The Research Playbook

Archive for May, 2011

Using Groups to Connect

Finally, we come to the discussion of how to use LinkedIn Group participation to help you connect with your target audience. As the screen shot below illustrates, Groups is one of the options for making a connection.

You can select Group, when you and the person you want to connect with are both members of one or more Groups. You can select any of the mutual groups you belong to and invite him or her to connect with you.

If you are not both members of a Group, check the person’s profile and find a group in which the person participates, preferably a group relevant to you, then join it. Once approved as a group member you can connect with people in this group.

LinkedIn as always provides the option to “Include a personal note: (optional).” However, we do not consider this optional - always Personalize Your Invitations (see examples below)
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In the second part of this three part series on LinkedIn Direct and Indirect invitations, we provide a few examples of customized invitations. First, however, let’s review what LinkedIn (LI) provides as a starting point when you click on the:

Include a personal note (NOT Optional) – Always personalize your invitations

If you select Colleague or We’ve done business together you will be asked to select a company

If you select Classmate you will be asked to select a school

Select Friend or Other and you will be asked for an email address

Selecting I don’t Know NAME is probably not a good idea.

We strongly recommend that you use the category that truly fits. If you play fast with the LI rules you could, as we have discussed previously, face a suspension or termination of your account.
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Inviting people to connect with you on LinkedIn is an important task.
A task you should take great care to do well.

Direct Invitation
There are several ways to connect with people on LinkedIn (LI). A direct invitation to people you know and who know you is the obvious place to start. Be careful to restrict your use of this approach to people who will recognize you. Sending an invitation to someone by claiming he or she is a colleague or friend who is not is dangerous. That practice can get you into trouble and ultimately end in suspension or termination of your account!

Personalized Message
If you invite a colleague, classmate, or friend, make sure the person you invite will readily remember you by personalizing the invitation, perhaps by referencing to the last time you spoke on the phone or met in-person. If the person you invite does not recognize you and tells LinkedIn “I Don’t Know” (i.e., IDK) this person, LI will contact you and they could suspend your account.

Search Your Contacts’ Contacts
One of the best techniques for finding people you may know who have an account with LinkedIn is to view the contacts of people to whom you are already connected. Often as you scan the person’s contacts, you will recognize someone’s name who you might not otherwise have remembered. This could be a person you worked with or a classmate that you know, but whose name wasn’t top of mind. Adding to your contacts using this approach is safe and easy; happy hunting!

This is a three part series, return soon to read parts two and three

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Situation

Mid February [18-Feb] 2011, the Galveston Island Humane Society wanted to expand its reach through social media. This is a non-profit organization and we agreed to help by setting up a blog and a Twitter account [we agreed to the work Pro Bono for about a year] With the help of one of Galveston Island Humane Society’s volunteers we began developing a Twitter account. Within three months we had over 7,000 (and counting, currently 9,200 ) followers, just in time for an important challenge.
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To all the great Moms out there we wish you a fun and love filled day.

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To My Mom I wish the best of health and a promise to be as good a friend to my children as you have always been to me!

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