in this video we're covering three steps that you can take to expand your network
and add cold connections on LinkedIn building authentic relationships is
crucial for a fulfilling career and we're going to teach you how to do that
using LinkedIn have you ever added a cold connection on
LinkedIn tell us about it in the comments I'm Jack a video producer here
at career contessa which is a career site built for women be sure to like
this video and subscribe to our channel because we drop new content every week
your network is very important in your career but sometimes you won't have a
connection to somebody that you want it you know meet up with or learn more
about their career and that's where cold connections come in a cold connection is
someone who you've never met before and you maybe don't have any shared
connections with so therefore the first time you reach out to them it's going to
be what we called a cold reach out cold connections are great and you're gonna
find a lot of them on LinkedIn before we talk about the logistics of adding cold
connections on LinkedIn let's talk about the etiquette a little bit when you're
reaching out to people that you don't already know you need to be professional
and polite what that means is making sure that you always tell them a little
bit about who you are and why you want to connect if you do that the chances of
them denying your connection or not wanting to reach out or a lot slimmer
all right now let's jump into the logistics of adding those connections
there are going to be three major steps that you'll want to follow number one
come up with your target connections before you reach out obviously you need
to decide who you actually want to connect with these could be people who
work at your dream company in your ideal industry or who have a similar job title
to what you do or want to be doing using LinkedIn search tool you can find
connections in your city at a company or as an alumni of your University you can
also find potential contacts through the content page and reach out to authors or
those who comment on articles that you've read usually what I like to do is
think about companies that you would dream of working at or maybe an industry
that you want to explore more or maybe somebody who has a career that you
are inspired by and you just want to meet up with them and chat a little bit
more about what that is that they do whether it's having an informational
interview meeting up at a conference or event or applying to a job at their
company one day cold contacts are a great way to expand your network once
you have that list of people who you want to connect with the next step is to
actually reach out and send those connection requests number to
personalize your connection request so when you find the people on LinkedIn
that you want to connect with and add to your network you're going to send them a
connection request but you need to personalize the note so when you send
that connection request the personalized note that you send with that is where
you want to focus on those etiquette rules of being professional and polite
give them a heads-up about why you're connecting with them it's a good idea to
read through their summary or profile because they might say something in
their summary like hey I'm happy to connect with people I don't know just
tell me who you are first or sometimes in their summary they might say I don't
accept people I've never worked with before and remember with this note you
really want to keep it short and sweet you could say hi grace I'm Betsy and
like you I also work as a graphic designer for a start-up in Los Angeles
I noticed we're both from Atlanta and would love to connect with you thanks
Betsy so what you're really trying to do here is make sure that yes your note is
concise but also that there's something there that's relatable to them in some
way shape or form number three follow up okay so now that you've found
the person you want to connect with you sent that connection request with a
personalized note and hopefully they accepted the next thing you want to do
is send a follow-up after you're connected send an email which is a
LinkedIn message thanking them for adding you it can be super simple even
just something like hi so-and-so thanks so much for accepting my invitation I
look forward to staying in touch so after that first follow up you could
take it even one step further so maybe this person works at your dream company
or in your dream role and so you could reach out to them and ask for an
informational interview now that you've sent the connection and
you followed up you can go to their LinkedIn profile and either send them a
message there or grab their email dress and ask them directly about having
an informational interview the point here is that following up is really
important because it opens the doors of communication to go one step further so
you're not just saying I want to connect with you in LinkedIn but I actually want
to connect with you and have a conversation in person over the phone or
through email adding cold connections on LinkedIn is one of the best ways to
expand your network and your network will really open the door to more
opportunities for you and if you can connect in the right way you'll really
be building a network based on authentic connections if you liked our reach out
templates we used in this video you can download those using our free networking
templates they cover everything from letting your network know your job
searching to a post interview thank-you note and more have you ever reached out
to someone you didn't know unlinked in tell us about it in the comments did you
think this video is helpful go ahead and give us a like and be sure to subscribe
to our channel because we drop new content every week