Dall-e photo prompt: Military member lecturing on how to keep your network close

I declined a number of connection requests on LinkedIn today.

Why did I not accept these?

1) No note, message, or recent interaction between myself and the person.

Unless we are friends, have recently interacted or you send me a note telling me why you connect I will likely pass. Why? Because I want the platform to be something I can use in a functional way to reach out to those who might be able to help me. If I don’t know you it is not my style to ask you for something.

2) There was a generic note and it is clear the request is someone trying to find a new client (looking at you marketing folks).

Look, everyone has to hustle and I respect that. But I also will not just blindly say “oh you sent me this copy/paste sure I will accept!” A lot of times I will respond to these notes before I accept or reject. If the person takes the time to reply in a way that shows they actually read my message and it isn’t just an attempt to get me to buy something I’ll accept.

3) The request is just trying to get me to buy something.

I am good on my lead gen, financial management, and educational requirments. LinkedIn is a networking site not a sales site, stop it.

I rejected a request this morning from two folks. One had two mutual connections. Asked me some copy/paste around “Are you happy with xyz?” I replied and asked “Thanks for the connection, what did you have in mind?” Crickets. After about a week and a half I decline to connect. They are looking for the quick close and not to create a lasting impression, not for me.

Another request included the person promising to plant trees simply if I booked some time with them. I asked “Do you plant the trees yourself?” Not only did they not reply, they pulled their request to connect.

I want my LinkedIn to be a place where I can genuinely connect with people in a professional way and know that if someone needs me to reach out to a connection I can do that in a real way. Nothing is worse than wanting an intro and hearing “oh I have no idea how I know that person, some random connection”.

That may work for some people, but not for me.