How to communicate on LinkedIn

17 Mar 2014

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You can communicate on LinkedIn via Messages to first degree connections in your network or via InMail to anyone if you subscribe to the Premium service. This feature alone makes it worth considering paying around £20 per month to upgrade as it’s hugely powerful to be able to email most of the 270 million members of LinkedIn. I say most because a few people, typical high profile, choose to block approaches via InMail.

Here are five tips providing advice on how to craft your messages when communicating on LinkedIn:

1) Introduce first, sell later - There are plenty of sales messages being sent and received on LinkedIn so you have to do something different. Make sure you introduce yourself and explain how you can help the recipient of the message if they’re a prospect. Don’t launch straight into your sales pitch.

2) Be personal - LinkedIn is just like a network meeting, albeit a very large one, so behave how you would in a face to face meeting. That is, don’t be a robot! Personalise approaches to people by using their first name and giving a reason why you wish to connect. When responding to an invitation to connect, send a thank you message.

3) Make a good first impression - Give some thought to your subject line. Get straight to the point and don’t be vague. For example, “Ecommerce opportunity” is better than “Meeting”.

4) Be concise - Don’t waffle in the body of your message. Keep your message clear, purposeful and concise - less is more.

5) Reference commonalities - Build your relationship by mentioning common threads such as a shared contact, the same past employer or even someone who works in a similar location. If you’re messaging a prospecting client, an ideal commonality is a mutual contact who is one of your clients. You can then mention that you can help your prospect in the same way that you’ve helped your mutual contact.

The above communications tips should help you grow your network and increase the chances of you doing being over LinkedIn. If you have any questions on LinkedIn please let me know in the comments below.