I receive a few unsolicited connection requests a month from people I have never met.
Maybe they have read something I wrote (that’s cool).
Maybe they want to partner or work with me (that’s cool too).
Maybe they want to sell me something (sure why not, that’s what it’s there for).
Maybe I’m a small part of them trying to grow their network with like minded people (all sounds great).
When I receive these requests where the profile is incomplete, no photo, no experience, no effort in trying to create something – I’ll always reject them flat-out. The goal of LinkedIn is to connect with people and build on something. Some people don’t want to be on LinkedIn and have an accidental profile on there, that’s okay, you don’t have to use it, ignore it and leave it.
But if you take it back to when you meet someone for the first time, you personalize the interaction (comment on my shoes), shake hands, wave, something, the ratio for success is that much higher. Sending the default connection request from LinkedIn, with an incomplete profile is akin to introducing yourself on the other side of the door where you’ve put your business card through the mail slot hoping for something magical to happen.
It won’t.
