Ahoy mateys! We’re one year into the pandemic. How’s networking going on LinkedIn or did that party ship leave without you because you missed the boat?

You DO have a LinkedIn profile, right?

LinkedIn now has about 740 million members in 200 countries and is “the world’s largest professional network” and your electronic Rolodex.

It is NOT just a platform for job seekers, but a platform for the global workforce (or about to be workforce). That means you can be employed, self-employed, unemployed, a veteran, a student, or even a retired individual who wants to connect with your former colleagues.

With all the Zoom networking meetings going on, no business cards are being exchanged, so the best way to maintain that connection and start building a relationship is to connect on LinkedIn.

Don’t buy into any third-party automation tools to prospect for you, as they are against LinkedIn’s user agreement. Make genuine human-to-human connections. Bots don’t make sales calls out in the field, so they should not make them online either.

Not a week goes by without me receiving a pitch by a bot. As soon as I accept someone’s connection request, an auto-reply comes in my inbox to try to sell me some goods or services.

I used to be the Western Regional Sales Manager for a ceramic tile company and I never walked into an office and said “hi – buy my stuff.”

When you reach out to make connections, you want to personalize them.

But, what if you receive connection requests that have not been personalized. Watch John Espirian’s YouTube video and see what he does when he receives a connection request that is not personalized.

In the video John mentions shortcode. What he is probably using is Google’s Auto-Text Expander. Standard messages that you send out can be populated through some shortcuts and it is a real time saver.

I first learned about the Auto-Text Expander from Brynne Tillman. She also has some excellent templates to make connection requests in her book, if you need some inspiration and have writer’s block.   

Since you need to have over 500 connections to make the algorithm work in your favor (just Google that), start connecting to get there or keep adding to expand your network if you have already reached that milestone!

Happy networking!

Need to attend LinkedIn workshops and trainings? They are available on Zoom and Clubhouse, and they are hosted locally, nationally, or internationally.

Join me, Brynne Tillman, and Leann Isaacson on Clubhouse in the “LinkedIn Marketing Secrets Club” for free profile reviews on Saturdays from 4-6 PM. We will offer tips for job seekers, social sales for business owners, and strategies.

You can also sign up for the third Saturday of the month for three-hour workshops on Zoom.

Don’t miss our upcoming events. If you are a working adult, learn and network with us. You can view events on a Google doc and meetup and website.

• 3/13 Sat The Top Takeaways from 15 Years of My Career Transitions
• 3/13 Sat Fast LinkedIn Profile Review & Strategies on Clubhouse
• 3/15 Mon Career Success Group
• 3/16 Building an Inclusive Workplace Culture Through Allyship
• 3/16 Business Executives Networking Group (BENG)
• 3/17 PowerThinking Resiliency Building Call-In
• 3/17 Business Executives Networking Group (BENG)
• 3/18 Using Board Membership in Your Career and Search
• 3/18 Using AI to Clean Up Your Social Media for Employment Lunch & Learn
• 3/19 Interviewing Techniques
• 3/20 LinkedIn Part 1 of 3
• 3/20 Implementing Search Engine Optimization ‘The How’ Part I

Need to accelerate your job search or manage your career? Explore our kickstarter offerings.

Missed the previous article on Are You “Woke” on LinkedIn? Click here.