Friendly Reminders: Social Networking Faux Pas
As most of us do, I check all of my social media platforms every day. If you follow me on LinkedIn, or any platform for that matter, you know how passionate I am about networking, connecting, and genuine human connection.
Social media has its positives and negatives—both on an interpersonal and global level—but I do find myself perplexed as to how some people use it to try and further their careers, make a connection, or make a sale.
We are all guilty of sending requests to people we don’t know. We’re all guilty of, at one point or another, personalizing a template to send an invitation to an event, an invitation to connect, or an invitation to meet. In 2020, though, I would love to leave those types of interactions behind.
With that in mind, a few friendly reminders in the New Year (Note: “I” and “You” are collective in this case):
If you lead with what I can buy from you in every interaction, that's not good networking.
If you lead with who I can connect you to in every interaction, that's not good networking.
If you lead with how I can benefit you, that's not good networking.
If you send templated messages to every person on LinkedIn who matches an arbitrary title, that's not good networking.
If you only contact me when you need something, that’s not good networking.
If you refer me to someone for a possible business opportunity, knowing that they do not have a budget to pay for my product or service, that’s not good networking.
If I do introduce you to someone who can benefit you, and you don't follow through, that's not good networking.
If I refer you to an event as a speaker, and you don’t come prepared, that’s not good networking.
If you text my personal cell way before or way after business hours, that’s not good networking.
If you reach out to me about my company/companies and have not properly researched, that’s not good networking.
If you always buy a ticket but never show up, that’s not good networking.
It’s more, though, than just a networking faux pas to behave in any of the ways I outlined above. It’s a waste of time—yours and theirs! Time, incidentally, that could be spent in person networking, picking up the phone and calling someone, filling out a form on your contact’s website, or sending a personalized message to their email or social media page.
The bottom line is, social media has very few boundaries or social constructs. Therefore, we’re left to take our own rules and forge our own paths. Please, think about how you would want to be approached for a business opportunity, connection, or new friendship. Chances are, it doesn’t involve a templated Social Media message.
What are your networking faux pas? Tell me in the comments!