You’ve probably received LinkedIn invitations to connect with people. Now let me ask you a question - Which of the following LinkedIn invitations would you accept?

LinkedIn Invitation # 1

“I’d like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn.

From - Random Person You Have Never Heard of/Met Before”

LinkedIn Invitation # 2

“Hello XYZ,

I came across your profile on LinkedIn and also saw your website, which has some great content.

As a quick introduction, I work as a ‘Job Title’ which is related to your area of work and I think we would both benefit from starting and developing a professional relationship. To start with, I have recently done a lot of research on the topic of XYZ and written a detailed report about it. If you are interested, perhaps we could speak/meet, so that I can share the main insights with you.

Look forward to hearing from you and I hope you will accept my invitation to connect on LinkedIn.

Thanks very much,

Random Person You Have Never Heard of/Met Before”

You’d be more inclined to accept the second LinkedIn invitation and in most cases would delete the first invitation. Right?

That is what I would do.

When requesting people to connect with you, whether or not they accept your LinkedIn invitation, depends a great deal on your message and how personal/relevant it is. Therefore, it is a good idea to write a personalised note, with some of the following information:

• Brief background about yourself
• What you have in common
• How you came across/heard of the person
• A bit of flattery
• Why you want to connect and what are the benefits for both of you