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Have you ever had those moments when you saw a new product or heard of a new method of doing something, and you think to yourself, “Geeze, that’s so simple, when didn’t I think of that?” We all have them, right? Then you kick yourself in the pants for not thinking of it yourself. Well, I kicked myself in the pants last week when I watched a video about intergrating LinkedIn with in-person networking events.
Allow me to begin by saying that live in-person networking events are still the number one way to make connections with potential clients, strategic business partners, vendors, and even your competition. Connecting in-person builds and nurtures stronger working relationships. However, we can’t spend all of our time at live networking events, so by bringing you new connections into LinkedIn, you can keep your relationship building endeavors moving forward.
Whether you are attending a mixer, expo, conference, networking meeting or a business meeting, you have the opportunity to meet with people you don’t know. First conversations, with someone you don’t know, can be awkward. I’ve been there – you’ve been there. But, you muddle through the “Hi, I’m Eydie, what do you do?” chatter.
Let’s take a look at what we could add into our face-to-face networking strategy.
After the usual first time meeting small talk, ask, “Joe, are you on
LinkedIn?” If the answer is yes, then here’s your chance to make your
move. Say to them, “I’d like to send you an invite to connect on LinkedIn,
is that okay?”. Pull out your smartphone, open up your LinkedIn
application, find that person, and send the invite. Now you’ve turned someone you don’t know well, into someone you will be able to get to know better. Your new connection will accept your invitation because you’ve made that dazzling, in-person, first impression.
Once you’ve moved on from that new connection, do some further research on your new invitee. Go to his, or her, profile. Read their summary, interests, groups to which they belong. Learn more about them so that you can ask them more questions during your next conversation at the event. Do it while you’re at the event, because it doesn’t mean as much the next day.
Invitation etiquette
To make sure that you understand a little bit about LinkedIn etiquette, and sending invitations to connect, I want to make note that normally it is not appropriate to send out a network connection invite using just the default text that Linkedin provides. In the scenario I described above, however, it is okay because you have already made that connection in-person.
No smartphone?
If by chance you don’t have a smartphone and a LinkedIn application, or you weren’t able to get that far into your conversation, make sure that you follow up the next day. Search for him, or her, on LinkedIn, do some more research via their profile, and send them a network connection invite. In this invite, you will remind them of how you met, boost their memory by telling them what you talked about, and encourage them to visit your LinkedIn profile. At the end, give them a call to action: “Please accept my invitation to connect on Linkedin”.
Simple, right? What strategies do you use to bring your in-person connections into LinkedIn?
Eydie 🙂
Source: IntergratedAlliances.com
Orange County Institute for Women Entrepreneurs 