LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional networking platform, with over 800 million members worldwide. Making connections and growing your network on LinkedIn is crucial for career and business opportunities. While LinkedIn offers tools to automatically import and sync contacts from your email and phone, you may want to manually add important connections who are not in your address book. Fortunately, LinkedIn makes it easy to manually add new contacts.
Why Add Contacts Manually?
Here are some key reasons you may want to manually add contacts on LinkedIn:
- You met someone in person at an event or conference and want to connect.
- You worked with someone at a previous job but don’t have their contact info.
- You want to connect with a speaker, mentor, or industry leader you admire.
- Someone meaningful recommended connecting with a certain person.
- You are growing your network and don’t want to miss out on important connections.
Manually adding contacts allows you to thoughtfully grow your network by connecting with people who matter most.
How to Manually Add a Contact
Follow these simple steps to manually add a new connection on LinkedIn:
- Go to their LinkedIn profile page. You can find people by searching their name on LinkedIn or Google.
- Click “Connect” on their profile page. This sends them a connection request.
- Customize the connection request message (optional). Briefly share why you want to connect.
- Click “Send.” They’ll get a notification to accept your request.
And that’s it! Here are some tips to optimize this process:
- Personalize each request with a note about why you want to connect. This improves acceptance rates.
- Send requests strategically. Prioritize people you’ve met or who are warm contacts.
- Follow up if they don’t respond right away. Try sending a reminder message.
- Connect from your profile on desktop for the best experience. The mobile app is more limited.
How to Add Contacts in Bulk
If you want to add multiple LinkedIn contacts at once, you can use the bulk contact upload feature. Here’s how:
- Click “My Network” at the top of your LinkedIn homepage.
- Select “Manage synced and imported contacts.”
- Choose “Import Contacts.”
- Upload a .csv file with contact info or copy/paste a list.
- Check the data mapped correctly and customize messages.
- Click “Send Invitation.”
This lets you efficiently send connection requests to a larger list of people. However, it does not allow for personal custom messages.
How to Add Connections You’ve Worked With
If you want to reconnect with old coworkers and teammates, LinkedIn offers a handy tool for this:
- Go to your profile and click “See all experience.”
- Select a current or past company. Click “See all coworkers.”
- On the coworker list, hover over people and click “Connect.”
- Customize the message to mention working together.
This makes it super simple to rebuild your professional network from previous jobs and companies.
How to Accept Connection Requests
When people send you connection invitations, here is how to accept them:
- Go to the notifications icon at the top. Click “See all activity.”
- Go to the “Relationship” section.
- Click into any pending invitations.
- Review the message and profile. Click “Accept” to connect.
You can also instantly accept invitations directly from emails or notifications. But it’s wise to thoroughly vet all connection requests first.
How to Decline or Ignore Requests
Don’t feel obligated to accept every connection invitation. It’s perfectly acceptable to politely decline or simply ignore requests using these methods:
- Click “Dismiss” on the notification if you aren’t interested.
- Select “I don’t know this person” to instantly decline.
- Click “Delete Request” in your Relationships tab.
- Report suspicious invitations as spam.
Only connect with people you know and trust. Don’t accept invites purely out of guilt or pressure. LinkedIn is about quality, not quantity, when building your network.
Connection Request Etiquette
Here are some tips for proper etiquette when sending connection requests:
- Introduce yourself if you don’t know them.
- Explain why you want to connect or what you have in common.
- Make requests personable – no spam or mass messages.
- Follow up once or twice if needed, but don’t harass people.
- Respect if someone ignores or declines the request.
- Send thoughtful thank you notes when accepting requests.
Connecting on LinkedIn is about forming real relationships. The best practice is to make genuine, professional requests that clearly convey your intentions.
Limits on LinkedIn Connections
Free LinkedIn accounts have limits on sending connection requests:
- You can only send a maximum of 300 requests per week.
- No more than 100 per day from Monday to Friday.
- Only 60 requests allowed on the weekend per day.
These limits reset weekly. Premium accounts can send more invitations based on their level. Throttling connection requests helps reduce spam and abuse.
Best Practices for Adding Contacts
Here are some top tips for successfully adding connections:
- Personalize every request with a thoughtful note.
- Target contacts strategically, like at industry events.
- Import Outlook and phone contacts to expand your network.
- Reconnect with past coworkers and classmates.
- Follow up on pending requests after a week.
- Send thank you notes when people accept your requests.
- Connect sparingly. Focus on quality over volume of contacts.
Adding mutually beneficial contacts takes effort but is worthwhile. Aim to build an engaged network that shares your professional interests and goals.
Common LinkedIn Connection Questions
Here are answers to some frequently asked questions about connecting on LinkedIn:
How do I cancel a connection request?
Go to your sent invitations under My Network > Manage contacts. Click the “Cancel invitation” button. They’ll no longer receive the request.
Can I resend a connection request?
Yes, you can resend a request if they didn’t respond the first time. Click “Resend invitation” in your sent requests page. Limit this to 1-2 attempts.
How do I remove a connection?
Go to their profile and click “More” > “Remove connection.” You can no longer interact with removed connections.
How do I sort my connections?
Use the filters on your Connections page. Sort by name, company, location, industry, and more. Tap into your networks within networks.
Can I export my LinkedIn contacts?
Yes, download your connections as a .csv file from your Account settings. This is handy for backing up contacts.
Conclusion
Manually adding connections is an important LinkedIn growth strategy. Pick your contacts thoughtfully and customize invitations. Maintain proper etiquette, follow up politely, and build relationships with each new contact. Focus on forging mutually beneficial ties that help advance your career or business goals. With a well-curated network, LinkedIn becomes an invaluable professional asset.