Pet peeve of mine (comedians have those):

LinkedIn connection requests I receive without any kind of reason for wanting to connect – personalized or otherwise. Not even a stock greeting.

But that alone – is no biggie. I’ll still accept you as a connection if you have a legit profile. Besides, LinkedIn’s user experience on mobile isn’t always intuitive, and a lot of people don’t know where the “personalize invite” feature’s located.

That said, I always ask the requster-in-question why they wanted to connect and how they found my profile.

The video below (which I wrote, directed, and invented cloning technology for) below depicts what occasionally happens after I ask that question. When it does happen, I share this video with them, and follow it up with the “disappointed-face” emoji. I encourage you to do the same.

No one’s paid to rack up LinkedIn connections. Take a minute to engage. Not doing so with the person you reached out to is – at the very least – a lost networking opportunity.

Please enjoy responsibly and don’t let sales & sales development reps you may know pursue this lame practice.

Want to write a killer icebreaker that shows your prospects you understand their pain?

My monthly live class “The Writers’ Room” gets you crafting jokes with a handful of colleagues. Let’s talk if you’d like to learn more!