There are 5 major mistakes that people make with regard to Linkedin invites.

Mistake #1 When you use that God awful template. I hate that template! It is by far the most anti social, social networking tool on Linkedin!

Here’s how it reads . . .

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

So here we are, supposedly trying to make a cool first impression and yet we use something that’s about as lazy as going over to someone and grunting!

Not a real memorable way to say hello!

Mistake #2 Happens when we decide to ignore the invite because someone basically doesn’t know how to say hello properly.

Mistake #3 Happens when we don’t respond to the invite and yet we accept it.

Time Out! Don’t you dare use the other person’s lack of a “proper hello” as your excuse not to return fire with a proper hello . . . You’re better than that!

Mistake #4: Calling someone a “friend”. I know, I feel like a real d*ck writing that but it’s a mistake. When you go to invite someone on Linkedin, it asks you how you know someone. When it does, please don’t select friend if you don’t even know the person. People really get put off by that which brings us to our final mistake . . .

Mistake #5: Getting put off because someone called you a “friend”. I turned over a new leaf on this one about two years. Prior to that, I was one of those who would get offended if you called me a “friend” when we didn’t know each other. My awaking came one day when I realized that I have been called far worse than “friend”. I invite you to get over it too!

You know, first impressions still count for something when it comes to beginning what we all hope will be a wonderful courtship.

Let’s make a note today to do our best to be more “social” on the sending and receiving end of our invites!

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