In the business world, there is an etiquette. In every industry out there, there is an etiquette. On Social Media, there is an etiquette. "Etiquette" is defined as, "the customary code of polite behavior in society or among members of a particular profession or group." Poor etiquette inevitably yields negative results.
The primary element to keep in mind is what is commonly known as, "The Golden Rule" which says, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." It is critical to understand, this does NOT mean, "Do to others what they have done to you." it means, in short, treat others the way that you would like for them to treat you.
LinkedIn is a well-established Business Social Media site, which has been in operation since 2003, and boasts in excess of a 500 million members in over 200 countries and territories. LinkedIn was acquired by Microsoft in June of 2016. A site such as this has a number of both written and unwritten "rules". It is important to remember that while lack of etiquette in a general social media site, like FaceBook or Twitter may simply be irritating, and "only" get you unfriended/ignored/mocked, lack of etiquette in the business environment may lose you respect, it may lose you customers, or if it gets bad enough, it could cost you your job.
Let's take a look at some of the more blatant blunders in professional etiquette that we see on LinkedIn.
Connecting with strangers -
LinkedIn has a rule against connecting with people that you don't know. And while many of us tend to disregard that rule in the name of networking, that does not mean all bets are off. Connecting with someone on LinkedIn is much the same as meeting them at a party/networking event/business mixer. While it is fine to walk up to someone you don't know, and introduce yourself, just like at that party/mixer, you wouldn't (or at least shouldn't) just walk up to someone who doesn't know you from Adam, and start pitching them on your product/service. Doing so at the party, at best, they're probably going to walk away from you. "So are you saying I shouldn't discuss business on LinkedIn?" No, that's not what I'm saying. What I'm saying is, use some tact, and common courtesy. "Hello, Mr. Smith, my name is _______, I am (state what company you're with or what line of work you're in, or something to give them some idea who you are and what you're about.) I was wondering if I could talk to you about (Product/service/investment/whatever)?" and give them the chance to accept your offer. Be BRIEF/General ("...I was wondering if I could talk to you about Outsourcing some of your work?" or "...I was wondering if I could discuss a potential investment opportunity?" or whatever. This does NOT mean hit them with your whole pitch! And, like anything in the world (Business or otherwise) don't be surprised if they say, "No." And be professional and respectful if they do. They may give you some degree of explanation ("No, thank you, I already have a financial planner." or, "No, I'm sorry, we don't outsource work." or they may just say, "No, thank you." At this point you can smile, and say, "Thank you for your time", "Thank you, nice to meet you" or even, "Thank you, here's my card, if we might somehow be of service in the future." and then go. NOBODY likes to be pushed/pressured. The same should be the case Online. I can't tell you how many times I have had someone ask me to connect, and almost immediately send me a message pushing their product or service.
DO NOT (and again I say, DO NOT) send a connection ANYTHING without first asking their permission/approval. Do not send e-mail other than over LinkedIn, I don't care if they DO have their e-mail address listed in their profile. One of the fastest ways to lose a prospective client is by spamming them. In this same vein, I STRONGLY advise against joining any of the various services that your connections on LinkedIn may send you. The invitation usually says something about, "I'd like to be able to refer customers to you..." I made the mistake of joining one of these. You click the link, go through their registration process, and it asks you to somehow connect your LinkedIn account, and when you do, it sends an invitation to all of your contacts. I made this mistake once, and never again. If you want to refer customers to me, Great! Get in touch with me over LinkedIn, and we can go from there. Likewise, if I happen to know of someone I think would be a good match for your services, I'll contact you and share the information. The only thing SPAM accomplishes is irritating people.
"When in Rome..."
When you are on LinkedIn, participate. There are a lot of great groups available on a wide variety of subjects. Great places to ask questions, share information, etc. However, please make sure that you take a moment to read whatever "Group Rules" the managers have created, and abide by them. As a member of a number of groups, as well as manager of several, I can tell you, SPAM is one of the biggest irritants there is. Most groups will define SPAM as anything that does not relate to that group (In other words, if you're in the Photoshop group, a post about how to do something in Illustrator would be considered SPAM.), anything repetitious (there is NO need to post your message, regardless of what it is, more than ONCE. People start at the top of the discussions and scroll down. If they see multiple copies of your message, most likely your messages will be flagged, and deleted. And you may be "moderated" (which means that anything that you attempt to post must be approved by a group manager before it is visible to members.) Or you may simply be ejected from the group.
There are a variety of areas on LinkedIn. There is some etiquette that is specific to a specific area, while others are more universal. You would be wise to take a few moments and learn "the ways of doing things" before you get involved. This applies to LinkedIn as well as any other Social Media or website. Using some simple common sense and common courtesy can make the difference between you being seen as a contributing member, and you being seen as a spammer or annoyance or worse.
The primary element to keep in mind is what is commonly known as, "The Golden Rule" which says, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." It is critical to understand, this does NOT mean, "Do to others what they have done to you." it means, in short, treat others the way that you would like for them to treat you.
LinkedIn is a well-established Business Social Media site, which has been in operation since 2003, and boasts in excess of a 500 million members in over 200 countries and territories. LinkedIn was acquired by Microsoft in June of 2016. A site such as this has a number of both written and unwritten "rules". It is important to remember that while lack of etiquette in a general social media site, like FaceBook or Twitter may simply be irritating, and "only" get you unfriended/ignored/mocked, lack of etiquette in the business environment may lose you respect, it may lose you customers, or if it gets bad enough, it could cost you your job.
Let's take a look at some of the more blatant blunders in professional etiquette that we see on LinkedIn.
Connecting with strangers -
LinkedIn has a rule against connecting with people that you don't know. And while many of us tend to disregard that rule in the name of networking, that does not mean all bets are off. Connecting with someone on LinkedIn is much the same as meeting them at a party/networking event/business mixer. While it is fine to walk up to someone you don't know, and introduce yourself, just like at that party/mixer, you wouldn't (or at least shouldn't) just walk up to someone who doesn't know you from Adam, and start pitching them on your product/service. Doing so at the party, at best, they're probably going to walk away from you. "So are you saying I shouldn't discuss business on LinkedIn?" No, that's not what I'm saying. What I'm saying is, use some tact, and common courtesy. "Hello, Mr. Smith, my name is _______, I am (state what company you're with or what line of work you're in, or something to give them some idea who you are and what you're about.) I was wondering if I could talk to you about (Product/service/investment/whatever)?" and give them the chance to accept your offer. Be BRIEF/General ("...I was wondering if I could talk to you about Outsourcing some of your work?" or "...I was wondering if I could discuss a potential investment opportunity?" or whatever. This does NOT mean hit them with your whole pitch! And, like anything in the world (Business or otherwise) don't be surprised if they say, "No." And be professional and respectful if they do. They may give you some degree of explanation ("No, thank you, I already have a financial planner." or, "No, I'm sorry, we don't outsource work." or they may just say, "No, thank you." At this point you can smile, and say, "Thank you for your time", "Thank you, nice to meet you" or even, "Thank you, here's my card, if we might somehow be of service in the future." and then go. NOBODY likes to be pushed/pressured. The same should be the case Online. I can't tell you how many times I have had someone ask me to connect, and almost immediately send me a message pushing their product or service.
DO NOT (and again I say, DO NOT) send a connection ANYTHING without first asking their permission/approval. Do not send e-mail other than over LinkedIn, I don't care if they DO have their e-mail address listed in their profile. One of the fastest ways to lose a prospective client is by spamming them. In this same vein, I STRONGLY advise against joining any of the various services that your connections on LinkedIn may send you. The invitation usually says something about, "I'd like to be able to refer customers to you..." I made the mistake of joining one of these. You click the link, go through their registration process, and it asks you to somehow connect your LinkedIn account, and when you do, it sends an invitation to all of your contacts. I made this mistake once, and never again. If you want to refer customers to me, Great! Get in touch with me over LinkedIn, and we can go from there. Likewise, if I happen to know of someone I think would be a good match for your services, I'll contact you and share the information. The only thing SPAM accomplishes is irritating people.
"When in Rome..."
When you are on LinkedIn, participate. There are a lot of great groups available on a wide variety of subjects. Great places to ask questions, share information, etc. However, please make sure that you take a moment to read whatever "Group Rules" the managers have created, and abide by them. As a member of a number of groups, as well as manager of several, I can tell you, SPAM is one of the biggest irritants there is. Most groups will define SPAM as anything that does not relate to that group (In other words, if you're in the Photoshop group, a post about how to do something in Illustrator would be considered SPAM.), anything repetitious (there is NO need to post your message, regardless of what it is, more than ONCE. People start at the top of the discussions and scroll down. If they see multiple copies of your message, most likely your messages will be flagged, and deleted. And you may be "moderated" (which means that anything that you attempt to post must be approved by a group manager before it is visible to members.) Or you may simply be ejected from the group.
There are a variety of areas on LinkedIn. There is some etiquette that is specific to a specific area, while others are more universal. You would be wise to take a few moments and learn "the ways of doing things" before you get involved. This applies to LinkedIn as well as any other Social Media or website. Using some simple common sense and common courtesy can make the difference between you being seen as a contributing member, and you being seen as a spammer or annoyance or worse.