Writing messages for networking: connection requests
| A: “I’d like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn” B: “Hi Marcus! I just finished reading your excellent article on digital marketing and SAAS. I made several notes and learned some useful ideas that I hope to put into practice at my company. I’d love to connect on LinkedIn and keep learning from you. Have a great Friday and weekend! – Nigella” |
Which connection request would you prefer to receive? Obviously, B.
So, why do so many people send out the impersonal, automated A message?
The main purpose of many professionals using LinkedIn is to network, or as we say on LinkedIn, “to connect” or “make connections”. Buyers want to connect with sellers, sellers with potential buyers, and dedicated professionals who want to grow and learn with leaders in their fields.
There are a number of reasons to invite others to be your connection and accept others’ invitations. In caser you are not sure, the following table lists the types of people you will want to connect with and also accept connection requests from.
Prewriting skills: Who should you connect with?
| Connect with people: | Accept connection requests from people: |
| You work with You met at an event Are in a LinkedIn group you participate in Who are clients or prospects Who are leaders to learn from | You work with Who mentioned an acquaintance You met in person at an event In a LinkedIn group you participate in In your industry Who can help you grow Who can help you learn Who are leaders to learn from Who refer to your work |
Now we know who to connect with, we should start building our network. However, be careful about sending connection requests. If you use your smartphone, you will not be able to personalize the connection request.
This is not good.
The default connection request message is “I’d like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn” – and most people do not like to receive it.
It is considered much more polite and respectful to add a personalized note to your connection request. Just as you would never email some stranger without explaining how you know about them, you should offer a reason why you want to connect and make the invitee be open to your invitation.
To add a personalized message to your connection request, use your computer to go to the profile of the person you want to connect with. Note that if there is no “connect” button under their profile image, then it might be located in the “more” button dropdown menu (see Jay Baer profile below).
And if it is not there, then the person may have reached their LinkedIn limit of 30,000 connections and/or the person may prefer others to simply follow them (See Michaela Alexis profile below without “connection” button).
Tip: What you should NOT do in your connection request
First, there are some things you should NOT do in your connection request on LinkedIn. LinkedIn trainer Michaela Alexis [1] makes a list of 6 don’ts, with number 1 being not attaching a message:
- DON’T send a request without a message attached.
- DON’T write multiple paragraphs about yourself or ramble on.
- DON’T pitch your product/service in your connection request.
- DON’T ask for favors, you haven’t earned that right yet.
- DON’T show off and mention that you have “X amount of connections”.
- DON’T try and automate this process.
Prewriting skills: Writing a connection request with 5 P’s
Once you are clear about what not to do, your concise and sincere message should contain what Larry Kim [2] calls the 5 P’s:
- Polite
- Professional
- Pertinent
- Personalized
- Praiseful.
It should be polite, just as you would be when meeting a stranger face to face at a professional event. The message should also be professional and pertinent – or related – to the person you are requesting to connect with. LinkedIn users dislike receiving connection requests without understanding why and not knowing how the person is pertinent to their professional life. The note should also be personalized, which means saying why you want to connect with them. Finally, and very importantly, it helps to be praiseful and pay a compliment to the receiver of your connection request.
More specifically, we can expand these 5 P’s to 5 ingredients for a successful connection request:
- Personalized greeting
- Professional recognition – How you know them
- Pertinent reason- Why you want to connect with them
- Praise their professionalism
- Polite sign-off.
Let’s take a look at an example with analysis.
Analyzed example. Model and 5-P analysis
| Function | Personalized connection request |
| Personalized greeting Professional – How you know the person Praise Pertinent – Why you want to connect Polite signoff | Hi Marcus! I just finished reading your excellent article on digital marketing and SAAS. I made several notes and learned some useful ideas that I hope to put into practice at my company. I’d love to connect on LinkedIn and keep learning from you. Have a great Friday and weekend! – Nigella |
Practice 1: Analyze the following 2 connection request examples.
Circle or underline the Function number (1,2,3,4,5) after each sentence. You might need to circle more than 1 function.
- Hi Gyllis, You have lots of great advice in your article on tips for the ELT sales process. (1,2,3,4,5) Many thanks for the educational read – I learned a lot. (1,2,3,4,5) I’m also in this industry and I hope we can connect. (1,2,3,4,5) Have a wonderful week, Antony (1,2,3,4,5)
- Hi Jaime, I just finished your terrific course on LinkedIn! (1,2,3,4,5) You are a terrific presenter and I learned a fair bit from just watching how you organized and presented your ideas. (1,2,3,4,5) You gave great advice and I have a lot of notes and even more inspiration. 🙂 (1,2,3,4,5) I hope we can connect so that I can learn more from you in the future. (1,2,3,4,5) Have an awesome day! – Pete (1,2,3,4,5)
Different types of connection requests and templates
Michaela Alexis [3] points out that there are generally 6 situations in which you may want to send a connection request:
- Somebody you met a conference
- Celebrity or influencer in your industry
- Somebody you went to school with
- A recruiter
- Someone you’d like to work with
- Somebody whose content you found on LinkedIn.
The following templates are based on Alexis’s [3] templates, but you should personalize them even more to your specific situation and personality and voice. Being friendly and enthusiastic is important though if you want a positive reply.
Model examples: Connection requests for 6 different situations
1. Someone you met at a conference or event
| “Hi ______________, it was great meeting you at the _____________ (event name). Our conversation about ___________ (specific topic) really got me thinking more about ___________ (general topic)! I’d love to stay in touch and stay in the loop of what you’re up to.” “Dear ________,I really enjoyed speaking to you at ____________ (event) in ____________(city of event) last month. It sounds like you are doing many interesting things. I’d love to connect and keep in touch.”____________.” “Hi __________!It was great meeting you at the _____________(name of event) in ___________ (city) last week. I really enjoyed hearing about how you’re ___________ (give context to what you spoke about) – I look forward to following your work and learning more! Best,___________” |
2. A celebrity, influencer, or thought leader in your industry
| “Hi _________,I’ve been following your content and I’m really impressed with your work and accomplishments. I recently ___________ (read your article/listened to your interview/watched your video) about ___________ (topic), and I’d love to discover more about your work and support you!____________” |
3. Somebody that went to your school
| For someone who is studying now: “Hi ________!I see that you graduated from my current university, _________ (name of school). It’s fantastic to see alumni having such a positive influence on LinkedIn! I’m a __________ major and would love to learn more about your work with ____________ (person’s current employer). Thanks so much, ________” |
4. A recruiter
| “Hi __________,I noticed that you are a recruiter in the _______ (name of city) area. I wanted to reach out to discuss potentially working together. I’m a ___________ (share your experience) and currently seeking new opportunities. I’d love to find out if I may be a fit for any of your current openings. Hope to chat soon, _________” “Hi _________,I see that you work for __________(name of recruiting agency). I wanted to reach out because I’m currently exploring new opportunities. I’ve been working professionally in ___________ (name of industry) for ___________ (number of years), and I think I’m ready for my next big challenge! If you have time, I’d love to talk about whether my background would make me a fit for any openings you have. Thanks! Hope to talk soon,____________” |
5. Someone you’d like to work with
| “Hi ___________,I’ve noticed your presence here on LinkedIn, and I’m really impressed by your work! I’d love to see if we can work together on ___________ (give context to the project or position). Would you be open to discussing via a quick phone or Zoom call, or over coffee? Looking forward to possibly working with you!” “Hi ____________,I saw the work that you did ___________ (project) for ___________ (company), and I thought it was terrific! My company is looking for help on ____________, and your skills might be a great fit. Let me know if you’re interested in working together. I can be reached here or at ___________ (email address). Chat soon, and keep up the good work!” |
6. Someone whose content you found on LinkedIn
| “Hi ____________,I recently came across your ___________ (LinkedIn article/post/video) about ___________ (topic), and I was amazed. I couldn’t agree more about your take on ___________ (topic), and knew I needed to try and reach out. I’d love to connect and keep up-to-date with your inspiring content. Sincerely, __________” |
Phrase bank 1: Personalized greeting
| Formality | Greeting |
| Informal Formal | Hi __________ Hello __________ Dear __________ |
Phrase bank 2: Professional and Praise levels of enthusiasm
| Levels of enthusiasm | Professional recognition | Praise |
| Objective | I met you at …. / We met at … I read/watched/listened to your … _____ about _____ | |
| Polite | It was good to meet you / It was a pleasure to meet you / I enjoyed meeting you / I was glad to meet you | I enjoyed reading/watching/listening to your _____ about _____ |
| Enthusiastic | It was great/terrific/wonderful to meet you / It was a real pleasure to meet you / I really enjoyed meeting you | I read/watched/listened to your great _____ about _____ – you offered wonderful advice about _____ . |
| For a leader or famous person | It was a privilege/honor to meet you / I was thrilled to meet you | I read/watched/listened to your great _____ about _____ – it has inspired me to _____ |
Phrase bank 3: Pertinent and Polite sign-off levels of enthusiasm
| Levels of enthusiasm | Pertinent reasons to connect | Polite sign-off |
| Polite | I hope to learn more from you in the future. | Best, _____ Warm regards, _____ Thanks, _____ Many thanks, |
| Enthusiastic | I’d love to discover more about your work and support you! I’d love to stay in touch and stay in the loop of what you’re up to. | _____ keep up the good/great/terrific work! |
| For a leader or famous person | I couldn’t agree more about your take on ___________ (topic), and knew I needed to try and reach out. I’d love to connect and keep up-to-date with your inspiring content. I look forward to following your work and learning more! | Have an awesome/amazing/great day! Sincerely, |
References
[1] Michaela Alexis (2021) LI training video: marketing on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/learning/marketing-on-linkedin-2021https://www.linkedin.com/learning/marketing-on-linkedin-2021
[2] Larry Kim How to Write the Perfect LinkedIn Connection Request | WordStream
[3] Michaela Alexis 2021-08-15 post: 6 Message Templates for LinkedIn Connection Request Success | LinkedIn
Answers to Practice exercises
Practice 1: Analyze the following 2 connection request examples.
Circle or underline the Function number (1,2,3,4,5) after each sentence. You might need to circle more than 1 function.
- Hi Gyllis, You have lots of great advice in your article on tips for the ELT sales process. (1,2,3,4,5) Many thanks for the educational read – I learned a lot. (1,2,3,4,5) I’m also in this industry and I hope we can connect. (1,2,3,4,5) Have a wonderful week, Antony (1,2,3,4,5)
- Hi Jaime, I just finished your terrific course on LinkedIn! (1,2,3,4,5) You are a terrific presenter and I learned a fair bit from just watching how you organized and presented your ideas. (1,2,3,4,5) You gave great advice and I have a lot of notes and even more inspiration. 🙂 (1,2,3,4,5) I hope we can connect so that I can learn more from you in the future. (1,2,3,4,5) Have an awesome day! – Pete (1,2,3,4,5)
