When you connect with people on LinkedIn, let them know why you’d like to connect.
This is important if they’ve never met you. Maybe it’s because they wrote a great book or shared an interesting blog post. Or maybe someone else told you about them. Whatever it is, make the effort to let them know why you’d like to be in their network.
A compliment or recognition is a great way to ‘give’ something to someone when you’re asking for something in return, i.e. their time, expertise, their network, etc. It takes less than a minute and makes a huge difference. Try it out next time you send a connection request to someone. It’ll make your network better, stronger and more meaningful.