online experience.

 Typically, I will accept the invite to connect if the person meets at least one of the criteria above. I also consider if this is a person whom I’m genuinely interested in and want to stay in touch with.

If you choose not to connect, just ignore the request. LinkedIn doesn’t notify the person that you have ignored their request. However, they do notify them when you accept it.

If you’re not sure about whether to accept the invite, you can message them and ask why they reached out to you. To send this message, click on “Manage” – just above “Pending Invites.” Or it might say “Select” (and the number of invites that are pending). Then click on the word “Message” below their name and write your note.

Wait to see what happens. If you don’t like their answer, or if they just don’t respond, you may not want to connect with them.

 

 What Should I Do About People Who Pitch Me?

Sometimes a person’s pitch comes with the note that they send you along with their invite. At other times, you can anticipate that they will likely pitch you by how they describe themselves and their services in their headline.

If the person uses a pitchy approach, you can simply ignore their connection request. Or, you can remove the connection if you’ve already accepted their invite and have a gotten pitchy message from them.

To remove a connection, I suggest that you click on “My Network” in the menu bar. Then click on the word “Connections” at the top left of the screen. Type their name into the search box, and click on their name when it comes up in the drop-down list. Then click on the three dots to the right of the word “Message.” Click on “Remove Connection” and finally click on the blue “Remove” button.

However, you may want to block them. The people I tend to block are the super-salesy ones. They typically write me a note about how they can get me a lot of leads or help me generate a six-figure income.

To block someone, go to their profile and click on the “More…” button to the right of the blue “Message” button. Click on “Report/Block” and choose “Block” – and the person’s first name. Finally, click on the blue “Block” button.

 

How About You?

What kind of criteria do you apply as you consider whether to accept or ignore an invite to connect on LinkedIn? If you use the blocking option, what kinds of people do you block?

 

About Joyce

Joyce Feustel helps people, especially those age 50 and up, to become more effective using social media, especially LinkedIn and Facebook.

She works with business owners, business development professionals, business consultants, job seekers, and more – ranging from entrepreneurs to people in large corporations. Find her at www.boomerssocialmediatutor.com.