LinkedIn Management, Suggestion Solicitations

by Michelle Lasley

Michelle Lasley is a mother, wife in Pacific Northwest learning to balance green dreams with budget realities.

August 12, 2013

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Categories: Blogging Before SEO

Career Map

My Vizify profile outlines the varied interests that have captivated my attention over the last fifteen years.

LinkedIn strictly instructs: do not accept new connections unless you know them. OK – I can buy into that, in this confused day and age of social media. But, LinkedIn is such an amazing connection tool. What happens when really interesting people want to connect with you? What are you supposed to do?

I want to meet everyone for coffee first. I want to hear stories. I want to exchange passions. I want to learn how we can both be beneficial to each other. I cannot network you with another if I don’t know about you. I’ve been encouraged to connect with others as a way to piqué interest, which I’ve done. And, I can get that. But, I don’t really want to connect with that person until I know them. So, for those who’ve contacted me, I am paralyzed and unsure of what to do.

The unfair strategy I now use is ignoring the request. They hangout in my LinkedIn notification bar, reminding me of my delinquency as I pursue other things. I’m busy. The pie of time is split very strictly between sleep, family, work, and volunteer activities. My ability to mingle and meet new people is relegated to conferences or the occasional coffee during work hours or the take-away-from-family time weekend mornings. I wish I had at least 8 hours a week making new connections. It’s amazing how quickly that pie-time-chart fills up with things that must happen that precludes meeting new people to further a promise of a career.

So, what is a gal supposed to do? Email exchanges? I have a hard time catching up with the emails that are now marked as unread in the variety of in boxes I manage. Phone calls? I find that no one uses the phone anymore, and I often have to remind people who it’s more than a texting device.

Recruiter friends – please share – what are your best practice connection tips with LinkedIn? How do you suggest busy people manage the pie-time-chart to make effective, useful connections for both parties?

Please! Discuss! Engage! Share ideas.

Thank you.

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