You Can Always Personalize an Invite to Connect on LinkedIn

Unless I’m expecting it, I’m always disappointed when I receive an invitation to connect on LinkedIn that contains only the following:

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

Aren’t you?

Well, my friend and frequent collaborator, Maria Ross of Red Slice, sent me the following question regarding personalizing invitations to connect on LinkedIn. I hope my answer proves helpful to you as well!

I have a question for you: I’ve been sending LI connection invites via the “Suggested Contacts” feature – but when you do it that way, there is no way to send a personalized note. It’s either Connect or Ignore. I like this feature because you don’t need to know their email address and it’s super easy to click when it’s someone you genuinely want to connect with – but I hate that I can’t leave a note. Do you know a workaround?

Of course, I have a workaround!

It’s a little convoluted so I usually save it for my client sessions where I can demonstrate it but I’m happy to share it with you. The key is to take the name of the person and view them in the LinkedIn mobile app which DOES allow you to personalize without having an email!

You can check out the attached screen grabs from something I just sent this morning.

Personalizing Invitations to Connect on the LinkedIn Mobile App

The ability to add a personalized message in your invitation to connect is available in the latest iOS and Android versions for the LinkedIn mobile app. Be sure you did an update to the latest version of the LinkedIn app, so you’ll be able to personalize your invitation by following the instructions below.

Here it is in words:

iOS

1. Tap the Menu icon in the top right of someone’s profile.
2. Tap Personalize invite.
3. Enter your personalized invitation message.

Android

1. Tap the Menu icon in the top right of someone’s profile.
2. Tap Personalize invite.
3. Enter your personalized invitation message.
4. Tap Send.

This is probably a good time to mention that I rarely accept an invite to connect on LinkedIn unless it’s personalized. I explain how I handle these in this recent post. 

Need expert help with LinkedIn?

Would you like to “pick my brain” and get your nagging questions answered on how to use LinkedIn to get the leads you actually want? Purchase a discounted custom LinkedIn coaching session with me starting at only $199 thru June 15th! Click here to prepay for your session here and we’ll get you on my calendar!

Here’s the link to prepay again, just in case: http://bit.ly/199LIbdm