I Accepted You on LinkedIn And Then….

Written By: Trent Selbrede

I looked at my feed.

UGH

• You immediately spammed me thinking I needed your product/service (I don’t). The form letter was ful uf tpyos. The ALL CAPS told me it was an important message. I better check it out!
• You immediately asked me to hire you, do your Visa paperwork, and fly you in to start working. OK, can you start tomorrow?
• You hit on me. Really? Through LinkedIn from another country? I know that you are safe because your photo is a ‘car seat belt’ – selfie. Stay classy.
• You were disconnected and possibly reported.

Meh

• I realized that you ‘like’ every. single. thing. Oooh, a joke about hiding a dead body on the second page of Google. Priceless (in 2004)! And now my feed is cluttered, and I can’t find the good stuff.
• You hit the like button on inspirational quotes (and ads) and do nothing with the information. You answer math problems and word searches. Useless.
• You aren’t a professional photographer, but you upload and like pretty pictures of private islands that are 10,000 miles from you. Dreamy!
• When someone posts a job and tells everyone how to apply; you ask, “how do I apply?” or post something like “want job.” Hired for great listening skills!

I only “muted” you. We can stay connected, but I am not sure why.

YESSS!

• You post great content.
• You post an inspirational quote, but you tell us what it means to you.
• You reflect and encourage others to do the same.
• You comment, like, and share other great/useful content.
• You have genuine conversations (thanks for adding this Deb).

These are just my feelings. We all like different things but be aware that a ‘like’ shares it with our network. Having connections means it’s not just about us.

If you are not sure what has value, observe some valued LinkedIn members. A few that I think continually deliver on the yessss: Dustin McKisson, Jeffrey Strickland, Deb Helfrich. Follow them or find a LinkedIn mentor in your network.

Sure there have been a few creeps and jerks, but far more really good people with interesting backgrounds and great insights. I’ll take the UGHs and the MEHs to get to the YESSS but I wish I didn’t have to.

Yes LinkedIn, we know…only accept invites from people we know. I know a lot of hotel people, but I like a diverse network. I am not looking for quantity of connections, but I am always looking for quality.

I accepted your invite…your move.

Reposted with permission. To read the original on Trent’s LinkedIn click here.

Comments, likes, shares are appreciated. Click for more information about the author: Trent Selbrede or click here to read his blogs.