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7 Mistakes To Avoid Using LinkedIn

Author: Jan Vermeiren   |   March 22nd, 2010

LinkedIn is a very powerful tool which allows account managers, business owners and sales reps to get results fast. However there are some characteristics which could possibly negatively impact your results if you don’t know them or don’t take them into account.

This is the top 7:

1.Send invitations to strangers. If you send an invitation to potential customers (or other people) you have never met and 5 of them click on “I Don’t Know this Person”, your options to connect with someone are drastically limited. You can only invite someone when you know their email address.linkedin mistakes

A remark: a number of women change their last name when they marry. A consequence could be that old classmates don’t recognize them and click on “I Don’t Know this Person”. If you are in this situation, add your maiden name.

2. Send impersonal invitations
.  The standard invitation of LinkedIn is “Hi, I’d like to add you to my network”. This is an impersonal invitation. The consequence could be that people you already have a relationship with and especially the ones you want to build a relationship with are offended. So always give a personal touch to your invitations!

3. Add a holiday picture to your Profile. LinkedIn is a website for professional contacts. If you place picture of yourself in swimming trousers with 10 cocktails in front of you, you won’t be taken seriously by potential customers. Tip: use a headshot and smile gently.

4. Abuse of Answers. If you abuse Answers to sell your products or services, other LinkedIn users can “flag” your Profile. If you have a few “flags”, your question will be removed. If you do this a few times the option to ask questions can be removed.

5. Inappropriate behavior. If you are too pushy or behave inappropriately in any other way, people can “flag” your Profile, which can lead to canceling your subscription.

6. Everybody in the chain can read all messages of an Introduction. If you send someone an invitation to connect via ‘Get introduced through a connection’ you always have to write two messages: one of the final recipient and one for your first degree contact. Be aware that everybody who is in the “chain” towards the final recipient can read both your messages.

In practice this means that your first degree contact can read your message to him and the final recipient, that the second degree contact can read your two messages and the message from your first degree contact to him and that the final recipient can read your two messages, the message from your first degree contact to your second degree contact and from the second degree contact to him.

So always be professional in the messages you send whether it is an introduction request from yourself or whether you forward a message from someone else.

7. Including your email address in your name. This is a strategy that is applied by the so called LIONs (LinkedIn Open Networkers) and other people who want to have as many connections as possible. If that is what you want, you can do that. However be warned that this goes against the LinkedIn User Agreement.

As far as I know LinkedIn hasn’t banned anyone who did this, but they have the right to do so. Next to that, you can also turn off potential customers who are more keen on building a small network of people they know very well. They also might think you won’t be able to make time for them when they need you since you are spending so much time on LinkedIn.

Jan

About Jan Vermeiren
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