How to message LinkedIn connections BEFORE accepting the request

Accepting every LinkedIn connection request can damage your network.
James West, of ONLE Networking explains how to message people on LinkedIn without Premium or using your quota of messages.

Don’t automatically accept every LinkedIn connection request!

I get it. We all want to improve our reach and engagement. Therefore, having more connections on LinkedIn helps, right?

Turns out, that’s wrong. As I explain in this blog, connecting with people on LinkedIn who are not interested in you damages your network and engagement.

“I can’t message people before connecting because I don’t have Premium”

But you CAN message people before accepting the connection request! It’s easy AND doesn’t require you to pay for LinkedIn Premium or use one of your measly quota of ‘free’ messages. Here’s how:

Step 1. Open LinkedIn and click ‘My Network” at the top of your screen.

Step 2: You’ll notice at this stage, you can either ‘accept’ or ‘ignore’ the invitation to connect. Without an option to message. But…here’s the trick, click the “show all” button in the top right.

Step 3: In this list, you’ll see that below the person’s name, you have the option to ‘message’!

With the option to message now available, you can talk to the person in question to ascertain whether they have connected for the right reasons. For an explanation of how I handle this and an example of the message I send , refer back to my blog about the peril of accepting all LinkedIn connection requests.

I hope this tip helps you build a valuable LinkedIn network. And if you want to learn more about combining LinkedIn and networking events to grow your reach and find sales opportunities, take a look at this episode of the ONLE Networking Show:

Learn how to connect LinkedIn and networking by watching James & Kelly on the ONLE Networking Show