After loading my profile, I needed some connections. Connections are people who have a LinkedIn account and agree to connect to you. How you get people to agree to connect is you send out an invitation. In the invitation, you ask if they will link to you. It is that simple. You send invitations out from LinkedIn. Just go to the button at the top that says "Expand Your Network."
Who should you link to? Typically, you send invitations to friends, colleagues, business contacts, family members, etc. I decided for me I wouldn't put in just anyone. I didn't want people I barely know. Though I did put in one like that as a test. I didn't want to be seen as a "LinkHo." I wanted only people I would feel totally comfortable calling for an introduction to someone they know and I am totally comfortable with them calling me for introductions to my friends. That's what networks are for.
Keep in mind, anyone you are connected to can see your connections and you can see their connections (as long as they haven't turned this off this feature).
I use Outlook. For me, LinkedIn recommended I upload my contacts. I must confess I was a little edgy about turning over my Outlook address book. After realizing what can really be stolen? Email addresses are public. I have the relationship. I did it. The LinkedIn Outlook upload worked great! It pulled in my contacts. I checked off the people to send to. I used the standard LinkedIn invitation message and out it went. Hind sight is 20/20. Thinking about it now, I might have had more success had I customized the invitation a bit. Oh well! More on creating connections in the next post.
Tags: LinkedIn, Connections, business development, Linked In