What is Lazy Man LinkedIn? I am so glad you asked and it goes something like this. You do not really know people and yet they ask you to connect with them via the social network LinkedIn.
You see, like all social networks, LinkedIn was created to help people to connect with others they wanted to know better. The original setup, although not used as much these days, was to have a person who was a professional contact of mine “introduce me” via LinkedIn to someone in his/her professional network. So, just as business professionals have always introduced or connected people, LinkedIn simply became a tool that among other functions, helped expedite this process. But what is going on now? You guessed it—Lazy Man LinkedIn.
By the way, I know mobile phones have settings that make it easy to connect with a person “you may know” by clicking on their name but this is impersonal and cannot be used as an excuse. So what does the typical LinkedIn connection look like? Here goes…“I'd like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn.” Yes, that is right—this is the LinkedIn default.
Wow, that is truly personal, huh? Why do we not take time to customize this message? Why don’t we tell the other person 1) how we know them, 2) why we want to connect, 3) who we both know in common, 4) if applicable (where we have met before), and 5) anything else that is not LAZY.
My consulting business uses traditional and social media tools to help companies grow by improving their sales and marketing efforts. However, no growth occurs by shortcuts or tricks. If your first point of contact to another professional is Lazy Man LinkedIn—my recommendation is to reconsider your approach.
Let me leave you with this thought. When someone sends me a Lazy Man LinkedIn request and it requires my thinking of who they are, how I know them, if I have ever met them and more, it likely that I will not connect with that person. In contrast, let me know where we met, who we know in common, the reason you want to connect along with the personal touch and I will most likely accept the invitation. We all desire to connect with others. Thus, the choice is yours as to how you go about doing this. We all have many things pulling at us and vying for our attention each day. So make your communications memorable and for goodness sake do not be Lazy Man LinkedIn.
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