Having a lot of emails in your inbox is overwhelming but at the same time, it is a bit annoying. What to read and which is the most important? In Mail, LinkedIn’s private messaging feature, is a way to communicate to your connections outside of regular email. But like every messaging service, there are good, bad, and just plain rude ways to use it!

Here are some simple things you can do to ensure your LinkedIn in mail is valuable, and not spammy:

1. Have a relevant subject line. We have limited time to engage, so a good subject line will get people to open your message.
2. Keep your message short and simple. People won’t have the time to read a lengthy message, and will just delete it. Be simple and make sure to get to the point as quickly as possible.
3. Quality over quantity. Having lot of connections doesn’t mean that they have the same interest so rather than sending all your connections your mail, tailor your message to the person you are sending it to. Perhaps mention content they have posted recently, or a group that you both belong to.
4. Include ‘WIIFT’ – ie, what’s in it for them? Why should someone open your In Mail, then respond?
5. You can follow up but don’t be too pushy. Leave it a week or two, then send a follow up In Mail. And definitely don’t send messages daily – it looks a little stalkerish.

And lastly, let me share with you my biggest peeve about a specific LinkedIn behaviour. I’m happy to accept connection requests from people I don’t know (as long as they are legit!). But never (and I mean never!) request to connect with someone, then add them to your email marketing database.

If I’ve connected with you on LinkedIn, I haven’t given you permission to to market to me on any other channel. For you to be able to send me email communications, I need to opt in to your email list, and be able to unsubscribe at any time.

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