Do you find yourself wondering whether to accept a LinkedIn connection invite? Many of my clients struggle with this.

Keep in mind that unless you change your default setting, everyone who connects with you can see all your connections. Be wary of casually accepting an invite to connect, because that person’s motivation may be to access your connections. They may not be genuinely interested in you.

 

Deciding Whom to Connect with on LinkedIn

Everyone takes a slightly different approach regarding accepting LinkedIn invites. In general, I advise my clients to be selective about whom connect they with on LinkedIn.

Here are some examples of criteria you can apply to this process:

  • There’s a potential for a business relationship with this person. Or, if you are a job seeker, this person might be able to help you land your next job.
  • You and this person are part of the same professional, business or community organization.
  • This person is a current or former co-worker, business colleague, client, or vendor.
  • You met this person at a networking function and hit it off with them. Or maybe you know them from a Facebook group or other online experience.
  • You are genuinely interested in this person in terms of their business-related activities.

 

How to Handle Pending LinkedIn Connection Invites

  • Accept the invite if the person meets at least one of the criteria described above or whatever criteria you use.
  • Ignore the invite, if you simply don’t see a point in connecting with them. If you ignore the person’s invite, they are not notified.
  • Hold off on accepting or ignoring the invite until they respond to you via LinkedIn messaging. To message the person, 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 a short note through LinkedIn. My go-to note is: “Thanks for the invite. What prompted you to reach out to me?”

Recently, I received this lovely note from someone I messaged via LinkedIn responding to my inquiry about her invite.

“Hi Joyce, Thank you for your kind words! I was doing a LinkedIn search for a client who also works with Baby Boomers and I came across your profile. I was particularly drawn to your work as a LinkedIn Coach and figured I’d reach out! Even though I’ve had this account for 11 years, I’ve never really used it to its full capacity. So, I figured I could follow your content to learn a thing or two.”

 I was so touched by her response that I sent her my free e-book “9 Ways to Stand Out on LinkedIn.” Access that e-book at https://boomerssocialmediatutor.com/9-ways-stand-linkedin/

Yet another option is to block the person who has sent a LinkedIn invite. People I tend to block are the super-salesy type people. They typically write me a note with their request about how they can get me a lot of leads. Or they say they can get me to a six-figure income.

To block someone, go to their profile and click on the “More” button. Click on “Report/Block,” and then click on the option called “Block” – and the person’s first name.

 

About Joyce

Joyce Feustel helps people, especially those ages 55 and older, to become more comfortable using social media, especially Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

She works with business owners, business development professionals, leaders of nonprofit organizations, job seekers, consultants, and many others. Find her at www.boomerssocialmediatutor.com.