5 Personalized LinkedIn Connection Invitation Messages That Work

Crafting a LinkedIn connection message that actually leads to a conversation is not that hard once you discover an approach that works. But what is working now? 🤔

With LinkedIn limiting the number of connection invitations you can send in a week (ever hit that limit?) every single connection invitation counts!

LinkedIn connection invitations actually COST something to the sender.

They're no longer unlimited and abundant.

And that is good news!

As a recipient of an inbound connection invitation, you can now count yourself a bit more "special" -- they're using one of theirs on you this week. 🤔

For those of us doing the sending, it can be tricky to figure out exactly what to say.

We don't want to sound spammy, pushy, or god-awful sales-y.

We all want to start off the RIGHT way.

In this episode of Mondays with Mindi, we get into what's working now with LinkedIn connection messages... and what's NOT!

I share with you my step-by-step formula to craft your invitations, show you some examples, and give you benchmarks to tell you IF your connection acceptance rate is good.

Why You Should Initiate Connection Invitation

If you’re like many of us on LinkedIn, you’re not here to waste time. You want to use LinkedIn to actually build your business, grow your network, get connected with the right people, land your dream job, and have conversations with likeminded professionals.

Why does building a strategic LinkedIn profile take SO MUCH TIME? Are there any shortcuts?

Automation used to be an option for those with a higher risk tolerance who didn’t mind enlisting the help of a tool that was chock full of pre-written, complex sequences. Using this type of automation has always been risky because LinkedIn is on the hunt for them, often leading to restricted LinkedIn accounts.

Since LinkedIn somewhat limits the number of connection invitations you can send in a week, you can no longer use the “spray and pray” approach in sending as many connection invitations as you want.

Even if you could, you would be wasting those connection invitations and also risk getting reported as a spammer if they clicked the “I don’t know this person” when they ignore your connection invitation.

Curious what actually happens if you send a not-so-great LinkedIn connection invitation?

• The recipient might just not even see the message - not so bad, especially if you withdraw the connection invitation before they see it

• The recipient could actually report that they don’t know you (which means it’s a black mark against your LinkedIn profile)

• You may end up getting connected, but you have no idea what happens next?

• The person will see this connection message associated with your name for as long as you’re connected - it’s at the very top of your message history. Is that what you want?

• Your network might get filled up with people who are never going to do business with you - pretty useless, in my opinion.

...but not to worry, we’re going to get to the bottom of the LinkedIn connection invitations and figure out how to send a message that actually resonate with the person on the other end.

That connection invite sets the tone for your professional communication - it’s worth paying a little attention to what you say there.

Are You Connecting With the Right People?

One common mistake I see a number of people make is not at all related to the actual text in the connection invitation message.

It’s their targeting.

What do I mean by targeting?

To whom are you actually sending this message to? 

If you’re not being thoughtful about identifying the right people from the get-go, it doesn’t matter HOW good your connection message is IF they’re not the right person for the message.

Far too often when I’m helping my clients troubleshoot, it’s not just the connection message that needs a bit of work - rather it’s matching what they’re sending to the person they’re reaching out to.

For example, one of my clients had heard that having a podcast and inviting people to be on that podcast was the best way to get people to accept his connection message.

He’s all excited about setting up the podcast, the tech behind the scenes, all the branding for the show...

I then asked him about his target audience and whom he was trying to reach. Come to find out, they’re C-Suite executives at large, stuffy corporations - with lots of red tape. 

Not at ALL a fit for being on a podcast.

He’d have benefitted from knowing his target audience a bit more (especially since they’re a new market) and understanding what they WILL or WILL NOT respond to.

Always match your connection invitation to the person you’re sending to.

Seems like common sense, but this is critical! 

Don’t try to copy your colleague’s magical connection invitation if you don’t have a similar audience.

What Will Get Connections to Say “Heck, Yeah!”

Your connection invitation is all about connecting with people, real people - not just avatars.

There is someone on the other end of that connection invitation. 

Most people don’t employ bots to review their LinkedIn connections, at least that I’m aware of.

As I advocate for every single LinkedIn interaction, pay attention to every LinkedIn connection message you send. 

You never know what door it might open or what opportunities you could completely miss… because your connection message felt automated, spammy, or irrelevant. 

If you’re like many of my students and clients who are using LinkedIn for Business, you value every single connection invitation that you send.

You want to do it right, but you need your efforts to be somewhat scalable.

There is a way to craft connection invitations that feels good to the recipient without you having to go back to the drawing board every single time, trying to think up something to write.

You have scores of opportunities every single week on LinkedIn to open a door for your business, your career, your project, your driving purpose.

How are you going to use them?

I don’t know about you, but I look at each new week as an opportunity to meet new people, collaborate and share ideas, and look for synergy.

I value my connection invitations that I send -- if you’ve received one from me, know that I care and specifically chose to send that message TO YOU.

Because I approach LinkedIn with this mindset, the results I get from investing in LinkedIn have become the main driver of my sales pipeline.

I’m not there to sell anyone - I am there to be a resource, to help where I can, and to connect with good people.

And, I’m not the only one! I’ve been working with a couple (both of them are job seekers) who had fewer than 100 connections each. She had right around 90, while he started with 39 connections.

Now this is a TOUGH challenge because they both are still pretty new to LinkedIn AND have fewer than 100 connections. 

But guess what? They started using some of the connection invitation messages I’m about to share!

They both more than tripled their networks in less than three weeks! She went from 90-ish connections to 338. He went from 39 to 149 connections, last time I checked.

I asked them them how they did it, and they both said, “Mindi, all we did was follow your system. There’s some type of magic in the system!”

I challenge you to approach LinkedIn with this mindset - even though we are going to talk about tactics today, it’s the mindset behind the tactics that is the magic.

All right, pep talk done. Let’s hop into the how-to send a good connection!

5 Inspiring LinkedIn Connnection Invitation Message Templates

You have 300 characters available to you to send a LinkedIn connection message. No links allowed. No graphics. Just text.

Even if you’re not a great copywriter, you are a human who does business, right? 

You write emails, send messages to colleagues, comment on other people’s posts… with all that writing experience, you have all the skills you need to draft a LinkedIn connection message.

We talked about targeting earlier in this talk - it’s something I’ll get into in more depth on an upcoming show - but it’s really important here.

Remember: match your connection invitation message to the person you are sending to.

The connection requests we are getting into today are going to be a bit more on the prospecting side of the spectrum, as we want to get into conversations!

We are going into this with a prospecting mindset - even if they don’t buy from us or become a referral partner - it’s about getting a conversation that leads to potentially doing business together.

#1 - The Savvy Podcaster

If you’re wondering what’s working right now, I’m going to share a BIG secret with you. For a lot of people in the marketing, sales, consultant space - inviting your potential prospects to be interviewed on a podcast is working REALLY well.

Why is that? Podcasts are trendy. 

People know that if they’re the guest on your podcast, it will lead to marketing of themselves and their company by you. Instant cross-promotion.

The key here is that your podcast focus and “pitch” needs to feel authentic. If they’re second guessing WHY you invited THEM to be on the show, you’ve already lost them.

Here's an example of a podcast invitation -

I’m talking with CMO’s and thought leaders and think you may be interested in my new podcast/research project that proves brands with genuine empathy in their messaging, CX, and EX are winning right now. Let’s chat?

This connection message was highly targeted and led to about a half dozen calls being booked per month as a result of the outreach. And, we only sent less than 100 connection invitations.

That’s a pretty good conversion rate for cold outreach.

If you’re up for doing a podcast, this is a great option to use to start having initial conversations with your potential prospects.

One word of caution - don’t send too many of these, especially if your target audience LOVES to talk about themselves. I had one of my clients pause any new outreach for 3 months because he got backed up with podcasts because this technique worked so well! 

#2 - The Valued Expert

What do you do if you don’t want to start a podcast or if you know your potential prospects wouldn’t want to be a guest?

If your audience is pretty savvy in their area of expertise, you can still ask them to contribute but to share their expertise a bit more discreetly.

A number of my clients and students are either writing a book, creating blogs, publishing regularly, and are looking to speak with experts in the field who are open to contributing.

This type of connection invitation works especially well for authors who are publishing a book or digital course creators or specialists who are writing on specific topics.

Here's an example of asking for a book contribution - 

I’m a leadership “cultivator" and author in the cannabis business. I’m working on a book for cannabis leaders. Can you do a quick Zoom interview with me for my book? 

First of all, he’s got a great target market. Cannabis leaders have not been pitched to on LinkedIn incessantly, like a number of other types of audiences.

Next, he’s writing on a topic that is immediately meaningful to them because “cannabis leadership” in general is a completely new thing. They are all looking for resources on how to lead a cannabis business better - because it’s different than every other standard business out there.

And, is it a wonder that this connection message converts like gangbusters? More than a dozen calls per month for sending right around 100-120 connection invitations total.

#3 - The LinkedIn Networker

So you don’t have a podcast or a book, what else can you send to people who might be great prospects or want to do business with you in some way? 

I like this option because it’s less of an ask, as long as the person on the other end is a bit more open-ended with their calendar and schedule. 

Won’t work that well with corporations or large organizations, but it can be just the opener for those with an entrepreneurial background or attitude. You know, those who are always looking for a new opportunity.

Here’s an example from reaching out to someone interesting who commented on a post -

Hey Jane! I noticed you just commented on that article by John Smith about what’s driving us all crazy about business growth. I’d agree with [your point]. Up for a quick chat sometime? I think there may be some synergy with our businesses.

This is definitely not meant to be a copy-and-paste template. It’s just to give you an idea of what you could say and more about the mindset of “showing you’ve done your homework” before reaching out.

If the person is actually active on LinkedIn, it’s a lot easier to find an opening to connect. This is one approach I use whenever I come across someone who seems wicked smart and like a good referral partner. It also works just as well for prospects.

#4 - The Community Member

If you’re a member of a professional community, you should be connected to everyone in that community on LinkedIn.

Here’s an example of a connection invitation I used when going through Seth Godin’s altMBA program. Because I sent it while we were going through the program together, most people accepted.

Hi [first name],

Just a howdy on LinkedIn to say I’m excited about continuing the altMBA6 journey with you over the next 24 days! If I can be of help in any way, don’t hesitate to ask. :)

How do you feel about P3?

Mindi Rosser

#makearuckus

Notice that I’m referencing a common experience we’re sharing, and I’m NOT selling anything here. I merely want to connect!

On a side note, as a result of this outreach, I got connected with a fellow team member who years later reached out with an intro that led me to a project that almost topped $100K

...and I hadn’t tried to sell ANYTHING, just was connected with the right person when they had a need I could solve.

#5 - The Event Follow-Up

Whenever I attend a live event or watch the replay from an industry event, I always reach out to the presenters or people who are “active commenters” and seem to share a common interest or perspective.

These connection requests tend to get a higher acceptance rate because I time them well - sometimes, I’ll even send the LinkedIn connection invitation while they are giving a presentation to show them I’m actually watching live and paying attention.

Here’s an example I sent to Amy Landino during one of Streamyard’s Livestream Summits. She accepted right away.

Watching your live presentation right now, and I love the analogy of the "dead fish handshake."

Presentation is resonating with me - and how live videos are different from recorded videos.

Lots to learn, and thanks for sharing your expertise today!

Mindi

If you were on the receiving end of that connection, would you accept? Of course, you would! It’s hard not to accept an invitation from a fan who’s obviously paying attention to your work.

Basically, you just need to be human! How do you like being reached out to? 

TIP: Save good connection invitation messages you receive and repurpose them to use for yourself. I’ve received some really clever messages that stroked my ego, and I save them in a swipe file.  

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You may be asking yourself - what’s a good connection acceptance rate? How do I know if I’m doing well?

I’ll keep it short - you’re looking for a 25-35% connection acceptance rate when reaching out to prospective clients. Anything above that, you’ve definitely got a winner! If you’re consistently hitting around 10% or single digits, you’ll need to find a more responsive target audience and/or change up your message approach.

So there you have it! 

If you’re ready to get more people accepting your LinkedIn connection invitation, so you can start getting new leads or land your next opportunity, join me inside The 90-Minute LinkedIn Profile program where we’ll get your LinkedIn profile up-and-running in just 90 minutes! We’ll discuss exactly how to make LinkedIn the number one source for new business opportunities using your LinkedIn profile.

I’ll see you next week on Mondays with Mindi! Feel free to leave questions or comments below - and my inbox is open if you want to message me directly! :)