Are you accepting LinkedIn randoms? You should be. Here’s why:
- In the communication industry (and beyond), specializations are the norm. With that comes specialized certifications and specialized talent. One wonderful with LinkedIn is that it’s searchable. Need a NVivo certified analyst, for example? Search for one on LinkedIn!
- Random outreach does glean responses (people are responding to random outreaches on LinkedIn!). Case in point: AlixCompany needed a particular type of talent for a new business opportunity. I searched on LinkedIn, found several specialists, contacted them randomly (they all responded), confirmed their talent with references, and guess what — AlixCompany won the scope of work!
- Why not? You can indicate on LinkedIn that you don’t want to share your connections with connections.
- If someone doesn’t accept randoms, the worst that could happen is that they don’t accept your invitation.
- A book you must read if you’re at all on the fence: The Network Always Wins by Peter Hinssen. It has changed the way I do business. It solidified my POV on accepting and requesting random connections.
Here are a few quotes from networking where I asked the question, “Do you accept LinkedIn randoms?”
“I recently accepted a random request from someone at a well known advertising agency and that person nominated me for a keynote speaking opportunity. I ended up being the keynote speaker.”
“I needed an introduction and noticed one of my LinkedIn connections was connected to that person. The connection was a random one, but it didn’t matter. She was happy to make an introduction after a cup of coffee.”
“I just started accepting randoms! Previously, there was some pride in knowing all of my connections but now you just never know how you can be a resource for clients. I’ve accepted more randoms than I’ve requested. That said, I’ve started to send out more random connection requests.”