So, it’s back to work.
A week and a half of sitting on the sofa and eating chocolates, watching repeats of Jason and the Argonauts is now over.
Catching up online it seemed my LinkedIn inbox was full of “Happy New Year” messages.
I deleted all of them in under a minute – Why?
LinkedIn gives you the power to send a message to a collection or people who have a common group, which is fine but then it goes downhill.
“Hi/Jonathan/trusted friend/valued colleague or some other cheesy greeting, I’m just writing to say a Happy New Year and remind you of my New years gift to you.”
The “gift” is not really a “gift” at all. A gift is when you give something to someone – Just for the sake of it. With no expectation of your generosity being returned.
See this definition from dictionary.com
something given voluntarily without payment in return, as to show favor toward someone, honor an occasion, or make a gesture of assistance; present.
There is no value at all in this message, just a desperate request for some traffic and sign ups.
I was half tempted to click the ‘report SPAM’ button on my LinkedIn control panel but thought better of it.
Standard rules of networking apply – Give before you ask.
Or to put it even more bluntly I don’t know you or care about you – I don’t know/care or want to hear about your ebook so show me something of value, I might want.
Of course this practice is commonplace – It just seems to happen more around holiday times – or when there is an “excuse” to contact people.
So message, if you are going to waste my time – at least show me some value BEFORE you ask for my email.
This short article originally appeared on the Networking University blog