There’s no shortage of LinkedIn best practices articles out there. A quick Google search returns tens of thousands of results, most offering the same advice: optimize your profile, join groups, post regularly. All helpful, but they miss something fundamental.
Most LinkedIn networking strategies treat connections like baseball cards. The goal is to collect as many as possible. But that’s not networking. That’s collecting.
I’ve been on LinkedIn since March 2004, and over the years I’ve developed an approach that’s less about accumulating contacts and more about building relationships that actually matter. It’s worked well for me – I’ve landed interesting projects and met genuinely valuable people through this platform. Here’s what I do differently.
Quality Over Quantity: Why I Want to Talk Before I Link
When someone I’ve never met invites me to connect on LinkedIn, I don’t just click accept. Instead, I send them a message that looks like this:
Thank you for the invitation to connect. I make an effort to know my LinkedIn connections so I can do a better job referring them. Would you be open to having a brief phone call sometime in the next 2 weeks to chat?
I know what you’re thinking: “That’s a lot of work.” You’re right. It is. But here’s why it matters.
I’m not particularly good at remembering names, companies, or titles without context. But I’m very good at remembering conversations and stories. If we’ve talked for 15 minutes, I can remember you. If we’re just names in each other’s contact lists, I can’t.
And if I can’t remember you, I can’t help you. More importantly, I can’t help the people in my network who might benefit from meeting you.
How many times have you asked someone for an introduction to one of their LinkedIn connections, only to hear: “Oh, I don’t really know that person. We’re just connected on LinkedIn.”? That’s a waste of everyone’s time. Worse, it discourages people from asking you for help again.
After each conversation, I add notes to my CRM. Months later, when someone asks “Do you know anyone who does X?”, I can search my notes, find the right person, check their LinkedIn profile to see if anything has changed, and make a meaningful introduction.
That only works if I actually know the person I’m introducing.
The Most Overlooked LinkedIn Strategy: Just Ask
Maybe “just ask” seems too obvious to make a best practices list, but I find that one of the biggest obstacles professionals face with referrals and networking is simply being hesitant to ask for help.
LinkedIn is full of people who are willing to help. They’re just not mind readers.
Ask for recommendations when you’re looking to purchase, invest, or hire. Don’t think your request is too small. I watched a friend ask for recommendations for a luncheon venue, and within two hours, she had half a dozen suggestions and booked one of them.
Ask how you can help them. You have access to talented people in your network. Let others know you’re willing to make introductions to address their needs. This is often more valuable than any direct help you can provide.
Ask for introductions to specific people. After identifying someone you’d like to meet, see who in your network is connected to them and ask for an introduction. Make it easy for the person introducing you. Tell them how you’d like to be introduced and why you want to meet that person.
The worst thing that happens when you ask? Someone says no or doesn’t respond. The best thing? You get exactly what you need.
What This LinkedIn Networking Strategy Looks Like in Practice
I want to be clear: I like meeting strangers on LinkedIn. I’m always open to new connections. I just want to know two things:
- How I can help them
- How they might be able to help other people in my network
During our conversation, I learn what they actually do and how they help their customers. I get a sense of what type of person they are. Would I want to work with them? These are things I can share if someone asks me for a recommendation, whether we met online or offline.
Of course, I haven’t personally done business with everyone I’m connected to on LinkedIn. That’s no different from the connections I have in real life through chambers of commerce or other networking groups. But I have a basis for making an introduction or offering a recommendation.
And if someone invites me to connect but doesn’t respond to my request for a call, or misses our appointment without following up? Well, I’ve learned something then too, haven’t I?
Your LinkedIn Networking Strategy
Your approach doesn’t need to look exactly like mine. Maybe you have a better memory for names than I do. Maybe you prefer email to phone calls. Maybe your network is large enough that you can’t talk to every new connection.
But the principle holds: your LinkedIn network is only as valuable as your ability to activate it. And you can only activate connections you actually know.
If someone asks you for help and your response is “I’m connected to someone who does that, but I don’t really know them,” your network isn’t working for you. It’s just a list.
The goal isn’t to be connected to the most people. The goal is to be genuinely helpful to the people you know—and that requires actually knowing them.
Want to connect? I’d love to talk first: www.linkedin.com/in/billbrelsford
